UNITED NATIONS
GATE, March 21 –
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 21
hours before a
UN noon briefing where
Dujarric's
Deputy Farhan
Haq who did not
answer a single
question from
Inner City Press
but promoted
Guterres on
96th Street two
days after he
referred to
the "Dominican
Republic of the
Congo," Inner
City Press submitted 644 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 1-17 (!)
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
21-1: On
Cambodia, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any on
the
disappearance of
land activist
forcibly
disappeared in
Preah Vihear
province:
soldiers from
Battalion 261 of
Army Command
Intervention
Division 2 of
the Cambodian
armed forces
arrested Sum
Moeun, 54, a
community leader
in a local land
dispute, and his
son, Moeun Mean,
26, in Yeang
commune, Chaom
Ksan district.
Soldiers
transferred them
to Kulen Promtep
Wildlife
Sanctuary
Headquarters-
the army, which
is commanded by
Prime Minister
Hun Sen’s son,
Gen. Hun
Manet?
March
21-2: On
Somalia, what is
the SG's comment
and action if
any on that the
country's plans
to cater for its
own security
needs without
the backing of
the African
Union
peacekeeping
mission have
been hit by
striking action
by government
soldiers in at
least three of
their bases
located in the
critical
Shabelle region?
The soldiers are
protesting over
months of missed
pay. The
vacated bases
are in Somalia’s
Middle Shabelle
region; the move
is to protest
about non
payment of
salaries for
four
months?
March
21-3: On bribery
in the UN, what
is the SG's
comment and
response to this 22 minute
documentary
about Patrick Ho
and CEFC's
bribes through
the UN,
including Mr.
Guterres'
refusal to
answer Inner
City Press'
question on it
on 5 December
2018 at Min 17...
Again, a just
filed sentencing
memorandum
seeking a five
year jail term
for Patrick Ho
of CEFC China
Energy includes
quotes from his
e-mails
regarding aiming
to violate
sanctions and
deal in arms not
only to Chad but
also South
Sudan, Libya
& Qatar.
What is the SG's
comment and
action? Again,
why has no audit
even been begun
of CEFC, at
least like the
one Mr.
Guterres'
predecessor did
of Ng Lap Seng's
Sun Kian Ip
Foundation? Why
did Mr Guterres
omit payments
from Gulbenkian
Foundation,
which sought to
sell its oil
company Partex
to CEFC China
Energy, from his
public financial
disclosure
covering 2016?
Where are the
more recent
public financial
disclosures -
has Mr. Guterres
ended that
program?
Why?
March
21-4: AGAIN,
basic
transparency:
how did the SG
fly to Argentina
- business
class? How many
accompanied him?
How much has it
cost? As asked
(but not
answered) "
February 25-2:
On UN spending,
DGACM and OSSC,
please confirm
or deny that
Argentina
informed DGACM
is would / could
not pay to fly
UN interpreters
business class
to the upcoming
OSSC meeting
there, and that
interpreters
have been
cajoled to
"volunteer" to
fly economy by
being given
additional time
off, to be paid
for by all
member states.
Also, is USG
Pollard flying
economy - or
business class?
Why?
March
21-5: On Mexico
and press
freedom, what is
the SG's comment
and action if
any on that
after the murder
of the Mexican
journalist
Javier Valdez
prompted
outrage:
reporters held
protests, news
outlets stopped
publishing for a
day and the then
president,
Enrique Peña
Nieto, promised
that the crime
would not go
unpunished.
But barely 10
days after
Valdez was
pulled from his
car and shot
dead, his widow
Griselda Triana
was targeted for
surveillance
with spyware
which had been
purchased by the
Mexican
government. The
day after the
murder, similar
links were sent
to two of her
late husband’s
colleagues at
the newspaper
Riodoce?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
20-1: On
Uganda, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on reports
that more than
250 people
have fallen
ill in Uganda
linked to a
fortified
blended food
distributed by
the United
Nations World
Food Programme
(WFP) for
prevention of
malnutrition.
Officials urge
people to stop
eating the
food until
further
notice.
A total of 262
people have
been affected
since March
12, with
symptoms of
mental
confusion,
vomiting,
headache, high
fever and
abdominal
pain. There
are reports
three people
have died, one
of them at
Matany
Hospital,
Napak
District, and
two others.
One male died
in
Lorengechora,
Lookit
village, Napak
district, and
a female died
in Amuna
village in
Karita Sub
County, Amudat
district. All
the deaths
occurred on
March
16?
March
20-3: On
Haiti, what is
the SG's
comment and
action, and
separately the
UN mission's,
on that
Haiti’s Lower
Chamber of
Deputies fired
Prime Minister
Jean Henry
Céant and his
government on
Monday,
deepening
uncertainty
amid a
political and
economic
crisis that
led to violent
protests last
month and the
U.S. and
Canada warning
citizens not
to travel to
the country.
The swift
no-confidence
vote came with
hardly any
debate and
after Lower
Chamber
President Gary
Bodeau noted
that neither
Céant nor any
of his cabinet
ministers were
present?
March
20-4: On
Tajikistan,
what is the
SG's comment
and action if
any on the
Tajik
government
jailing a
seriously ill
political
activist who
says he has
been tortured:
Mahmadali
Hayit, is
deputy head of
the Islamic
Renaissance
Party of
Tajikistan
(IRPT), the
country’s
largest
opposition
party, which
was banned by
the government
in late
2015.
During a visit
on March 9,
2019, Hayit
showed his
wife,
Savrinisso
Jurabekova,
injuries on
his forehead
and stomach
that he said
were caused by
beatings from
prison
officials to
punish him for
refusing to
record videos
denouncing
Tajik
opposition
figures
abroad.
Jurabekova
said that her
husband said
he was not
getting
adequate
medical care,
and they both
fear he may
die in prison
as a result of
the beatings.
Hayit has
spent more
than three
years in
prison and is
currently
being held at
detention
center (SIZO)
number 1 in
Dushanbe.
March
18-1: On the SEA
report which was
not sent to
Inner City Press
by the UN but by
others, and
which Inner City
Press
voluntarily
refrained from
reporting on
until the 10 am
deadline, please
before 10 am
explain (a) six
allegations were
considered
conduct in
violation of
non-fraternization
policies and not
to contain
indications of
sexual
exploitation or
abuse -
question: did
these cases not
involve sex?
March
18-2: On Kenya,
what is the SG's
comment and the
UN's action on
the starvation
in
Turkana?
March
18-3: On
"reform," on
Friday it was
said that 27 new
Resident
Coordinators are
being recruited.
Since these are
not on the SG's
webpage, please
immediately
state which 27
RC positions are
being recruited
for, and how
much it will
cost the UN and
the
public.
March
18-6: What is
the SG's comment
and action on
this, copied to
Inner City
Press, on a
"possible FCPA
violation may
have occurred
between
Microsoft
Corporation and
the United
Nations [now
see here.]
March
15-1: On
Cameroon, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any on
that 26 people
who were
arrested in
Cameroon in
January during
protests called
by opposition
leader Maurice
Kamto have been
given one-year
jail terms for
“illegal
gathering and
demonstration”
or just planning
to take part in
a non-political
demonstration?
What does the UN
say about the
reported murder
of civilians by
Biya's forces
yesterday in Sop
and Melim?
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.
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