Nigeria
PR Muhammed Bande To Take
China Funding Like Ashe and
Kutesa No Answer To Press Yet
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video here,
Vine here
UN
GATE, Sept 9 -- After
its
reporting on
the United
Nations as a
resident
correspondent
for a decade,
exposing war
crimes and UN
scandals from
Cameroon to
Sri Lanka to
Yemen, UN
Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres and
his Nigerian
Deputy SG
Amina J.
Mohammed had
Inner City
Press roughly
ousted by his
UN Security
and banned
from the UN by
them since 3
July 2018.
This came as
Inner City
Press asked
Guterres and
Amina Mohammed
about not only
Cameroon but
also the
Chinese UN
bribery it
covers at the
SDNY
courthouse.
Now this:
"Nigeria
Minister of
Foreign
Affairs
Geoffrey
Onyeama has
said that
Chinese
government has
pledged to
fund the
office of the
President of
the United
Nations
General
Assembly
(UNGA) under
Professor
Tijjani
Muhammad-
Bande. Bande
was elected by
acclamation as
the 74th
President of
the General
Assembly on
June 4, 2019,
in New York.
He is second
Nigerian to
occupy the
position
after, Joseph
Nanven Garba
who presided
over the UNGA
in 1989."
Amazing - once
two rounds of
Chinese bribes
to UNGA
Presidents
were exposed
and convicted,
the UN's
response is to
make the
bribery open,
and ban the
Press that
reports and
asks about it.
On 24 August
2019 Inner
City Press
applied
to
Guterres,
Mohammed and
their new
Communications
and media
accreditation
chief Melissa
Fleming to be
admitted like
hundreds of
others to
cover the
upcoming UN
General
Assembly. It
was summarily
denied, even
as dozens from
state media of
Xi's China,
Biya's
Cameroon and
Buhari's (and
Mohammed's)
Nigeria are
being given
passes, see
below.
On September
3, just before
it emerged
that China is
funding
Nigeria's
presidency of
the 74th UN
General
Assembly,
Inner City
Press wrote to
this
Presidency,
citing UN
principles,
without any
response at
all four days
later:
"September 3,
2019 Via
e-mail
including to
Nigeria's
Mission to the
UN
Tijjani
Muhammed-Bande
President of
the 74th UN
General
Assembly
Dear President
of the 74th UN
General
Assembly
Tijani
Muhammed-Bande:
Hello.
As a
journalist who
has covered
the UN since
2005,
including
failures and
successes of
the UN in Sri
Lanka,
Cameroon,
Nepal, Haiti
and elsewhere,
I write to
request that
you restore of
all my rights
as an
accredited
journalist at
the UN, most
pressing to
enter to cover
this month's
High Level
week of the
74th UNGA of
which you are
responsible,
and also my
reinstatement
as a
‘resident’ UN
journalist
with full
access rights
to UN
premises,
consistent
with the UN
Media
Guidelines1,
as well as the
return of my
UN
workspace.
I write today
because, after
more a year of
censorship,
exclusion and
even physical
violence from
the
Secretariat,
on Friday 30
August
2019 I
was informed
that my August
24 request to
be accredited
to cover the
74th UN
General
Assembly was
declined. The
only reason
given was that
my
accreditation
was
"withdrawn,"
without any
hearing or
chance to
appeal, on 17
August
2018:
"From: malu
<malu@un.org>
Date: Fri, Aug
30, 2019 at
4:23 PM
Subject: U.N.
eAccreditation
request for
Matthew Lee
has been
declined To:
Inner City
Press
Greetings
Matthew Lee
from Inner
City
Press,
Your media
accreditation
request, with
reference no:
M5413398, has
been declined
for the
following
reason: Media
accreditation
was withdrawn
on 17 August
2018."
This is not
due process -
it is
censorship. I
believe that
those
responsible
for this
decision
should have
recused and
should now
recusal
themselves due
to conflicts
of interest,
including
regarding CEFC
which was
shown to have
attempted to
bribe your
predecessor(s).
So I am
writing to you
- at a
minimum, you
should ensure
that I can
enter the UN
to cover the
GA and its
committees.
For the
record:
UN Security
twice roughed
me up on June
22 and July 3,
2018.
Then after
Inner City
Press filed a
New York
Police
Department
complaint
against the UN
and its
Lieutenant
Ronald E.
Dobbins, Inner
City Press as
banned from
entering the
UN in
retaliation.
OIOS has not
responded to
my filing; not
has USG of DSS
Drennan. I ask
that you as
PGA inquire
into how the
UN has no
mechanism to
deal with
allegations of
Security
misconduct and
physical
abuse, in this
case of a
journalist.
See video in
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/matthew-lee-un-attacks-reporter-journalist-inner-city-press-a8445081.html
After a UN
"review" that
did not
include any
opportunity to
be heard for
Inner City
Press,
Guterres'
Under
Secretary
General Alison
Smale on 17
August 2018
issued a
letter"withdrawing"
Inner City
Press' UN
media
accreditation.
Smale was
asked how
Inner City
Press could
appeal,
including by
UN Special
Rapporteur on
Freedom of
Expression
David Kaye,
but did not
answer
that.
Facing the
prospect of
being unable
to enter the
UN to cover
your General
Assembly "high
level" week,
Inner City
Press
submitted an
application
for
accreditation.
But there was
no action on
it - in fact,
it has emerged
that Inner
City Press had
been put on a
non-public
"barred" list
such that even
if invited by
a member state
or UN agency,
it could not
enter the
building.
Inner City
Press has
written to
Smale's
successor
Melissa
Fleming, who
has done
nothing
(except
inappropriately
tweet out
personal
identifying
information of
refugees). You
should either
inform USG
Fleming to
immediately
ensure Inner
City Press'
access to the
74th GA or
ensure it
yourself.
Patrick Ho of
CEFC was
convicted on 5
December 2018.
Inner City
Press again
exclusively
reported that
Guterres had
failed to
include his
paid position
on the board
of the
Gulbenkian
Foundation in
his Public
Financial
Disclosure
covering 2016
- and that
Gulbenkian in
2018 was
trying to sell
its Partex Oil
and Gas
affiliate to
CEFC as
Guterres
refused to
audit CEFC and
had Inner City
Press which
asked roughed
up and
banned.
Guterres' UN
has a "one
strike and
your out"
policy - even
if there is no
strike. The
alleged
violations
were filming
in place
Smale's own
MALU staff
told Inner
City Press it
could film
with out an
escort, and
recording her
deputy in a
known media
stakeout
position.
So I am asking
you to ensure
Inner City
Press and I
can enter the
UN to cover
the 74th GA,
which you (and
not the
individuals
above with
conflicts of
interest) are
in charge of."
Watch this
site. On
August 28
Inner City
Press received
from Guterres'
Security chief
Gilles Michaud
an
ill-informed
response
passing the
buck to the
Department now
run by
Fleming, who
has not
responded to
four separate
letters to her
after she
defended and
covered up for
the urging
of "harder
repression" by
Paul Biya in
Cameroon.
Michaud sent
this to Inner
City Press:
"From:
Gilles Michaud
<gilles.michaud@un.org>
Date: Wed, Aug
28, 2019 at
4:49 PM
Subject: RE:
DSS treatment
of Mr. Matthew
Lee To: Inner
City Press
Cc: Hua Jiang
<jiang1@un.org>,
Jay Pozenel
<pozenel@un.org>
[also
fleming@unhcr.org]
Thank
you for your
message. I
have taken the
liberty of
including
counterparts
from the
Department of
Global
Communications
and Office of
Legal Affairs
in my
response.
On
10 July 2018
UNDSS escorted
Mr. Matthew
Lee from the
UNHQ complex
after he
attempted to
gain
unauthorized
access to a
locked area
and
subsequently
refused to
comply with
repeated
requests from
UN Security to
leave the
premises, in
breach of UN
Media
Guidelines and
the UN
Administrative
Instruction on
the authority
of UN Security
Officers in
place at that
time.
Following that
incident – and
on the basis
of a review of
a number of
previous
breaches of
the Guidelines
and
Administrative
Issuance –
DPI/DGC
considered Mr.
Lee’s conduct
to be
inconsistent
with the
Guidelines for
accredited UN
correspondents
and his
accreditation
was
subsequently
withdrawn.
This
decision
stands and the
DSS role is
now limited to
ensuring that
unaccredited
individuals do
not enter the
premises.
I
hope this
clarifies.
Gilles
Michaud
USG Safety and
Security
United
Nations
Gilles
Michaud
USG Safety and
Security
United
Nations
Tel:
1-917-367-4652"
Inner City
Press sent a
reply to
Michaud and
others
including
SGCentral
<sgcentral@un.org>,
Amina Mohammed
<amina.mohammed@un.org>,
aminaj.mohammed@un.org,
Maria Luiza
Ribeiro Viotti
<marialuiza.viotti@un.org>,
David Kaye
<dkaye@law.uci.edu>
and others:
"Dear
Mr. Michaud
-
Thank you for
you response,
which follows
the message I
sent you this
morning
intending to
ensure that I
am able to
enter and
cover the
upcoming UNGA
High Level
week like
hundreds or
thousands of
other
correspondents.
This should
take place,
and here with
all due
respect is
why:
While you say
"I hope this
clarifies,"
frankly what
it clarifies
is the lawless
cover-up of UN
censorship
which has
occurred for
the past 421
days.
Essentially
you state, and
apparently
believe, that
DSS has only
been enforcing
USG Smale's
decision to
remove my 10
year media
accreditation
without a
single hearing
or right to
appeal.
Be aware that
DPI, now DGC,
has for its
part attempted
to tell me
that it is
DSS's
decision.
But you should
most certainly
be aware that
in fact DSS
officials,
including
not limited to
Matthew
Sullivan and
"Tiny," has
said on camera
that I am on
DSS' "barred"
list, and have
blocked me
from entering
the UN with
tickets in my
name to event
I was invited
to, not as a
journalist. I
will be happy
to provide
with the
photos of the
tickets,
including to a
human rights
event and also
to a film to
which I was
invited by
UNODC.
So
contrary to
your
clarification,
DSS has not
been ensuring
that a person
- me - not
accredited by
DPI/DGC as a
journalist not
enter the UN
as a
journalist,
but that a
person be
entirely
barred from
any entry of
the UN, even
as a
tourist...
You
say that on
July 10, 2018
I "attempted
to gain access
to a locked
area." This is
false. First,
it was July 3,
2018.
Second,
the "locked
area" was the
Vienna Cafe
outside
Conference
Room Five
where the
Fifth (Budget)
Committee was
meeting. I
have covered
such meetings
for a decade
without
incident; when
Lt Dobbins and
his colleague
grabbed me, I
has just
conducted an
interview with
Cameroon PR
Tommo
Monthe.
They
laid hands on
my before I
had any
opportunity to
leave -
grabbing my
laptop where I
was typing up
my interview.
The Vienna
Cafe area was
not locked,
and MALU
guidelines say
even non
resident
correspondents
can stay until
meeting are
over, and
thirty minutes
after. So this
is
false.
In my email to
you this
morning I
offered to
answer any
questions you
had, since I
was never
given any
opportunity to
be heard after
in June and
July 2018 DSS
was directed
to throw me
out of the UN
even when I
was authorized
to be there -
a speech by
the SG in the
GA lobby at 7
pm in June,
the Budget
Committee
meeting in
July.
I am still
willing to
show you the
documentation
of any and all
of this. But
if DSS has no
block on me,
and DPI now
DGC never gave
me a hearing
and claims to
respect
freedom of the
press, my
August 24
application
for
accreditation
like 100s of
other
correspondent
who don't even
write much
about the UN
should be
granted
immediately,
now four days
after I
applied.
Given the
timing, I ask
for
confirmation
of my ability
to enter,
forthwith.
Please confirm
receipt of
this message,
and the
above.
Thank you for
your
time,
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Esq., Inner
City Press
Past (and
future?)
Office at UN:
Room S-303, UN
HQ, NY NY
10017."
Then
after further
messages with
the UN which
are subject to
publication,
past 4 pm on
Friday, August
30 the UN
issued a
denial of
accreditation
with no
reasoning
other than
that
accreditation
had previously
been revoked:
"From:
malu
<malu@un.org>
Date: Fri, Aug
30, 2019 at
4:23 PM
Subject: U.N.
eAccreditation
request for
Matthew Lee
Ref # M5413398
has been
declined
To: Inner City
Press:
Greetings
Matthew Lee
from Inner
City
Press,
Your media
accreditation
request, with
reference no:
M5413398, has
been declined
for the
following
reason: Media
accreditation
was withdrawn
on 17 August
2018."
This is
Kafka-esque,
and corrupt.
We will have
more, much
more, on this.
For this, here
was from the
August 24,
2019
application:
"I
am writing to
you a month
before the UN
General
Assembly high
level week as
a journalist
who after
covering the
United Nations
for Inner City
Press for ten
years was
roughed up and
thrown out of
the UN as I
covered its
Fifth (Budget)
Committee on 3
July 2018 and
have been
denied all
access since.
There was no
due process,
no right to
appeal,
nothing. The
Department's
and MALU's
lack of any
content
neutral
accreditation
rules, rule
process
including
appeal rights
for
jouranlists,
must also be
addressed.
I should now
be granted
accreditation
like hundreds
of
correspondents
who publish
far fewer
stories about
the UN and
international
affairs than I
do. I ask for
your immediate
response.
I have a right
to cover the
UN, the
Security
Council,
ECOSOC and
General
Assembly
including next
month's High
Level week.
For your
information
despite now
ending USG
Smale having
assured the UN
Special
Rapporteur on
Freedom of
Expression
that during my
exclusion my
written
questions
would be
answered, the
questions have
not been."
Receipt
was confirmed
from many,
including
"From: malu
Date: Sat, Aug
24, 2019 at
7:28 PM
Subject: Your
U.N.
eAccreditation
Request has
been RECEIVED
To: Inner City
Press
Greetings
Matthew
Lee,
This is to
confirm the
United Nations
Media
Accreditation
and Liaison
Unit
(M.A.L.U.) at
New York
Headquarters
has received
your request
for
accreditation.
Please be
assured every
effort will be
made to review
the request as
soon as
possible. Upon
processing, a
notification
email (to the
email address
registered
with the
request) will
provide the
status update,
to confirm an
approval or
rejection, and
any additional
information
which may be
required."
Watch this
site - we will
report in
detail going
forward.
UN Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres says
he has a "zero
tolerance"
policy for
sexual abuse,
exploitation
and harassment,
and for
retaliation.
But it
has become
clear what
Guterres has a
zero tolerance
for is
criticism, or
even
questions. Guterres
had Inner
City Press
roughed up twice a
year ago and
banned since;
now he
and his
spokespeople
refuse to
answer written
questions
about UN
peacekeepers'
child rapes,
see below.
A senior UN
official who,
like many
lower down in the UN
appreciates
Inner City
Press'
accountability
reporting
about an
Organization
killing itself
with corruption
and arrogance,
tried
to raise the issue
but wrote
back: " I am
sorry to hear
that you are
still banned
from the UN. I
was with the
SG for a short
meeting , we
barely managed
to cover some
of the most
important
topics and he
rushed to
another
meeting. But I
enquired
around and I
was told that
even my
continuous
efforts would
not help.
There are
apparently
also some
others that
are unhappy
with your
reporting."
Who might
those "some
others" be? Watch
this site.
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
Past (and future?)
UN Office: S-303,
UN, NY 10017 USA
For now: Box 20047,
Dag Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2019 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com for
|