UNITED NATIONS
GATE, March 25
– 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 25 three
hour
before a
UN noon briefing set by
Dujarric, Inner
City Press submitted 658 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 1-22 (!)
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
25-1: On
Cameroon, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any on
that the office
of human rights
lawyer Agbor
Felix Balla has
been encircled
by the Military,
searching the
Centre for Human
Rights and
Democracy in
Africa in Buea?
On the arrest of
peaceful Kamto
supporters for
cleaning the
streets?
March
25-2: On UN
bribery and the
SG, now hours
before today's
11:30 am
sentencing for
the UN bribery
the SG has not
even audited,
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? [Supplemented:
March 25-2a:
On UN bribery,
just now
Patrick Ho of
the China
Energy Fund
Committee was
sentenced to
36 months in
prison and a
$400,000 fine
for his UN
bribery; in
today's
proceeding Ho
was described
as using a UN
NGO to "sell
weapons
enthusiastically."
What now is SG
Antonio
Guterres'
comment and
action? Will
he now begin
an audit of
CEFC in the
UN?]
March
25-3: On
environmental
scams, China and
Africa, what are
the comments and
actions if any
of the SG and
separately DSG
Amina J.
Mohammed on that
A new report
from the
Environmental
Investigation
Agency (EIA) –
Toxic Trade:
Forest Crime in
Gabon and the
Republic of
Congo and the
Contamination of
the US
Market
–
documents how
illegally
extracted
African timber
emerges as
“eco-friendly”-marketed
products in
America,
deceiving
unsuspecting US
consumers.
During a 4-year
undercover
investigation,
EIA uncovered
the inner
workings of one
of Africa’s most
influential
timber
conglomerates –
the “Dejia
Group” –
controlled by
Chinese mogul Xu
Gong De? What
was ever done by
the UN on the
rosewood scandal
and DSG's role
in Nigeria and
Cameroon?
March
25-4: On Sri
Lanka, what is
the SG's comment
and action if
any on this
footage of a non
violent protest
by Puttalam
villagers
protesting
against a
proposed garbage
landfill in
Aruwakkalu being
cracked down on
by police?
March
25-5: On your /
Spokesperson
Dujarric's
recent podcast
interview,
please
immediately
explain what was
meant by a
relationship
with journalists
of "mutually
assured
destruction" -
and why the
podcast links
are mostly
404/no longer
online.
March
25-6: On
Mauritania, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any on
the "arbitrary
arrest of
transparency
activist and
whistleblower
Abderrahmane
Weddady, along
with fellow
blogger Cheikh
Ould Jiddou.
Weddady was
summoned to the
economic crimes
unit of the
Mauritanian
national police
at approximately
11:00 am local
time. Since
then, he has
been held in a
jail cell,
incommunicado.
Around 10:00 pm
local time, the
authorities
allowed
Weddady's lawyer
to see him, who
was informed
that Wedaddy was
being held
indefinitely
without any
formal charges.
The arrest comes
three years into
an
anti-corruption
campaign that
Weddady has
spearheaded to
expose the
personal
misconduct and
corruption of
President
Mohammed Ould
Abdalaziz.
Weddady
published
documents on
Facebook that
implicate
President
Abdalaziz
directly in a
massive Ponzi
scheme, revealed
to have affected
more than 7,000
Mauritanian
families, where
the President
was profiting
from buying real
estate property
at a lower than
market price.
The head of the
Ponzi scheme --
Cheikh Rada
al-Saidy -- was,
according to
Weddady,
providing this
illegal benefit
to the President
in exchange for
personal
protection?
March
25-7: On the
Rohingya and
Bangladesh,
please
immediately
state the UN's
and SG's role
(and the SG's
view) in plans
by Bangladesh
relocate
thousands of
Rohingya
refugees to a
remote island
off its
coast?
March
25-8: On the
SG's March 22
appearance on
96th Street,
please
immediately
provide the name
of the UN DSS
officer who
spoke to NYPD on
96th Street to
get them to
restraint in
advance Inner
City Press while
UN Photo and
others like AP
walked freely,
the basis for
this censorship
and any and all
records
regarding
it.
March
25-9: On press
(UN) freedom,
what is the SG's
comment and
action on that,
for example, a
columnist for
South Africa’s
Independent
Online, of which
Chinese
investors held a
20% stake, had
his column
cancelled in
Sept. 2018,
hours after a
column about
China’s
persecution of
ethnic
minorities was
published?
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
22-3: On
"reform," on
March 15 it was
said that 27 new
Resident
Coordinators are
being recruited.
Since these are
not on the SG's
webpage, not
this specific
question:
Niloy Banerjee
listed for past
one month as Res
Rep in Malaysia,
Singapore and
Brunei - is/was
this one of the
27 posts the SG
and DSG are
recruiting for?
Where are these
recruitment
notices? Again,
please
immediately
state which 27
RC positions are
being recruited
for, and how
much it will
cost the UN and
the public.
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
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
18-6: 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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