UNITED NATIONS,
November 16 – The export to
China of illegally harvested
rosewood, reported on by Le
Monde on November 3 with reference
to UN Deputy Secretary General
Amina J. Mohammed who signed the
certificates, also involves
"smuggling from Cameroon." See
EIA video, here.
On November 14, for the second
day in a row, Inner City Press
asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
what Amina
Mohammed knew,
and when, and
he again
refused to
answer. Nov 14
video here.
But from the
UN's resident
coordinator in
Kenya Sid
Chatterjee,
given the
position by
his father in
law Ban
Ki-moon and
now or soon
reporting to
Amina
Mohammed, the
spin that the
detailed
Rosewood
Racket report
is "fake
news." Is
this? An
environmental
group has
launched a petition
to get
Ban's
successor
Antonio
Guterres to
investigate
Mohammed.
Inner City
Press asked UN
Spokesman
Dujarric about
it, and Boko
Haram and
Cameroon, on
November 16,
video here,
UN transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: I
want to ask
you about,
again, this
rosewood
situation.
Yesterday I'd
asked what I
think is a
simple
question,
whether the
certificates,
the thousands
of
certificates,
that the
Deputy
Secretary-General
signed were
filed in real
time with
CITES
[Convention on
International
Trade in
Endangered
Species of
Flora and
Fauna] as
seems to be
required.
I don't know
if I'm going
to get an
answer to
that, but I
have a
different, I
guess,
superseding
question,
which is that
there's now
online,
launched by a
group called
Rainforest
Rescue, a
petition to
Secretary-General
António Manuel
de Oliveira
Guterres to
investigate
the
allegations
against Amina
J.
Mohammed.
The
international
community must
prosecute
criminals
between timber
trafficking.
And it has
46,000
signatures so
far. So
what's this
procedure… can
I just finish
the
question?
What is the
procedure in
the United
Nations for a
civil society
petition such
as this which
has garnered
46,000
requests in a
very short
period of
time?
Will the
Secretary-General
actually
compare the
report to
what's been
said publicly
by Amina J.
Mohammed and
consider these
environmental
people's deep
concern about
it?
Spokesman:
First of all,
we receive
petitions all
the time, and
they're looked
at and… Inner
City Press: Is
there a
threshold?
Spokesman:
We value as a
matter of
principle our
engagement
with civil
society.
We have spoken
and have said
what we've had
to say on
behalf of the
Deputy
Secretary-General,
including the
fact that she
has… she
followed all
the
rules.
If there are
questions
about CITES
and the
workings of
the Nigerian
Ministry of
Environment, I
would
encourage you
to talk to the
Nigerian
Ministry of
Environment.
The
Secretary-General
has full
confidence and
continues to
have full
confidence in
the Deputy
Secretary-General.
Inner City
Press:
Separate
question.
Separate
question.
Was she aware…
this is not
about
CITES.
Was she aware…
the report
says that much
of the timber
that was
actually
exported comes
from Boko
Haram
territories,
i.e., money
would go to
Boko
Haram.
And some of it
was illegally
smuggled from
Cameroon, so
it's a
question
that's not
addressed by
any…
Spokesman:
I think it is
addressed…
it's addressed
in the
statement.
I would also
encourage you
to read the
lengthy
Q&A she
did with Le
Monde." But
the petition
was launched
after that.
When will
Mohammed
answer Press
questions?
Will Guterres,
as petitioned,
investigate?
From the
petition: "UN
Deputy
Secretary-General
Amina J.
Mohammed has
been
implicated in
rosewood
trafficking.
The former
Nigerian
Minister of
Environment is
said to have
acted to
facilitate the
sale of 10,000
shipping
containers of
illegal
rosewood to
China. Tell
the UN to
prosecute the
criminals
behind timber
trafficking.
To: the UN
Member States,
the CITES
Signatory
States and the
CITES
Secretariat.
The UN Deputy
Secretary-General
has been
implicated in
the illegal
sale of
rosewood. The
UN must
prosecute the
criminals
behind timber
trafficking....
Chinese
authorities
played an
uncharacteristically
positive role
in the
incident by
seizing no
less than
10,000
shipping
containers of
illegal
rosewood. The
timber is
valued at more
than $300
million.
According to
the EIA, the
Nigerian
Ministry of
Environment
responded by
simply issuing
the missing
documents
retroactively.
This allowed
over 1.4
million
illegal logs
to be
laundered, in
violation of
both Nigerian
laws and the
Convention on
International
Trade in
Endangered
Species
(CITES). The
traffickers
allegedly
bribed senior
Nigerian
officials –
including
ministers and
members of
parliament –
with more than
US $1 million.
The scandal is
an impressive
illustration
of the power
wielded by the
timber mafia.
The then
Minister of
Environment,
Amina J.
Mohammed,
appears to
have
personally
signed the
fraudulent
documents as
one of her
last actions
in office. She
is currently
serving as the
Deputy
Secretary-General
of the United
Nations.
Mohammed has
since denied
the
allegations.
Please call on
UN
Secretary-General
António Manuel
de Oliveira
Guterres to
investigate
the
allegations
against Amina
J. Mohammed.
The
international
community must
prosecute the
criminals
behind timber
trafficking."
Then again,
Guterres and
Mohammed have
been ignoring
a petition to
end Press
censorship, here.
We'll have
more on this.
On November
15, Inner City
Press asked
Dujarric's
deputy Farhan
Haq, video here, UN transcript here:
Inner City
Press:
Rosewood
Racket and the
report that
was put out by
the
Environmental
Investigation
Agency.
And it's a
very detailed
report.
And one… and
I've read what
was put out by
the
Secretary-General
[sic] [ICP:
it is unclear
why the UN
inserted "sic"
here -
Dujarric said
the SG
supports the
DSG.]
I've read what
her interview
with the… of
the Cab… the
Pulse, the
Cable.
And what I
wanted to ask
you is, when
she signed
these 4,000
certificates,
CITES
[Convention on
International
Trade in
Endangered
Species of
Wild Flora and
Fauna]
regulations
require that
they be filed
with the
Secretariat of
CITES if they
are, in fact,
retroactive.
And so… it's
not answered
anywhere.
And I'd like
you to either
maybe get an
answer from
her or have
her have a
press
conference
when she comes
back. If
that was
committed to,
that would
seem to be the
way to
go. Were
these
certificates
ever filed
with CITES,
given the
various
pronouncements
that it's made
by this
Secretariat
about
commitment to
these
regulations?
Deputy
Spokesman:
Well, I
believe
Stéphane
[Dujarric] has
already given
you the
details of
where we stand
on this.
I don't have
anything
further to add
on this.
If the
Convention on
International
Trade in
Endangered
Species,
CITES, has any
actions, we
can evaluate
it at that
time.
But, at this
stage, we've
said what
we've said on
terms of her
actions.
Inner City
Press:
My question
is, he said… I
mean, I'm
asking a
question.
He said, your
question is
answered by
the statement
by the
Secretary-General,
but it's not
answered.
It's a
straight,
factual
question.
Were… she
signed the
certificates.
Were they, in
fact, filed
with the CITES
Secretariat as
required? It's
just a yes or
no… Deputy
Spokesman:
The Deputy
Secretary-General
has made clear
that she
followed the
procedures
that were
supposed to be
followed in
what she was
doing. Inner
City Press:
The reason I'm
asking you
this is
because the
Resident
Representative
of the UN in
Kenya,
Siddharth
Chatterjee,
has today
issued an
interview
saying that
the whole
report is fake
news and she's
a great
person.
She may be a
great person,
but what I
wanted to know
is, is he
speaking on
behalf Amina
Mohammed or
the UN system
when he says
this detailed
report of… of
seeming
violations is
CITES
regulations is
fake news?
Deputy
Spokesman:
"I don't have
to comment for
him.
He's offering
his personal
view.
This is…
that's outside
of his
particular
area." Oh.
Chatterjee says
he too has
been the
victim - the
reference is
to nepotism in
his
promotions,
from Iraq with
Steffan
de Mistura
under Ban and
forward from
there, and IPKF
war crimes in
Sri
Lanka.
Sid says:
"having been a
target of
malicious and
fake news
myself for
close to 10
years, let me
just begin by
saying that I
feel very
sorry for
Amina
Mohammed. It
is most
unfair. This
is yellow
journalism and
premeditated
mendacity."
This is the
response to
detailed
questions
about
retroactive
CITES permits
for rosewood,
illegally
smuggled from
Cameroon.
We'll have
more on this.
From the
November 14 UN
transcript:
Inner City
Press: I want
to ask you
about this
rosewood
situation.
I'd asked you
yesterday.
You'd said
that
everything is
answered in
the
statement...
So, my
question is as
follows, and
it's not
answered by
the
Secretary-General's
statement.
The allegation
in the report,
and it's
documented by
a guy holding
up a sheet of
paper that has
bill of lading
numbers on it,
is that, at
the time that
Amina Mohammed
signed
thousands of
certificates
in January
2017, that
this wood was
already in
China, that
the state…
that the… that
the… the
certificates
were
backdated,
which is,
under CITES
[Convention on
International
Trade in
Endangered
Species of
Wild Flora and
Fauna], a
major
problem.
So, I wanted
to know… she
says that
there's no
evidence of
that, but the
evidence is in
the report,
and I'm
directing you
to figure 33…
Spokesman:
I've read the
report. Inner
City Press:
Okay. So
what is her
response to
that? And how
could the
Secretary-General
say “I back
her up
entirely” in
advance of the
CITES meeting
that's coming
up in late
November?
Given that the
CITES is part
of the UN
system, will
he defer to
them? If they
find
wrongdoing,
will he take
action?
Spokesman:
I think the
statement that
we issued is
pretty
comprehensive.
The… Ms.
Mohammed, the
Deputy
Secretary-General,
said the
signing of the
legal signing
of export
permits for
rosewood was
delayed due to
her insistence
that stringent
due process
was
followed.
She said she
signed the
export
certificates
requested
before the ban
only after due
process was
followed and
better
security
watermarked
certificates
became
available. Inner
City
Press: Is
it permissible
to sign
certificates
when the wood
is already in
China?
Spokesman:
You're making
that
assumption.
I think she's
answered…
she's… she's
answered the
question. Inner
City Press:
That's why I
think she
should do a
press
conference on
it. It's
a major… given
that you talk
about the
environmental
SDGs
[Sustainable
Development
Goals], here
are many
people who
think that the
answer is
insufficient
Spokesman:
She's answered
the question."
No, she
hasn't. And
the UN says
she will stay
on the road
until November
20.
On November 13, Inner City Press
asked Dujarric to answer basic
questions, but he refused. Video
here:
From the UN's November 13
transcript: Inner City Press:
I've been looking closely at
this Environmental Investigation
Agency report about, among other
things, the Deputy
Secretary-General and her role
in signing thousands of
certificates for rosewood.
So, I wanted to ask you a couple
of questions. I've heard
the statement that the
Secretary-General stands behind
her, and I wonder, first of all,
can you say has he read the
whole report? Spokesman:
The Secretary-General is fully
aware of the report and the
accusations therein.
Inner City
Press: Okay.
So my question is, they quote
directly a member of the wood
exports association, saying that
Chinese businessmen travel to
Abuja and paid a minister.
They didn't say who the minister
is. So was the Deputy
Secretary-General aware of any
payments by Chinese businessmen
to Nigerian officials involving
the export of this rosewood?
Spokesperson:
Look,
what the Deputy
Secretary-General is very clear
on, she has never taken any sort
of illicit money, and she
rejects categorically the
accusations herein… to the
report. As for any other
questions having to do with the
functioning of the Federal
Government of Nigeria, I would
encourage you to ask the
Nigerian Government.
Inner City
Press: Can
you see why signing of thousands
of certificates right before she
came to the UN seems
strange? Do you at least
acknowledge that? And I
have another question.
Because in the report, they
actually say that much of this
wood came from Cameroon.
So, I want to ask you
directly. When she signed
the certificates, what was her
understanding of where the wood
at issue came from? Because she
definitely acknowledges signing
the certificates and that the
wood. Tere's some dispute of
when it left Nigerian shores.
Spokesman: She… I think I
would refer you to the statement
that we issued. She
categorically refutes any claims
that she signed illicit or any
forged documents. She only
dealt with issues having to do
with wood coming from Nigeria.
Inner City Press: I guess my
question is this, is that I see…
I've seen… she did… she did an
interview, I guess, over the
weekend with something called
the cable in Nigeria. And
she said that she's been asked
by… by Chinese… a Chinese
journalist about the timing
between the certificates and the
wood leaving. And so I'm
just wondering, what is the
procedure to actually get direct
answers to these
questions? Is she fielding
questions by phone from Chinese
journalists? Do we write
to you?… How does it work?
Spokesman: First of all, I
mean, I don't think it is
Spokesman-like ethics to tell
another journalist what contacts
others are having. So,
that's not what I would get
into. I would refer you to
the statement that I read out
last week, which I think covers
your answers. If you have
more questions, you can provide
them. Yes, ma'am.
Sorry and… I'm jumping around
here." Yes, the UN is jumping
around. This may put a new light
on the UN's inaction on the
Cameroonian government's
killings and Internet cut off in
the Anglophone zones. Cameroon's
Ambassador to the UN, while
saying he'd call upstairs to
ensure Inner City Press couldn't
go there any more (the UN's
Department of Public Information
did threaten Inner City Press'
accreditation for Periscope
broadcasting in connection with
photo ops on the 38th floor),
also bragged that the DSG's
opposition to separatism in
Biafra led to the same position
on Cameroon. And just as UN
envoy Chambas went and preached
One Nigeria, failing UN envoy
Francois Fall called Southern
Cameroons secessionists
"extremists," on DPI's UN Radio
no less. They say in journalism,
Follow the Money. But in this
case it may be, Follow the
Rosewood, or Kosso. In
terms of money: Joe Biden
appeared at the UN on November
3, and tables were sold
for up to $50,000. One might
think, after the proved
corruption of the UN in the Ng
Lap Seng / John Ashe trial for
events in this same Delegates
Dining Room, charging this kind
of money for sitting with
a “senior UN official” would be
a thing of the past. Or after
Antonio Guterres was questioned
after taking a golden statue
from Paul Biya, the 35-year
rules of Cameroon. But no. On
November 6, Deputy Secretary
General Amina J. Mohammed
appeared, took an award and gave
a speech at an event in
Washington for which $25,000
sponsorships were offered, here,
by a publication which covers
and is promoted by the UN (while
following up on November 9 on Le
Monde's November 3 story, no
mention of Cameroon.) On
November 9, Inner City Press
asked the UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, UN transcript here:
Inner City Press; as you know or
you or Farhan [Haq] had said,
she just recently received the
Diplomat of the Year Award from
Foreign Policy down in DC. Was
she aware of this story being in
preparation when she accepted
the award? Often, to receive the
award, you have to be
present. How long were the
discussions? Spokesman: I
think some of those questions
should be addressed to Foreign
Policy. She was fully
aware that the story was going
to come out when she received
the award." No Cameroon. Ban
Ki-moon allowed the corruption
of Ng Lap Seng, and Antonio
Guterres has done thing to
reverse it. In fact, Guterres
left through the same door Biden
came in, one hour before, using
public funds to fly to his home
in Lisbon, using a 15 minutes
speech there on Monday to
justify a three day UN paid
junket. And his spokesman
refused to answer questions,
even about his one on one
lunches on the 38th floor, where
Inner City Press' use of
Periscope during photo ops has
allowed Guterres' DPI under
Alison Smale to threaten its
accreditation. All of this takes
place while Guterres covers up
mass killing in Cameroon, and is
prepared to be sold himself, on
Wall Street no less. We'll have
more on this. On November 2,
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Dujarric announced that "on
Monday, the Secretary-General
will be in Lisbon to participate
in the Web Summit 2017, which
brings together the leaders of
key Internet companies with
officials from different
Governments. You are aware
of the attention the
Secretary-General has been
devoting to the uses of the
Internet." Really? Guterres was
silent for example when Cameroon
cut off the Internet for 94 days
this year; his Department of
Public Information has
threatened Inner City Press'
accreditation for unspecified
violation by live-streaming a
Guterres photo op using
Twitter's Periscope platform.
But why did Guterres take this
speaking gig, which it turns out
is for only 15 minutes at 7:25
pm on the evening of Monday,
November 6? Inner City Press
asked Dujarric, who refused to
state with whom Guterres had a
formal lunch meeting in the UN
dining room with UN funds on
November 3, where Guterres will
be on Saturday and Sunday.
Dujarric replied: "sg will be in
lisbon over the weekend." It
sure seems like that's why he
took the Lisbon speaking gig.
And in fact, even before 5 pm on
Friday, November 3, Guterres
left the UN with bodyguards, in
a three-car convoy. Who is
paying for all this? On October
27, after Guterres' spokespeople
stonewalled Inner City Press for
three days on his plans for a
grip and grin meeting in a
Cameroon airport with Paul Biya,
who has killed hundreds this
year as well as cutting the
Internet Guterres loves so much,
they also refused to say how
Guterres personal, or shall we
say Lisbon-focused, travel is
paid for, and how much it costs.
From the UN transcript: Inner
City Press: If he goes to
Lisbon, Portugal, does he take
UN security with him? In
which case, where do they stay,
and what are the costs?
How are they borne? Deputy
Spokesman: However he does
his stopovers, he does it at the
least cost to the UN. And
a lot of times, what that means
is traveling with a smaller
delegation, and it also means
traveling on commercial
flights. He does take
specific steps, and he's been
very conscientious over these
months of making sure that he
travels with as slim a
delegation as he has. Inner City
Press: My question is just who's
paying for his security if he
goes to Lisbon? And also
I'm aware that he sent some
people in advance to CAR.
They didn't travel with him, but
they were actually part of the
party. So is there an
attempt to bifurcate traveling
trips so that some people are
not considered to be traveling
with him. For example, the
UN photographer, I'm aware, went
days in advance. Why was
that?
Deputy Spokesman: Well,
sometimes advance teams go out
when it's needed to do
that. For us, in terms of
the Department of Public
Information, there are many
times when it's useful for us to
send our media crews in advance
to get different coverage for
the sort of pieces and features
that they do. Inner City
Press: Can we just get the
cost? It's a straight
transparency question. Deputy
Spokesman: The costs of
travel are calculated over the
year and shared with the Member
States, and that's how we do
it. All right. Have
a good weekend, everyone."
Antonio sure will - on the
public dime. Back on July 29,
the day after guilty verdicts on
six counts of UN
bribery in the case of Ng
Lap Seng, UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres flew to Split
for a seven day vacation on the
Dalmatian islands, according to
sources there. Guterres'
spokespeople did not disclose
the travel or any week-long
absence to the press covering
the UN, at least not to the
Press evicted and still
restricted for covering Ng's
bribery. This lack of
transparency stands in contrast
to the executive branch in
Washington and even New York
routinely disclosing travel
including vacation travel. But
the UN has no press protections
either - Guterres has been asked.
Meanwhile his spokespeople says
the UN should get paid for the
UNreformed corruption shown in
the Ng trial and verdict. We'll
have more on this. When UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres on July 27 had a brief
meeting with Qatar's Foreign
Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin
Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatar
state media and other UN based
photographers went up. Alamy
photos here.
There were complaints how short
the handshake was; Inner City
Press noted that on the UN side
of the table were only four
people, all men, including
Jeffrey Feltman. Periscope video
here.
Guterres was scheduled to be at
another meeting in 25 minutes
time. So will the UN help solve
the stand-off in the Gulf? It
seems unlikely. The UN never
answered Inner City Press'
questions of if Feltman had
visited Saudi Arabia and if not,
why not. Back on July 19
Guterres.had a meeting and photo
op with Spain's Foreign Minister
Alfonso María Dastis Quecedo.
Inner City Press went to cover
it, Alamy photos here,
Periscope video here
including of whether Dastis
should write "una poema"
in the UN visitors' book. Inner
City Press barely arriving on
time due to the crowd of
tourists at the UN's visitors
entrance. It has been this way
since Spain's now-gone Under
Secretary General Cristina
Gallach had Inner City Press
evicted from and still
restricted at the UN after Inner
City Press asked
her about attending indicted
Macau-based businessman Ng Lap
Seng's South South Awards, and
allowing Ng fundees improper
events in the UN. Although
Guterres did not continue
Gallach's contract - she lobbied
to stay, but failed - her
negative impacts are still in
evidence. The Spanish Mission to
the UN, now off the Security
Council, likewise did nothing to
reign Gallach in. But surely
they are lobbying Guterres to
get another Under Secretary
General position, even as their
Fernando Arias Gonzalez runs
against six others to head the
Organization for the Prohibition
of Chemical Weapons. We'll have
more on this. The day before on
July 18 Guterres had a meeting
and photo op with the Dominican
Republic's Foreign Minister
Miguel Vargas Maldonado (Alamy
photos here,
Periscope video here);
it came one day after in the UN
bribery case against Ng Lap Seng
a video of then then-President
Leonel
Fernandez
Reyna visiting
South South
News near the
UN was
discussed.
That video is
here.
South South
News was a
bribery
conduit, its
funds used for
gambling by
Dominican
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Francis
Lorenzo in Las
Vegas and
Atlantic City
while the UN's
Department of
Public
Information
let SSN's
content into
UNTV archives
and let Ng
fundees have
impermissible
events in the
UN. On July
18, Guterres'
Deputy
Spokesman
Farhan Haq
refused to
answer Inner
City Press'
yes or no
questions
about South
South News and
the UN. After
the July 18
photo op,
Inner City
Press had
nowhere to
edit - for
seeking to
cover an event
in the UN
Press Briefing
Room in
pursuing the
UN / SSN
corruption
story, Inner
City Press was
evicted and still
restricted.
The 38th
floor apparently loves it.
On July 10 Guterres has a photo
op with Colombia's Foreign
Minister Maria Angela Holguin
Cuellar. It was supposed to be
in his office in UN Headquarters
at 4:30 pm. But on little notice
he moved it to his - make that,
the UN and the public's -
mansion on Sutton Place and 57th
Street, at 4 pm. Inner City
Press jumped on the city bus up
First Avenue, broadcasting a
Periscope video about the
change, when suddenly it was urged
to stop broadcasting by a
board member of the UN
Correspondents Association,
which Guterres' deputy spoke
before last week and whose
former president Giampaolo
Pioli's Hampton's gratiuty-fest
the UN acting head of Public
Information Maher
Nasser attended, the UN
Censorship Alliance. This is
today's UN. Still, up on Sutton
Place UN Security brought up a
sniffing dog in a UN 4x4, and
two quick photos were allowed
before Guterres escorted Holguin
onto "his" elevator. Back
at the UN, the door to the UN
Security Council stakeout was
locked, and the turnstile where
targeting Inner City Press' ID
pass no longer works was guarded
by new UN Security who didn't
even recognize the UN minder.
Still, we got this
Periscope, despite UN censorship
which continues.
***
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-303,
UN, NY 10017 USA
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
2006-2015 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
for
,
