UNITED NATIONS,
March 13 – Today's firing of
Rex Tillerson as US Secretary
of State and replacement by
Mike Pompeo was presaged by
many snubs and incongruities
but Inner City Press was
struck by one, earlier this
month. During the March 2
State Department's press
teleconference previewing
Tillerson's trip to Africa,
one of his senior State
Department officials resisted
the idea the
idea of
"countering"
Chinese
influence,
stressing
instead a
desire to get
China working
for the bigger
picture as the
official
described it.
More
tellingly,
Tillerson's
official
quoted Joseph
Stiglitz and
Jeffrey Sachs
as to
Ethiopia,
mentioning
that Starbucks
aprons are
made there. A
quote, online:
"they even do
Fruit of the
Loom and
Starbucks
apron
productions.
But we’re
looking at
much
more. So
in other
words, in our
discussions
with Nobel
laureate
Joseph
Stiglitz and Jeffrey Sachs"
- what? The
official also listed countries
taking resources out of the
Democratic Republic of the
Congo as including North
Korea. While there are reports
of Pyongyang exporting weapons
and trainers to the African
continent, for example to
Uganda and Mozambique to which
we'll turn next, the
allegation that the Kim Jong
Un government is like China
taking resources from DRC is
new. But North Korea exporting
from DRC? We hope to have more
on this. In the face of North
Korea sanctions, the UN in
December 2017 used the
sanctioned Foreign Trade Bank
and Russia's Sputnik Bank to
release EUR 3,974,920.62 into
the country, documents
obtained by Inner City Press
and exclusively published on
February 21 show. On February
21, Inner City Press asked the
Dutch chair of the UN Security
Council's 1718 Sanctions
committee about the exemption.
He refused to comment, saying
the issue did not come up in
the meeting he had just
exited. Video here,
but see below. Now a complaint
to the Committee by Japan
about a Maldives flagged ship
Xin Yuan 18 has drawn return
fire from the embattled
government of President
Yameen: "No such vessel is
registered in the country,"
his Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said in a statement on
Wednesday. 'Further we
condemn, in the strongest
possible terms, the use of our
National Flag in a manner so
as to tarnish the good
standing and reputation of our
nation and that of our people.
The Maldivian authorities do
not allow flag of convenience
to foreign owned vessels to
operate outside Maldivian
waters,' the statement added.
The Government of Maldives
gives high priority to the
implementation of all
resolutions of the United
Nations Security Council,
including the Resolutions on
Democratic People's Republic
of Korea (North Korea). The
Administration is currently
investigating the matter and
wishes to make clear that the
Maldives will pursue
aggressive action against any
such acts which affects the
National Identity in such a
detrimental manner." Inner
City Press has asked the
chairmanship if Maldives has
formally responded to the
Committee; separately, the
Panel of Experts' report is
due on March 14, photo here.
Japan said that 'at midnight
on February 24, 2018, a P-3C
aircraft of Japan Maritime
Self-Defense Force (Fleet Air
Wing 1 P-3C : Kanoya) found
that Chon Ma San, North
Korean-flagged tanker, was
lying alongside Xin Yuan 18,
Maldivian-flagged tanker, on
the high sea (around 250 km
eastern offshore of Shanghai )
in the East China Sea. Judging
from the fact that the two
vessels lay alongside each
other with their lights turned
on at night, both vessels
could have been engaged in
some type of activity.
Following a comprehensive
assessment, the Government of
Japan strongly suspects that
they conducted ship-to-ship
transfers banned by UNSCR."
Meanwhile in the matter Inner
City Press is exclusively
pursuing, a letter from
Sputnik Bank stated that
"unauthorized person (I.V.
Tonkih) led negotiations
with Korean party on interbank
correspondent relationship."
Photos here,
more documents in PDF now
published on Patreon, here.
On February 22, Inner City
Press asked UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres'
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
about how Sputnik Bank, given
its admission, was selected,
and then additional questions
in writing, below - which
Dujarric would not answer or
confirm. Video here.
From the UN transcript:
Inner City Press: I wanted to
ask you quickly about a thing
in North Korea. I've
learned yesterday and
published the documents of a
waiver sought by the UN
system, he UN Resident
Coordinator, Tapan Mishra. To
use a, some say little-known,
but, in any case, not a
prominent Russian bank as a
correspondent bank to send €4
million into North Korea in
December. And I wanted
to know, first of all, how is
the bank… there's a document
that's… that's part of the
request that shows that the
Russian bank acknowledges that
an unauthorized person even
negotiated the correspondent
bank relationship. How
does the UN system choose
which correspondent bank to
use? And is this
comment… is this… it seemed
like they presented this as an
emergency for third-quarter
disbursements of 4 million
euros into North
Korea…Spokesman: Listen,
I don't know the details of
the agreement. What I do
know is that the UN operates,
has humanitarian presence and
has a presence in
Pyongyang. We abide… the
DPRK [Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea], as you
know, is under very strict
sanctions from the Security
Council, which include issues
of the banking sector.
We do need to get money to pay
staff and to run our
programmes. I think it's
only normal that we go through
the Sanctions Committee to get
the waivers. We don't
want to be… obviously, the
Secretariat doesn't want to be
in violation of Security
Council resolutions. To
say that dealing with the
banking sector in terms of
banks that are willing to do
business legitimately in the
DPRK is challenging would
probably be an
understatement. But
whatever rules there are, I
have no doubt that they were
followed. Inner City
Press: So, simple
question, is this… is this put
out… is there a procurement
for this? I'm asking you
because there's some questions
about how the bank was
selected even from… their own
documents acknowledge some
irregularities. So how…
can you look? Spokesman:
As I said, I don't have
further details. I can
look into it, but I know we're
working in a very challenging
environment in trying to
follow the rules and
regulations to the 'T.'"
To the T? Inner City Press has
also aske in writing, "Please
state the total of funds the
UN system (including
specifically the agencies
named in the Resident
Coordinator's request)
transferred in 2017 to DPRK,
including total for program
use (development assistance)
and total for UN use
(maintenance, local salaries,
etc). When was the last audit
of UN activities in North
Korea / DPRK done? There will
be more." In 2017
then-chairman of the UN
Security Council's 1718 /
North Korea sanctions
committee Sebastiano Cardi of
Italy informed Sputnik Bank to
release the nearly EUR 4
million to the Foreign Trade
Bank - the very entity for
dealing with Latvia's ABLV
Bank has been sanctioned by
the United States.
Previously, Cardi by letter
had, according to UN Resient
Coordinator Tapan Mishra,
neglected to "make clear
reference to the need for cash
withdrawal." The Treasurer of
the UN Development Program
Paul Gravanese then asked
Cardi for wider authorization
for FTB to withdraw funds.
This only concerned the third
quarter of 2017 - what has
been done since? The new
chairman declined to say.
Others
say, the UN has fixed nothing,
sweeps everything uner the
rug. Earlier this month
when Inner City Press asked if
the Committee's rulings on
request for exemptions, and
the underlying requests
themselves, are placed on the
Committee's website or
otherwise made public. The
answer was and is no.
Inner City Press will have
more in this exclusive series. Media paid to
cover the UN too often let it
off the hook, on issues from
North Korea to UN corruption
to most recently automatic
weapons. The UN has been the
venue for bribes paid from
Macau based operative Ng Lap
Seng and now Patrick Ho of the
China Energy Fund Committee -
but on February 13 in the same
basement the North Korea
sanctions committee meets in
the UN allowed an Indonesia
based weapons company to
advertise not only machine
guns and drones but even tanks
inside the UN. Periscope video
here.
But when the Japanese media
paid to cover the UN belatedly
chime in on gun control, like
Sankei Shimbun's Mayu Uetsuka
here,
they ignored the UN's total
failure in even advertising
guns after the Florida
shooting. They could have
covered it, and still could;
their Mr Tatsuya Kato in South
Korea, whom Inner City Press
supported here
and here,
and also in Sankei, proves
there is something to support
on a free Press basis. But. As
the North
Korea UN
sanctions
"experts"
report
continues to
be cherry
picked further
and further
down the food
chain, now
that North
Korea paid its
2017 UN dues
by means of a
swap is also ignored,
like
the recent
report focused
on coal,
pointing the
finger at
Vietnam,
Russia, China,
Vietnam and
South Korea.
Omitted,
apparently
intentionally,
are violations
by Japanese
companies,
like Bank of
Tokyo
Mitsubishi, as
Inner City
Press has reported.
It is facts
chucked or
thrown, rather
than fact
checked. How
far will
today's UN go
to placate
some
countries,
while ignoring
others and restricting
the Press? On
January 26 UN
"global
communications"
chief Alison
Smale flew to
Charleston,
South Carolina
for a photo op
and UNTV video
with China's
Xiamen
Airlines for
having
painting the
UN's "SDGs"
logo on the
side of an
airplane. This
without having
answered Press
questions
about her
Department of
Public
Information's
malfeasance
with resources
allocated by
the General
Assembly for Kiswahili
and about the
lack under her
"leadership"
of any content
neutral UN
media access
rules.
Afterward,
when Inner
City Press
asked for the
mp4 video
of her South
Carolina
junket - Inner
City Press is
informed that
the plane she
celebrated
could not in
fact fly - it
was told to
"Ask UN
Webcast,"
which is under
Smale. They
were asked -
and have not
given the
video. Nor has
Smale offered
any response
to a detailed
petition
two weeks ago,
while
re-tweeting
her former
employer the
NYT and
current boss
Antonio
Guterres. But
who is making
who look bad?
And how can a
former NYT
editor have no
content
neutral media
access rules,
and no
answers? As
she restricts
Inner City Press from its
UN reporting on
Cameroon,
Myanmar,
Kenya,
Yemen
and elsewhere?
We'll
have more on
this. While
any country
would try to
get the UN to
promote its
airline, if
the UN would
do it, Smale
is the UN
official who
responsible
for Inner City
Press being
restricted and
evicted as it
reports on the
UN bribery
scandal of
Patrick Ho and
China Energy
Fund
Committee.
Smale hasn't
even deigned
to answer
petitions in
this regard,
in September
(she said she
recognized the
need for the
"courtesy" of
a response,
never given)
and in
January --
too busy
flying to
South Carolina
to promote an
airline:
Today's
UN of Antonio Guterres, who
just met
with ICC indictee Omar al
Bashir, and his Deputy Amina
J. Mohammed who has refused
Press questions
on her rosewood signatures
and now the refoulement of 47
people to Cameroon from "her"
Nigeria, has become a place of
corruption and censorship. On
January 30 as Inner City Press
sought to complete its
reporting for the day on
Guterres' Bashir meeting and
Mohammed's Cameroon no-answer,
it had a problem. It was
invited to the month's UN
Security Council president's
end of presidency reception,
6:30 to 8:30 - but with its
accreditation reduced by
censorship, it could not get
back into the UN after 7 pm,
to the already delayed UN
video. It ran to at least
enter the reception - but the
elevator led to a jammed
packed third floor, diplomats
lined up to shake the outgoing
UNSC president's hand. Inner
City Press turn to turn tail
back to the UN, passing on its
way favored, pro-UN
correspondents under no such
restriction. Periscope here.
Inner City Press has written
about this to the head of the
UN Department of Public
Information Alison
Smale, in Sepember
2017 - no answer but a new threat - and this
month, when Smale's DPI
it handing out full access
passes to no-show state media.
No answer at all: pure
censorship, for corruption.
Smale's DPI diverted funds
allocated for Kiswahili,
her staff say, now saying they
are targeted for retaliation.
This is today's UN. Amid UN
bribery scandals, failures in
countries from Cameroon to
Yemen and declining
transparency, today's UN does
not even pretend to have
content neutral rules about
which media get full access
and which are confined to
minders or escorts to cover
the General Assembly.
Inner City Press,
which while it pursue the
story of Macau-based
businessman Ng Lap Seng's
bribery of President of the
General Assembly John Ashe was
evicted by the UN Department
of Public Information from its
office, is STILL confined to
minders as it pursues the new
UN bribery scandal, of Patrick
Ho and Cheikh Gadio
allegedly bribing President of
the General Assembly Sam
Kutesa, and Chad's Idriss
Deby, for CEFC China Energy.
Last week Inner
City Press asked UN DPI where
it is on the list to be
restored to (its) office, and
regain full office - and was
told it is not even on the
list, there is no public list,
the UN can exclude,
permanently, whomever it
wants. This is censorship.
***
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