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By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR Fox Filing to SG

UNITED NATIONS GATE, August 29 – As the Cameroon government of 36 year President Paul Biya slaughters civilians in the Anglophone regions as well as in the North, it has 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 and on which he and UK USG Alison Smale imposed a lifetime ban on August 17 profiled in Press Freedom Tracker US here, that Guterres met with a Cameroon delegation on July 11. Guterres' spokesmen have repeatedly 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. Inner City Press  asked the same and more to the UK Mission to the UN, president of the UN Security Council for August, in writing (below) and verbally. The UK Mission has yet to answer those questions, or even acknowledge Inner City Press' written questions about Yemen (where UK bombs kill children) and Western Sahara. But on August 29 they were very quick to proudly support the Press censorship order of their compatriot Alison Smale. Inner City Press wrote to Ambassador Pierce, and verbally notified her deputy Jonathan Allen, that Smale allowed no due process or appeal. This quickly came back, from Matt Moody Spokesperson @UKUN_NewYork: "Dear Matthew, I am replying on behalf of Ambassador Karen Pierce to your email to her of 29 August. As you note in your email, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications wrote to you on 17 August setting out why the Department of Public Information has withdrawn your media accreditation. Media accreditation to the United Nations is a matter for the Department of Public Information. We refer you to them." So wait - if someone raised to the UK Mission or FCO rapes by UN Peacekeepers, would they refer the matter to USG of Peacekeeping Jean Pierre Lacroix? Or is this deference to the obviously no due process censorship order of Smale because she is British? Or because the UK supports, benefits from and seemingly even called for this censorship of the Press? What about the British Assistant Secretary General who oversaw the roughing up on July 3, Christian Saunders, previously implicated in UN procurement corruption - was the UK Mission fine with that? With Justin Forsyth at UNICEF and before? The UK Mission's / Ambassador Pierce's response seems to show that there is no oversight of the UN by the UK, at least when a British official is the wrong-doers, or if the UK Mission (thinks it) benefits. Follow up questions have been sent to the UK Mission and Ambassador Pierce, including "Please describe your and the Mission's communications with British USG Smale this year, including prior to her/the directive to DSS Lt Dobbins to begin physically targeting me any time after 7 pm, even if there was a Budget Committee meeting, or as on June 22 a speecch by the SG?

  Does the UK / Mission / Ambassador Pierce believe that there should be content neutral accreditation and access rules for journalists at the UN?

  Does the UK / Mission / Ambassador Pierce believe that a journalist should be spoken to before they are physically assaulted and banned from the UN?

  Did you know that the March "warning" was a frivolous complaint by the Moroccan mission, that I couldn't use my camera phone at the UNSC stakeout, that even USG Smale's MALU told me it was frivolous?

Did you know USG Smale's MALU told me I did not require an escort or minder to live stream on the fourth and third floors? They did. Repeatedly.

  You "refer' me back to this Star Chamber but as the letter you cite shows, there is no appeals process?

  Given your topic today in the UNSC I am banned from, what does this no due process banning without any attempt to address the issues - like that parking lot which were never raised to me - say about the Secretariat's and USG Smale's "mediation " and conflict prevention?

  Does the UK / Mission / Ambassador Pierce believe that a UN investigation or review of a journalist should involve an opportunity to be heard, and specific charges rather than unnamed accusers?

  So do you accept this censorship by your compatriot or not?"  Their complicity on the slaughter in Cameroon, particularly in light of Liam Fox bragging about UK-based New Age's gas deal with Biya, is striking, and the failure to answer uncomfortable - hostile? - questions about Pierce's meeting with Biya's lobbyists need looking into. We have a FOIA request in to FCO on just this topic. As some British say: Shocking, smacking of the Star Chamber. 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 the UK? Inner City Press has submitted a FOIA request, even as the UK ICO considers the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's redaction of Yemen documents response to Inner City Press' request a year ago, and denial in full on Cameroon: "This is request under the UK Freedom of Information act for the following records as that term is defined in FOI, including but not limited to all electronic records, emails, text/SMS message and communications in any form, involving the UK Mission to the UN in New York since August 15, 2017 regarding Cameroon and/or Southern Cameroons and all meeting including Amb Pierce's July 11 meeting with ministers, all responses to communications received about Cameroon including but not limited to Inner City Press' communications of

Feb 6, 2018 (verbal question to DPR Allen),

June 2018 to Amb Pierce about Liam Fox and New Age's deal with Cameroon,

July 14, 2018 email to the UK mission about Cameroon and UK USG Alison Smale's then suspension of Inner City Press' access to the UN since July 3, 2018;

Aug 1, 2018, reiterated August 3:  written question to the UK Mission, not answered as of Aug 21: "not the agenda, troublingly, is the situation in Cameroon. Why not? Amb Pierce disclosed in yesterday's Twitter Q&A that she “spoke to a delegation of Cameroon ministers at the UN on 11 July.” Did she mean government ministers or religious ministers? If the former, who were they? Which departments? And what was it mean to say “we were watching the situation closely.” Does this mean the UK or the Council? Is there a role, does the UK think, for UN envoy Francois Lonseny Fall? Or should another mediator be assigned?"

August 7 written questions to Mission, also not responded to as of August 21.

  To explain the last part of this request, British national and 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 Jonathan Allen's flat refusal to answer or even acknowledge the Cameroon questions I asked him at the Delegates Entrance stakeout on August 15, this is a request for all record that reflect or are related to any communications by the UN 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: faster than the 20 working days provided for. Please note our recent complaint to ICO about the FCO's failure to provide any of the Cameron records I requested on August 15, 2017." Watch this site.

Inner City Press asked the UK Mission's two spokespeople Matthew Moody and Amy.Quantrill: "On July 31 Ambassador Pierce stated on Twitter that she (and presumably others at the UK mission) had met on July 11 with Cameroonian ministers. On August 1, for the Program of Work press conference I was and am banned from by USG Alison Smale and SG Antonio Guterres, after being roughed up by UN Security while covering an event and a meeting on June 22 and July 3, I asked both of you: 'Did she mean government ministers or religious ministers? If the former, who were they? Which departments?'  I have yet to receive an answer, including after tweeting substantial the same question to Amb Allen yesterday. This time I am addressing this to Stephen Hickey as well. I am requesting an immediate answer to these Cameroon questions: Name the ministers Amb Pierce met with on July 11. State whether Amb Pierce or anyone else at the UK mission was aware this this Biya administration 'tour' July 11-20 was stage managed by DC-based lobbying firm Patton Boggs (reflected on documents Inner City Press has published), including US ex-Amb Frank Wisner. State whether any non-Cameroonians were present at the July 11 meeting and if so, who they were. State whether Amb Pierce has had any meetings with Cameroonian opposition or Federalists or separatists, and if not, why not. On deadline. Thanks you in advance. -Matthew." Nothing still, as of August 12.

  Now Inner City Press has obtained the Cameroon government's internal memo about the lobbying, including of Guterres and what he said, and this, regarding the UK Mission (the Cameroonians mis-spelled Pierce as Perce) -- "They appreciated the initiative of the Head of State to send this Mission to the UN. The move has helped in a better understanding of the situation on the ground, instead of the one-sided information on the social media...
REMARKS AND PERSPECTIVES
Maintain a direct link between our Government and the UN, by constant High-level Missions.
Adopt and adapt an aggressive Communication strategy, especially with the Anglo-Saxon press.
Get our Permanent Mission all documentation to distribute on a permanent basis."

UNSG Guterres said that the ("Anglo-Saxon") media is unfair to Paul Biya's Cameroun and that he, Guterres, will help them in the "propaganda campaign." Guterres said he "will contact reasonable people" and "counter the daily press briefs."

 Guterres has kept Inner City Press banned from the UN and its daily press briefings for 40 days, with the prospect of a longer or permanent ban by his conflicted, UK-national Under Secretary General for Global Communications Alison Smale (see yesterday's Fox story here; Smale refused comment.)

  Here's from the Cameroon government's memo: "THE DION NGUTE/GHOGOMU PAUL MISSION REPORT

High Level Mission to the USA
(11 – 20 July 2018)

Delegation Members:
H.E Dr DION NGUTE Joseph, Minister in charge of Missions at the Presidency,
H.E GHOGOMU Paul MINGO, Director of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet,
H.E MBAYU Felix, Minister Delegate to MINREX, in charge of the Commonwealth,
Mr. CHINMOUN Oumarou, Director of American and Caribbean Affairs at the MINREX, and
Mme EYEMA ELINGE Susan epse EWUSI, Research Officer at the Presidency....

NEW YORK
Meeting with:
H.E Antonio Gutteres, Secretary General of the UNO

The Delegation was helped in the organization of audiences by the Cameroon Permanent Representative to the United Nations, H.E TOMMO MONTHE. At each audience, we presented the historical background of the socio-political crisis in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. We also briefed our hosts on the current situation in the two Regions, and explained the measures taken by the Government to address the crisis.

We insisted that it was an internal crisis for which the Government had mobilized all necessary security, political, social and humanitarian means for its management. We presented the Government Emergency Humanitarian Plan and stated our Government’s expectations from the UNO and the members of the Security Council.

For the SG/UN:
Cameroon is a very important and strategic Country,
We have a very wise and intelligent leader,
There is a pattern of inevitable problems when there is a linguistic minority,
The strategy of radical groups has always been to provoke, then show the world what the army is doing,
The global media is Anglo-Saxon dominated, so that there is a campaign to show that the English-speaking minority is being maltreated,
We are losing the international propaganda campaign, but he is willing to help. He will contact reasonable people,

Cameroon should however counter the daily press briefs" --

  And Guterres has Inner City Press banned from the UN's daily noon press briefing, and refuses to answer written questions about these meetings. Meanwhile, Guterres for a year sought to ingratiate himself to Biya's Ambassador Tommo Monthe, UN Budget Committee chair whose bureaucratic help Guterres wanted for example for his ill-gated Global Service Delivery Mechanism plan to move UN jobs from Geneva to Budapest, from New York to Mexico City, and from Entebbe, Uganda to Kenya. We'll have more, much more, on this.

  On August 10, with Inner City Press banned from entering the UN for the 38th day by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the Dutch Mission to the UN and HRW started bragging about a UN Security Council Presidential Statement which they said embodied deep concern. At first banned Inner City Press, thanks to Guterres who took Biya's golden statue in October 2017, couldn't even see the Statement: it was not on the Security Council's website now run by the (Dutch) husband of the chief of staff of the UN Department of Political Affairs' Rosemary DiCarlo, and was not emailed out to those not (allowed) in the UN. But by mid afternoon it came out: and it was just a single line, about the "worrying increase in violence in the north-west and south-west regions of Cameroon." Why did Human Rights Watch make so much of this, after earlier this year telling Inner City Press - before Antonio "Golden Statue" Guterres banned it from the UN - that HRW omitted Cameroon from its 2018 World Report because it didn't view it as a top-90 problem? That's here. As Guterres and his Alison Smale and their stooges try to keep Inner City Press out even longer, we'll have more on this. After twice asking the Spokespeople for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (from the bus stop outside the UN Delegates' Entrance since Guterres has banned Inner City Press since July 3), UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq on August 8 belatedly told Inner City Press, "On your first question, we can confirm that, on 11 July, a high-level Cameroonian delegation was dispatched to UNHQ to brief the Secretary-General on the efforts carried out by the Government to address the crisis in the North-West and South-West regions. The Secretary-General stressed the importance of finding a peaceful resolution to the crisis through an inclusive dialogue and reiterated the UN’s readiness to support such efforts, including the provision of humanitarian assistance to the affected regions." But Inner City Press' question was, "On Cameroon beyond the questions you have left unanswered from August 3 and August 6-1, please state if anyone in the UN Secretariat met with a Cameroonian government delegation in the US from July 11 (whcn they met UK Ambassador Pierce) to July 20 and if the UN was aware that this Biya delegation's lobbying trip was stage managed by the DC-based lobbying firm Patton Boggs." No answer on this, nor on August 10, when Guterres' Deputy Spokesman Haq answered a past question from August 6, on using and paying for Biya's troops: "Regarding your earlier Cameroon question, here’s what we have for you: "August 6-1: On Cameroon, important and not answered - please immediately confirm and explain: “A 295-strong Cameroonian contingent including four doctors, will be deployed in the intervening weeks to the Central African Republic (CAR).They will be part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Mission for the Stabilization of CAR (MINUSCA), ministry of Defense sources in Cameroon disclosed on Thursday.” Given not only this military's torching of villages in the Anglophone areas but summary executions, why is the UN accepting this deployment at this time? How much of the money goes to / stays with the Biya government? What vetting has been done? Does the UN know the identity of the Cameroon soldiers recently shown killing women and children? What assurance does the UN have these soldiers will not “serve” the UN in CAR?"

The 295-strong Cameroonian contingent referred into in the article is not a new deployment. It is in fact a rotation of two Cameroonian Formed Police Units (FPUs) already deployed in MINUSCA.

In this specific case, the two Cameroonian FPUs will finish their tour of duty by mid-September, will substitute them. As per established procedures, all FPU personnel undergo extensive pre-deployment training to ensure they understand the rules, regulations and, standards and values expected of personnel deployed to UN operations, including respect for human rights.

With regard to the vetting process, the Policy on Human Rights Screening of United Nations Personnel places primary responsibility on Member States to ensure that the personnel they appoint for deployment have not been involved in violations. All countries contributing uniformed personnel to UN peacekeeping operations have primary responsibility for screening individuals and for ensuring that personnel they nominate for service have not been involved, by act or omission, in violations of international humanitarian law or human rights law, and have not been repatriated on disciplinary grounds from a UN operation. Contributing countries have to provide a certification to that effect when they nominate personnel for deployment.

The Policy thus sets forth procedures to strengthen the ability of the United Nations to ensure that its personnel meet the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, and to promote and encourage respect for human rights, in accordance with the United Nations Charter. These procedures have notably led to strengthen pre-deployment screening and certification by contributing countries.

On your question regarding payment, countries contributing uniformed personnel to peacekeeping operations are reimbursed by the UN at a standard rate, approved by the General Assembly, of US$1,428 per person per month."

After Guterres remained disturbingly quiet about Biya's killing for a full year, when Cameroon was the chair of the Budget Committee whose support Guterres wanted for his proposal like moving jobs from Geneva to Budapest, New York to Mexico City, Entebbe to Kenya? We'll have more on this. This also means that the July 11 meeting with Cameroonian ministers bragged about by this month's UN Security Council president, Karen Pierce of the UK, was actually in connection with a lobbying trip stage managed by Patton Boggs. Inner City Press has asked the UK Mission, see below, and also on the morning of August 7 asked Secretary General Antonio Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq before "his" noon briefing Inner City Press was banned from for the 35th day in a row. Guterres' Haq never answered (though perhaps relatedly envoy Francois Fall is supposedly going to Cameroon). Now Inner City Press has reviewed Patton Boggs long history with Paul Biya, as he has become more and more brutal. It began in 2004 with a letter from Patton Boggs' Joseph Brand (still involved in 2018) to Biya's Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo for Peter Mafany Musonge, here. We'll have more on this. UNanswered as of August8 by Guterres' team: "August 7-1: On Cameroon beyond the questions you have left unanswered from August 3 and August 6-1, please state if anyone in the UN Secretariat met with a Cameroonian government delegation in the US from July 11 (whcn they met UK Ambassador Pierce) to July 20 and if the UN was aware that this Biya delegation's lobbying trip was stage managed by the DC-based lobbying firm Patton Boggs." Neither Haq nor the others in Guterres' team whom Inner City Press asked - Deputy SG Amina J. Mohammed, Eihab Omaish, Alison Smale and her officer in charge (of censorship) Hua Jiang answered that specific question. Instead Haq at the briefing said he trying to "get language" about Guterres' envoy Francois Lounseny Fall, who equated secessionists with extremists, may go to the country this week. What, some ask, for Patton Boggs?  Inner City Press asked the UK Mission's two spokespeople Matthew Moody and Amy.Quantrill: "Good morning. This is a formal Press request for an answer I have sought from the UK Mission to the UN since August 1. On July 31 Ambassador Pierce stated on Twitter that she (and presumably others at the UK mission) had met on July 11 with Cameroonian ministers.

On August 1, for the Program of Work press conference I was and am banned from by USG Alison Smale and SG Antonio Guterres, after being roughed up by UN Security while covering an event and a meeting on June 22 and July 3, I asked both of you:

"Did she mean government ministers or religious ministers? If the former, who were they? Which departments? And what was it mean to say “we were watching the situation closely.” Does this mean the UK or the Council? Is there a role, does the UK think, for UN envoy Francois Lonseny Fall? Or should another mediator be assigned?"

  I have yet to receive an answer, including after tweeting substantial the same question to Amb Allen yesterday. Nor did I receive any response to my August 3 question to you, explicitly your UK's capacity of President of the UNSC, about Yemen and a Saudi letter.

This time I am addressing this to Stephen Hickey as well. (Hello).

  I am requesting an immediate answer to these Cameroon questions:

Name the ministers Amb Pierce met with on July 11.

State whether Amb Pierce or anyone else at the UK mission was aware this this Biya administration "tour" July 11-20 was stage managed by DC-based lobbying firm Patton Boggs (reflected on documents Inner City Press has this morning published), including US ex-Amb Frank Wisner.

  State whether any non-Cameroonians were present at the July 11 meeting and if so, who they were.

state whether Amb Pierce has had any meetings with Cameroonian opposition or Federalists or separatists, and if not, why not.

  Also, as I asked on August 1 in advance of these week's UNSC meeting I remained banned from,

Last month Sweden said at the beginning of the month that it would be seeking agreed Press Elements from every consultation. Will the UK be seeking Press Elements from this Western Sahara consultation? And if not, why not?

  On deadline. Thanks you in advance. -Matthew." Nothing.

The Patton Boggs FARA documents show the agreement is to run to mid 2019, long after Biya's next "election" in October (also made a mockery of by French President Emmanuel Macron inviting Biya to an event in Paris as head of state in November). The "confidential" letter agreement is addressed by Patton Boggs' Robert S. Kapla to Biya's Prime Minister Philemon Yang, to be signed by Ghogomu Paul Mingo and cites Prof. Nkot. It  says Joseph Brand and "Ambassador Frank Wisner" will work on the Biya fileAfter the abuses by Cameroon's security forces have been ignored by the UN, as Inner City Press has repeatedly asked about them until being banned from the UN on July 3 and since, new leaked videos show summary executions and manhandling of prisoners. On July 14 and 25 Inner City Press raised the issue, and that of the UN's censorship
 to the French Mission to the UN, and also directly to Deputy Ambassador Anne Gueguen. Nothing, from France and from the Security Council as a whole, not even an "Any Other Business" briefing, with none as yet foreseen under August's Security Council president the UK, whose Liam Fox bragged of UK New Age's gas deal with Biya; Inner City Press asked UK Ambassador Karen Pierce about it here, before Guterres' Security's ouster and ongoing ban on which the UK has done nothing. July 20 video here.  After that, Pierce said on Twitter - while ignoring Inner City Press' question as her mission has in recent days, also on Yemen - that she had met with Cameroon ministers on July 11. Inner City Press asked the UK Mission in writing on August 1 to explain: "Amb Pierce disclosed in yesterday's Twitter Q&A that she “spoke to a delegation of Cameroon ministers at the UN on 11 July.” Did she mean government ministers or religious ministers? If the former, who were they? Which departments? And what was it mean to say “we were watching the situation closely.” Does this mean the UK or the Council? Is there a role, does the UK think, for UN envoy Francois Lonseny Fall? Or should another mediator be assigned?" Nothing, still no answer as of noon on August 6 from the UK Mission. (Inner City Press' later on August 6 online question to returned-toTwitter Deputy Ambassador Jonathan Allen on this has yet to be replied to.) Instead, Pierce said the initiative is with Biya and his government. Now it emerges that Paul Biya sent a delegation of five from July 11 to 20, to DC and New York to meet members of the UN Security Council. This while UNSG Antonio Guterres had banned from the UN Inner City Press, which has ask him for more than a year about the slaughter in Cameroon and his inaction, as he needed the support of the Cameroonian chair of the UN Budget Committee. New filing on Guterres and conflict of interest, here. We'll have more on this - and this: ghoulishly in Cameroon, where there is supposed to be an election in October, French Ambassador Gilles Thibault, of whom Inner City Press has asked French Permanent Representative Francois Delattre before being banned from the UN since July 3, has invited Paul Biya to an Emmanual Macron "Peace" event, as Cameroonian head of state.. in November. We'll have more on this. On August 1 in a briefing Inner City Press was banned from Pierce said the initiative is with the President and government of Cameron - that is, 36 year ruler Paul Biya. On August 2 Inner City Press emailed Guterres' spokesmen and team including Alison Smale and officer in charge Hua Jiang, "On Cameroon and refugees from Cameroon in Nigeria, what is the comment, response and action if any of the Secretargy General to the deaths of eight Cameroonian refugees in Ikom, Cross River who died of fumes from a generator in their room? What has the SG done about the conflict and crisis in the Anglophone areas of Cameroon since his visit to Younde in October 2017? What has he done in the last 12 days?" Haq did not email any response back before heading out to lunch. On his way back in, Inner City Press reiterated the question and he just walked by, as did Hua Jiang, schooled in this with UNMIS in Sudan it seems, part of the censorship, minutes later. Video here. This is today's UN.

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