UN
Guterres Tells
Staff Sexual
Abuse and
Exploitation
"Not Relevant
In Vienna,"
Evades
#MeTooUN
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
May 14 – UN
Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres is in
Vienna, where
he told UN
staff that sexual exploitation
and abuse is
not relevant,
only sexual
harassment is.
This statement
was made amid
allegations
of physical
sexual abuse
by UNAIDS'
Luiz Loures,
and the
purchase of
sex by a D1 UN
official
in Somalia.
Are those cases
of harassment?
Guterres' statement
was made at a staff Town
Hall meeting
for which he
was 45 minutes
late. After he
said it, a
staff member
complained
that her application
to set up a
#MeToo club
had been denied and
would Guterres
help? He did not
say yes. He
said his
attempted
reform of the
UN development
system had
"passed
silence," with
but without
assessed
contributions.
In New York at
the UN noon
briefing Inner
City Press
asked
Guterres' deputy spokesman
Farhan Haq, video
here,
UN Transcript here: Inner
City Press: in
his town-hall
meeting in… in
Vienna, seems
that the
Secretary-General
said sexual
exploitation
and abuse is
not relevant
in Geneva, in
the context
of, I guess,
saying that
anything that
happens in the
UN system is
sexual
harassment.
What I’m
wondering, is,
if in the
case, for
example, of
Luiz Loures,
where the
allegation is
actual
physical
action and
abuse and in a
case… a
separate case
in the UN
Support Office
on Somalia
where the
allegation is
paying for
sex, how is
it… can you
explain such a
comment?
I’d just like
to understand
how the
Secretary-General
believes that
sexual
exploitation
and abuse is
not an issue
in the UN
system.
Spokesman:
These
categories
differ between
the treatment
of people who
are
beneficiaries
of the UN,
people, in
other words,
who are
dependent upon
us and whether
they are being
exploited in
any way, and,
on the other
hand, any sort
of infractions
that occur
within the
United Nations
system, in
other words,
within and
among UN
personnel.
Inner
City Press:
But
can you
understand
why, like,
say, physical
sexual abuse
within the UN
system, why
would this be
characterised
as harassment
if, in fact,
it’s a
physical
crime?
Spokesman:
Well, the
difference in
nomenclature
should not
create any
false
impression
that one
category is
lesser than
the
other.
It’s
not.
These are all
serious
categories,
and they
comprise a
variety of
different
offences.
Inner
City Press:
In re-opening
the
investigation
of Luiz
Loures, does
the
Secretary-General
understand
that the
allegation is
not just… not
to say just,
but involves
physical
actions --
Spokesman:
We’re aware of
the nature of
the
allegations
that are being
investigated
by the Office
of Internal
Oversight
Services." #MeTooUN?
Days
after first
banning the
Press from his
photo ops with
Al
Sharpton
and new
Political
Affairs chief
Rosemary
DiCarlo then
prohibiting
Inner City
Press'
livestreaming
of a photo op
with Finland's
foreign
minister even
though UN
Television
shot video
and audio
there, the UN
in Vienna is
promoting
this, with no
mention if
Periscope is
allowed or
not:
1.
Photo opportunity
with the
Secretary-General
and the Austrian
Chancellor Sebastian
Kurz
Date: Monday 14 May
2018
Time: 12.55 p.m.
please arrive by
12:30 p.m.
Venue: Austrian
Chancellery,
Marmoreksalon,
Chancellery
2. Joint press
stakeout with the
Secretary-General
and the Austrian
Chancellor Sebastian
Kurz
Date: Monday 14 May
2018
Time: 2.15 p.m.
Venue: Austrian
Chancellery, Grauer
Ecksalon,
Chancellery
3. Photo opportunity
with the
Secretary-General
and the Austrian
President Alexander
Van der Bellen
Date: Monday 14 May
2018
Time: 2.35 p.m.
Venue: Hofburg,
Ballhausplatz, 1010,
Vienna
4. Joint press
stakeout with the
Secretary-General
and the Austrian
President Alexander
Van der Bellen
Date: Monday 14 May
2018
Time: 3.10 p.m.
Venue: Hofburg,
Ballhausplatz, 1010,
Vienna
5. Photo opportunity
with the
Secretary-General
and the Austrian
Foreign Minister
Karin Kneissl
Date: Monday 14 May
2018
Time: 3.30 p.m.,
please arrive by 3
p.m.
Venue: Austrian
Foreign Ministry,
Minoritenplatz 8,
1010 Vienna
6. Photo opportunity
for the arrival of
the
Secretary-General at
the Vienna
International Centre
Date: Monday 14 May
2018
Time: 4.10 p.m.,
please arrive by
3.45 p.m.
Venue: Plaza, Vienna
International Centre
Guterres'
lead spokesman
(speechwriter?)
Stephane
Dujarric
appeared to be
with him,
kissing cheeks
in Vienna. And
what of the
growing
#MeTooUN
issues while
he is in
Vienna? Is
Guterres going to take
his absurd
restrictions on and
censorship of the
Press on the road? Or
create a double
standard where the
restrictions apply
only inside UN
headquarters? How long
will he continue his
rote expressions of
support for UNAIDS'
Michel Sidibe, who
threatened staff with
retaliation for
speaking about against
Luiz Loures? And given
the statements, when
will Guterres have to
start recusing
himself? Watch this
site. Last month
Guterres slightly
delayed his trip to
Saudi Arabia, but not
by much. After
accepting a $930
million check from the
Saudi Crown Prince and
in remarks not
mentioning the
civilians deaths
caused by Saudi
bombing of Yemen, now
Guterres has delivered
again, remarks
praising Saudi
Arabia's counter
terrorism work. Some
find it ironic; some
call this trip "Blood
Money II." But duty
called. Before he
left, Guterres who
refused actually
pointed Press
questions with
dismissive wave of the
hand, delivered a 20
minute interview to
Saudi aligned media.
Now there, he is
quoted with more
praise of Saudi, by
the Saudi Press Agency
(to which his UN has
given office space and
full access while evicting
and
restricting the
independent Press).
The UN has yet to send
out a transcript of
Guterres' craven
remarks quoted by the
Saudi Press Agency,
sending so far only a
speech beginning "Your
Excellency, Foreign
Minister al-Jubeir,
Your Excellency,
Ambassador
Al-Mouallimi, I want
to express my deep
gratitude to the
Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia for its
generous support to
the United Nations
Counter-Terrorism
Centre, a support
without which the
Centre, would probably
never have been able
to be born. And I
thank Ambassador Al
Mouallimi for his able
chairmanship of this
Advisory Board... I
recently launched the
United Nations Global
Counter-Terrorism
Compact, which I
signed with the heads
of 36 UN entities, the
INTERPOL and the World
Customs Organization."
INTERPOL, of course,
is used by some
governments to arrest
or travel ban their
opponents. We'll have
more on this. Only a
week before as
Guterres took off on
his trip to China,
Inner City Press which
has pursued the UN
bribery scandals of Ng
Lap Seng and now the
China Energy Fund
Committee asked
Guterres' spokesman
Stephane Dujarric on
April 6 if Guterres
will address any of
these issues during
his five days in the
country. Dujarric was
dismissive, and ended
the briefing. Video here;
UN transcript
here and below.
This cutting off of
public quesitons
happened after
Guterres gave a
private (self)
promotional interview
to China's state media
Xinhua, touting the
trip and China as
"absolutely essential"
on the North Korea
nuclear issue.
Dujarric race off the
podium made it
impossible to ask him
for Guterres' opinion
on if the gifts given
to Kim Jong Un on his
recent train trip to
China violated the
UN's 1718 sanctions.
Then again, the UN's
own World Intellectual
Property Organization
helped on North
Korea's cyanide
patents without
telling the 1718
Committee, and
Guterres has been as
hands-off with WIPO's
Gurry as he has been
with UNAIDS' Michel
Sidibe on the sexual
harassment and
retaliation scandal.
We'll have more on
this.
***
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