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By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR Letter  Denial

UN GATE / SDNY, May 9 – Today a North Korean ship was seized by the United States, with only a fleeing reference to the United Nations, whose DPRK Sanctions Committee has been an untransparent backwater, see below. On a U.S. Department of Justice press call at 1 p.m., Inner City Press asked Geoffrey S. Berman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, if he or the Department expects North Korea or its allies including China to context the seizure in the UN and its Security Council's DPRK Sanctions 1718 Commitee (and if the UN had helped, or hurt). Berman said "no comment" (he previously answered Inner City Press' question about Rochester Drug Co-op, here). The seized ship is on the way to American Samoa from Indonesia and as to the SDNY, North Korea has 60 days to try to contest it. After that it will be sold or put to U.S. government use.... From May 9, prior to any DOJ press call: ", John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and John Brown, Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today the filing of a civil forfeiture complaint against M/V Wise Honest (the “Wise Honest”), a 17,061-ton, single-hull bulk carrier ship registered in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK” or “North Korea”).  The Wise Honest, one of North Korea’s largest bulk carriers, was used to illicitly ship coal from North Korea and to deliver heavy machinery to the DPRK.  Payments for maintenance, equipment, and improvements of the Wise Honest were made in U.S. dollars through unwitting U.S. banks.  This conduct violates longstanding U.S. law and United Nations Security Council resolutions.                  U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Today’s civil action is the first-ever seizure of a North Korean cargo vessel for violating international sanctions.  Our Office uncovered North Korea’s scheme to export tons of high-grade coal to foreign buyers by concealing the origin of their ship, the Wise Honest.  This scheme not only allowed North Korea to evade sanctions, but the Wise Honest was also used to import heavy machinery to North Korea, helping expand North Korea’s capabilities and continuing the cycle of sanctions evasion.  With this seizure, we have significantly disrupted that cycle.  We are willing and able to deploy the full array of law enforcement tools to detect, deter, and prosecute North Korea’s deceptive attempts to evade sanctions.”  The Dutch Mission to the UN, ending the year and its UN Security Council tenure withholding all documents requested by Inner City Press about Cameroon and the Mission's role in the UN banning the Press, is going out in a blaze of self congratulations. While they voted the EU line, they were less than transparent in chairing the North Korea / DPRK sanctions committee and embraced Antonio Guterres' total ban on Inner City Press, which asked them about sanctions chicanery and inaction on Cameroon. Here's hoping those replacing them do better - and that perhaps now, off the Council, one or more in The Hague can reverse the mission's embrace of UN censorship for corruption and play a more opening role. It is now clear that when Guterres refused Inner City Press questions about China Energy Fund Committee and had it roughed up and banned, he had a conflict of interest. The Gulbenkian Foundation for which he was a paid board member was trying to sell its Partex Oil and Gas to CEFC. This must all be reversed and acted upon in 2019. Back on December 20 the Dutch mission tweeted that adopting in the UN General Assembly of its OPCW resolution has been unanimous. Inner City Press, even still banned by Antonio Guterres from entering the UN for the 169th day, replied that there are been 12 abstentions. It expected in reply an argument that zero "No" votes meant unanimous, or some other justification or excuse. But there was no reply. Without any explanation or disclosure, the Dutch Mission to the UN deleted its tweet and put up a substitute: "Today, the #UNGA adopted with an overwhelming majority the resolution acknowledging the cooperation between the @UN and the @OPCW. #KingdomNL is proud to have submitted this resolution as host nation of the OPCW." This is not a best practice; it is UNtransparent like the withholding of all records about the Netherlands Mission's role in and response to the banning of Inner City Press, and all records about Cameroon. As the Cameroon government of 36 year President Paul Biya prepared for today's re-coronation to a seventh term by slaughtering civilians in the Anglophone regions as well as in the North, it  re-engaged Washington lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs, on a retainer of $100,000 per quarter plus expenses, documents show. The UN belatedly acknowledged to Inner City Press, which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had roughed up on July 3 right after it spoke to Cameroon's Ambassador Tommo Monthe, that Guterres met with a Cameroon delegation on July 11. Guterres' spokesman Farhan Haq has three times refused to answer Inner City Press e-mailed question whether Guterres was aware his meeting was stage managed by lobbyists at Patton Boggs, and what was discussed. While suspended but before the UN outrageously purported to impose a lifetime ban on entry, Inner City Press asked the same and more to the Dutch Mission to the UN, in writing and in person. (And now has its "WOB" appeal set for a hearing, albeit by Skype, below, as now Dutch Ambassador Karel von Oosterom and his Spokesman refuse to answer any Inner City Press questions, unlike other UNSC Ambassador, November 19 video here.) After Guterres banned Inner City Press from entry from July 3 onward, in order to report on the UN Inner City Press had to seek answers other than at the UN Noon Briefing and UN Security Council stakeout position, from which Guterres and Smale also banned it. Inner City Press asks question in front of the UN Delegates Entrance, and has gotten about put online responses from, among others, outgoing UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid, Burundi's Ambassador, and on August 20, for example, a diplomat on the North Korea sanctions committee -- whose Dutch chair Karel van Oosterom refused to comment.

 This stakeout is where Inner City Press asks questions only because Guterres and Smale have banned it since July 3. But in her August 17 letter, Smale justifies the ban imposed July 3 with this post-July 3 interviews, and says that UNnamed member states - and somehow correspondents - have complained.

 Is that Dutch Ambassador Karel van Oosterom? Inner City Press submitted a FOIA or WOB request - and now an appealon which there will be a Skype hearing, including based on October 7 election irregularities and the denial's evasion on Dutch role in UN censorship which now includes a secret barred list which violations applicable law, see below.  First, the request: "This is request under the WOB / Dutch Freedom of Information act for the following records as that term is defined in WOB, including but not limited to all electronic records, emails, text/SMS message and communications in any form, involving the Netherlands Mission to the UN in New York since August 15, 2017 regarding Cameroon and/or Southern Cameroons and all meeting including Amb van Oosterom's July 11 meeting with Cameroonian ministers, all responses to communications received about Cameroon including but not limited to Inner City Press' communications of

July 14, 2018 to "Eybergen, Bas van"
NYV@minbuza.nl
Frits.Kemperman [at] minbuza.nl,
NYV-COM@minbuza.nl, Oosterom and Kaag

July 25, 2018 to the same recipients;
and August 12, 2018 to the same recipients;
and multiple verbal questions to your PR and DPR since July 3.
  To explain the last part of this request, the head of UN Dep't of Public Info Alison Smale in issuing a lifetime ban to my on August 17 wrote "“We would also note your conduct at the entrances of the United Nations premises and nearby, including the use of profanities and derogatory assertions and language toward individuals accessing the United Nations, in close proximity to them. Video / live broadcasts of this are frequently published on the Inner City Press' website and other media platforms. This conduct gives rise to potential safety concerns for Member State diplomats...The conduct described above has generated multiple complaints to the United Nations from Member States."

  Given Ambassador van Oosterom and his Deputy PR's flat refusal to answer or even acknowledge the Cameroon questions I asked them at the Delegates Entrance stakeout, most recently Amb van Oosterom on August 20 about North Korea (on which other delegations answered, despite PR van Oosterom being the chair), this is a request for all record that reflect or are related to any communications by the Dutch Mission to the UN about questions or comments received at the stakeout(s).
Given the situations in Cameroon and South Cameroons, I and Inner City Press asked for expedited processes of this request." And we received back this: "Bedankt voor uw e-mail.
Afhankelijk van de aard en inhoud van uw bericht kunt u binnen twee werkdagen een reactie tegemoet zien.
Uw kenmerk is E3487878
Met vriendelijke groet,
Informatie Rijksoverheid
Thank you for your e-mail.
Depending on the nature and content of your message you can expect a reply within two working days.
Your reference is E3487878
Kind regards,
Public Information Service, Government of the Netherlands." But now on September 20, another extension: "
Date September 2Oth 2018 MinBuza-2018.1035870
Re Postponement notice in relation to Wob application
Dear Mr. Lee,
By email of August 22th 2018 you submitted an application to my Ministry as
referred to in section 3, subsection 1 of the Government Information (Public
Access) Act (Wet openbaarheid van bestuur; WOB) concerning PVVN meetings
regarding Cameroon.
The Wob provides that a decision must generally be taken within four weeks after
receipt of the application, but may be deferred by four weeks. It is not possible to
decide on your application within four weeks because more time is necessary to
ensure that the decision is taken with due care. On the basis of section 6 of the
WOB 1 am therefore extending the time limit for deciding on your application by
four weeks.
1f you have any questions concerning the status of your application and the time
limit for dealing with it, please contact DJZ-NR.
Yours sincerely,
For the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
the acting head of the Netherlands Law Devision of the Legal Affairs Department,

mr. drs. ie" But having received no documents on October 22, still banned but watching van Oosterom say how he would tweet each of the ten points in his UN Security Council speech, Inner City Press itself tweeted that it had no WOB response. Minutes later an email from his Alternate Political Coordinator Charlotte van Baak with a letter dated October 17, five days before, denying access to any documents at all. Letter here on Patreon, here on Scribd.

Netherlands Denies Press Ac... by on Scribd

This is the text: "Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations 666 Third Avenue, New York 10017 www.netherlandsmission.org
Contact Bas van Eybergen
Date
October 17, 2018 WOB Request on Cameroon
Dear Mr Lee,
In your email of 8/22/18 you requested information on Cameroon, invoking the Government Information (Public Access) Act (Wet openbaarheid van bestuur; WOB).
The documents you requested concerned "all electronic records, emails, text/SMS message and communications in any form, involving the Netherlands Mission to the UN in New York since August 15, 2017 regarding Cameroon and/or Southem Cameroons and all meeting including Amb van Oosterom's July 11 meeting with Cameroonian ministers, all responses to communications received about Cameroon including but not limited to Inner City Press' communications."
Statutory framework Your application falls within the scope of the Government Information (Public Access) Act.
Specification of documents In response to your application, the following documents have been found:
- Internal emails from August 2017 until October 2018
External emails from August 2017 until October 2018 A preparatory document for a meeting with a delegation of another UN member state, dated 07/12/18 One instruction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Permanent Mission, dated 10/12/18 Two reports of the Permanent Mission to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dated 08/23/18 and 10/14/18
Decision I have decided not to disclose the requested documents. Please find the considerations for my decision in the next paragraph.
Considerations
Intemal Consultations Section 11, subsection 1 of the WOB provides that where an application concerns information contained in documents drawn up for the purpose of internal consultation, no information will be disclosed concerning personal opinions on policy contained in them.
It is apparent from the history of the legislation that the phrase "documents drawn up for the purpose of internal consultation' should be deemed to include papers drawn up by civil servants, the ministry's senior management and political leadership, correspondence within a ministry and between ministries, draft documents, meeting agendas, minutes, summaries and conclusions of internal discussions and reports of civil service advisory committees. As regards these documents, the intention to treat them as documents for internal consultation must either be expressly apparent or reasonably surmisable. This limitation of the duty of disclosure has been included in the WOB because it is necessary to ensure that civil servants and any external participants taking part in the internal discussions and involved in formulating and preparing policy do not feel constricted in doing so. They must be able to communicate entirely frankly among themselves and with government ministers. Only the positions actually adopted by the administrative authority are relevant constitutionally. Personal opinions on policy include views, opinions, comments, proposals and conclusions, together with the arguments put forward in support of them.
The internal emails have been drawn up for the purpose of internal consultation and contain personal opinions on policy. I have decided not to disclose any information of those internal emails, as I do not consider that public disclosure of the positions taken individually by civil servants would be in the interests of effective, democratic governance. I therefore see no reason to disclose.
Interational relations Section 10, subsection 2, opening words and (a) of the WOB provides that data should not be disclosed if the interest in disclosure is outweighed by the interest in maintaining relations between the Netherlands and other States or international organisations. The history of this provision shows that this ground for refusal is intended to prevent a situation in which a statutory duty to disclose information would have the effect of harming Dutch international
relations. In order for this provision to be applied, it is not necessary for deterioration of good relations with other countries to be expected. It is instead sufficient if the provision of information is likely in some ways to make international contacts more difficult, for example if maintaining diplomatic relations or conducting bilateral consultations with countries would be harder than before or if people in these countries would be less inclined to provide certain data than previously.
The external emails, and the documents dated 07/12/18, 10/12/18, 08/23/18 and 10/14/18 include information that could harm the international relations of the Netherlands. I have therefore decided not to disclose them.
Yours sincerely,
Charlotte van Baak Alternate Political Coordinator of the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations in New York."  Is this Freedom of Information in The Netherlands - every document withheld, by one's own subordinate? And so on October 24, to the Mission and Ministry's Legal Adviser Mirnel Comic, Inner City Press has filed this appeal: "NOTICE OF OBJECTION

October 24, 2018

This is a formal notice of objection to / appeal from the total denial of my 22 August 2018 WOB request. After repeated delays, the response from the Dutch Mission to the UN only mentions one part of my request, on Cameroon, and on that denies access to every single documents, external as well as internal, with a logic that would make the Ministry of Foreign Affairs entirely exempt from the WOB, clearly not the legislative intent.

Beyond the shameful denial of all Cameroon related documents, the belated response troublingly does not mention this portion of my request: “the head of UN Dep't of Public Info Alison Smale in issuing a lifetime ban to my on August 17 wrote "“We would also note your conduct at the entrances of the United Nations premises and nearby, including the use of profanities and derogatory assertions and language toward individuals accessing the United Nations, in close proximity to them. Video / live broadcasts of this are frequently published on the Inner City Press' website and other media platforms. This conduct gives rise to potential safety concerns for Member State diplomats...The conduct described above has generated multiple complaints to the United Nations from Member States."

Given Ambassador van Oosterom and his Deputy PR's flat refusal to answer or even acknowledge the Cameroon questions I asked them at the Delegates Entrance stakeout, most recently Amb van Oosterom on August 20 about North Korea (on which other delegations answered, despite PR van Oosterom being the chair), this is a request for all record that reflect or are related to any communications by the Dutch Mission to the UN about questions or comments received at the stakeout(s).” This was and is not limited to questions about Cameroon but rather any documents related to the area around the Delegates Entrance Gate and related to freedom of the Press, communications with UN Department of Public Information / Global Communications or UN Security. The invocation of the exemption used implies the Government, or at least Mission, wants secrecy in order to lobby for the censorship the UN is engaged in. I demand expedited treatment of this appeal, in that the withdrawal of my media accreditation amid questions on Cameroon and other topics has morphed into a seemingly lifetime ban on a secretary “barred” list that the UN claims is an internal document [video here] even with respect to people on it. This is a violation of human rights, including EU/EC rights. I demand expedited treatment, also after irregularities in the Cameroon elections of Oct 7, for this notice of objection." And now (on October 30) from The Hague and not like the response from the very Mission questioned this acknowledgement of appeal and timeline: "Dear Mr. Lee, I hereby ackowledge receipt of your notice of objection to the decision on your Wob request dated 8/22/18. I would like to draw your attention to the handling period for your notice of objection. You receive a decision or adjournment notice within six weeks of the day on which the deadline for submitting the notice of objection expired. In the event of an adjournment notice, the decision on your notice of objection will be adjourned for a maximum of six weeks.
Met vriendelijke groeten, / With kind regards,
Edith Kraaijeveld Administratief medewerker"

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