UNITED NATIONS
GATE, March 14
– Inner City Press on July 5
was banned from entering the
UN, the day after it filed a
criminal complaint against
UN Security for physically
removing it from covering
the meeting about the UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' $6.7 billion
peacekeeping budget, as
witnessed and essentially
cheered on by senior UN
official Christian Saunders,
tearing its reporter's
shirt, painfully and
intentionally twisting his
arm and slamming shut and
damaging his laptop. On
August 17, Guterres' Global
Communicator Alison Smale
issued a letter banning
Inner City Press from the UN
- for life. With no due
process. She and Guterres
have put the UN in the US
Press Freedom Tracker, here.
Smale said,
again, that the UN would
answer Press questions to
the Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric and his Office; Dujarric said the same on
camera.
On March 14
three
hours before a
UN noon briefing where Dujarric announced
a Guterres junket for
the South South office
involved in the Ng Lap
Seng bribery
scandal, Inner City
Press submitted 616 questions: "There
are more than 400+
questions UNanswered.
While appreciating
and using what was sent on
January 29 after it was
read out in the briefing
room, no answers on Dec 17
or 18 or 19 or 20 or 21 -
another FIVE days in a
row, even as SG's direct
conflicts of interest and
failure to disclose
emerge, and a newest low.
While
appreciating the
lone partial
response to Question
Feb 28-3,
nothing on Dec 24 or
Dec 26 or Dec 27 or
Dec 28, or January
2, 3 or 4 or 8 or 9
or 10 or 11 or 14 or
15 or 16 or 17 or 18
or 21 or 22 or 23 or
24 or 25 or 28 -
that was FIFTEEN
week-days in a row,
apparently under
orders, then a
simple post-facto
answer. Now what? No
answers on January
30 nor 31 nor
February 1 nor 4 nor
5 nor 6 nor 7 nor 11
nor 12 nor 13 nor 14
or 15 nor 18 nor 19
nor 20 nor 21 nor 22
nor 25 nor 26 nor 27
nor March 1
nor 4 nor 5 nor 6
nor 7 nor 8
nor 10 nor 11 nor 12
nor 13. No answers
at all during those
four days of the US
v Ho trial showing
corruption in the UN
says it all. This
ban is just
censorship - and
Inner City Press
must be allowed back
into the noon
briefing to ask its
questions in person
and follow up on
them.
March
14-1: On yesterday's
and today's SG team
trip to Washington,
(1) explain why the
US State Department
read out
specifically
mentions Iran but
your UN one does
not, and again (2)
state how many and
which UN staff are
on the trip, (3) how
much it costs, (4)
which members of
Congress the SG is
meeting with today,
(5) whether this
includes Sen Marco
Rubio and if not,
why not- did the SG
request a meeting?
(6) provide
read-outs of all
meetings or state
why not. Also, since
the SG did not speak
at the photo spray
with Secretary
Pompeo, did he speak
and take questions
elsewhere?
March
14-2: On Iran,
relatedly, what is
the SG's comment and
action if any on
that human rights
lawyer Nasrin
Sotoudeh has been
jailed for 38 years
and given 148 lashes
in Iran after
campaigning for
women who removed
headscarves?
March
14-3: On UN bribery
and Patrick Ho's
sentencing
submission -- where
did the $1 million a
year in
"administration" go?
Is any going to be
returned, as was
done in the case of
Sun Kian Ip
Foundation? Again:
the filing states
inter alia that
"Beginning in 2013,
the CEFC Think Tank
also held annual
symposia at the
United Nations
(“UN”) devoted to
issues raised at the
most recent annual
political convention
in China. In
addition, the CEFC
Think Tank, in
consultation with
the UN Department of
Economic and Social
Affairs (“UN-DESA”),
established and
funded the “Powering
the Future We Want”
grant—an annual $1
million award for a
promising
sustainable energy
project (the “Energy
Grant”). The CEFC
Think Tank donated
approximately $2
million to the UN
every year to fund
the prize and its
administration."
What entity or
subdivision of the
UN took the $1
million beyond the
$1 million "prize"?
What are the details
on the 2013, 2014,
2015, 2016, 2017 and
2018 "symposia" by
this UN bribery
group? Again, why
has SG not initiated
an audit at least
like Ban Ki-moon did
on Sun Kian Ip - and
why did the SG omit
his paid board
position with
Gulbenkian
Foundation, which
tried to sell its
oil company to CEFC,
from his public
financial disclosure
covering 2016? When
are the already
delayed public
financial
disclosures,
including that of
Alison Smale who had
not yet published
anything, be made
available?
March
14-4:
On China and freedom
of the press, what
is the SG's comment
and action if any on
the the banning of
the pro-independence
Hong Kong National
Party, the de facto
expulsion of
Financial Times
journalist Victor
Mallet, the
disqualification of
lawmakers and
candidates, and a
libel suit launched
by former
chief-executive
Leung Chun-ying
against Stand News
and scholar Chung
Kim-wah? AGAIN,
immediately explain
how it is legitimate
to ban from enter
into the UN the
media that has been
asking about these
and other questions,
with no hearing or
appeal.
March
13-1: On Sudan, what
is the SG's comment
and action on that "
torture and
custodial death of
three University
students who were
detained by the
National
Intelligence and
Security Services
(NISS) for
participating in the
ongoing protests. Mr
Muhajoob Eltaj
Muhajoob, a
25-year-old student
from Khartoum died
on 24 December 2018
shortly after being
detained on the same
day by NISS of
Khartoum. Reliable
information
indicates that he
was subjected to
torture including
beatings on
different parts of
his body using horse
pipes and sticks
while in NISS
custody"? Again, how
many times has Mr.
Guterres met Bashir,
and why?
March
13-4: On China, and
Kazakhstan, what is
the SG's comment and
action on that A
prominent human
rights activist and
China critic based
in Kazakhstan, has
been arrested by
Kazakh police and
charged with
inciting ethnic
strife, according to
his lawyer.
Serikzhan Bilash is
the co-founder of
Atajurt, an
Almaty-based
organization that
brings attention to
the crackdown on
Muslims in China's
western region of
Xinjiang.
Aiman Umarova,
Bilash's lawyer,
said that her client
was arrested on
Saturday night in
Almaty and
transferred to
Astana, the
Kazakhstan capital.
Umarova added that
Bilash was "roughed
up" during his
arrest?
March
13-5: On Venezuela
and press freedom,
what is the SG's
comment and action
if any on the
disappearance /
detention of
journalist
Luis Carlos Diaz?
AGAIN, immediately
explain how it is
legitimate to ban
from enter into the
UN the media that
has been asking
about these and
other questions,
with no hearing or
appeal.
March
11-3: Also on
Uganda, perhaps
relatedly, what is
the SG's comment and
action on President
Museveni's threat to
pull Ugandan troops
from AMISOM?
March
11-5: On press
freedom and, today,
Turkey what is the
SG's comment and
action if any on
that Thomas Seibert,
a reporter for the
Berlin-based
Tagesspiegel daily,
and Jörg Brase, a
correspondent for
public broadcaster
ZDF, flew to Germany
on Sunday after
their accreditation
to work in Turkey
was not
renewed?
AGAIN, immediately
explain how it is
legitimate to ban
from enter into the
UN the media that
has been asking
about these and
other questions,
with no hearing or
appeal.
March
8-1: On Cameroon,
what is the SG's
comment and action
if any on the
holding over of
barrister Michele
Ndoki, whom the
government
previously shot, on
charges like Maurice
Kamto of
"rebellion"?
March
8-2: On UN
corruption and
bribery, yesterday
evening Inner City
Press saw in front
of the UN and
questioned Francis
Lorenzo, who pleaded
guilty to UN
bribery. Please
immediately state
the last time
convicted UN bribery
felon Francis
Lorenzo entered the
UN (same for former
El Salvador
Ambassador Carlos
Garcia, who it was
shown facilitied
Lorenzo's illegal
acts, and for
Patrick Ho), and
state whether
Lorenzo is
affiliated in any
way to the Dominican
Republic mission to
the UN.
March
7-4: AGAIN -
immediately state
who, with public
funds, the SG
invited to eat
halibut with him
on March 4, and
why it was not on
his public
schedule. Please
state whether the
UN considers "The
Century Fund" to
be a media and if
so, why - and,
AGAIN, immediately
explain how it is
legitimate to ban
from enter into
the UN the media
that has been
asking about these
and other
questions, with no
hearing or appeal.
March
6-3: Please
immediately provide
the SG's comment and
response to the
Staff Unions'
complain that DSS
funds are being
diverted to for
profit events of
CulinArt and USG
Smale's DGC: " "the
Department of Safety
and Security is
currently ceding
some of its funding
to serve
profit-making
ventures, both a
contractor,
CulinArt, and
another Secretariat
department, the
Department of Global
Communications, by
providing security
services for their
ventures, that is,
Friday nights
activities at the
Delegates Lounge and
United Nations
Tours, respectively.
The funds to provide
those services from
the UNDSS’s annual
budget are
substantial and are
not reimbursed. Why
should UNDSS
continue to provide
those services out
of its budget free
of charge when cuts
are being made
elsewhere?"
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