UNITED NATIONS
GATE, May 22
– 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 May 22
more than three
hours before a
UN noon
briefing in
which Dujarric jokes
with his
friends he
lets in about
the New York
Mets,
Inner City
Press submitted
861
questions,
including why
it continues
to be
lawlessly banned
from entering
to ask
questions in
person:
"There
are more than
500+
questions
UNanswered.
And Monday
Sept 17,
Tuesday Sept
18, Wed Sept
19 and
Thurs and Fri
Sept 21, that
whole week, no
questions
answered. Nor
Sept 25, nor
28th - nor
October 2 nor
3. While
appreciating
and using what
was belatedly
sent on
May 20
about sexual
exploitation
allegations
and on March
28 in partial
request to
Inner City
Press'
questions
about the UN
bribery
sentence of
Patrick Ho of
CEFC and
CEFC's 2018
attempt to buy
the oil
company of
Gulbenkian
Foundation
which paid the
SG, 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. 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 nor 15
nor 18 nor 19
nor 20 nor 21
nor 22 nor 25
nor 26 nor 27
nor March 1 -
27 (!) And now April 1, 3-30 (one
answer
in the
entire month -
corrupt), and
now May
1-13, 15-17,
21, many
questions.
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.
May
22-1: On
Myanmar and
India, what is
the SG's
comment and
action if any
on that the
ongoing
military
operations in
Myanmar
against rebel
groups from
India’s
Northeast,
including the
Yung Aung
faction of
National
Socialist
Council of
Nagaland-Khaplang
(NSCN-K), have
triggered
outrage in
Nagaland? As
the Naga
civilian
population of
Myanmar is
caught in the
conflict,
several tribal
organisations
in Nagaland
have appealed
to Myanmar
government to
end the
“hostilities”.
They say the
offensive is
coordinated by
Indian
security
forces.
The Naga Hoho,
which is
Nagaland’s
apex tribal
organisation,
urged Indian
and Myanmar
armies for
immediate
cessation of
the military
action
“against the
Nagas”.
May
22-2: On
Nigeria, what
are the
comments and
actions if any
of the SG and
separately DSG
Amina J.
Mohammed on
that the
Network of
Niger Delta
Republic
Fighters in a
statement on
Monday has
threatened to
declare a
Niger Delta
Republic on
June 1, 2019?
And here in
New York City
on the
indictment
yesterday of
MCC prison
guard Colin
Akparanta for
forcing female
prisoners to
have sex with
him?
May
22-3: On
sexual
harassment,
also, AGAIN,
what is the
SG's comment
and action if
any on that
women
attending a UN
international
civil servants
conference
complained to
organisers
over the
presence of
FAO Human
Resources
Director
Fernando
Servan who has
been dubbed a
'sex
predator'? UN
trade union
sources said
they were
raising with
the UN
Secretary
General (SG)
Antonio
Gutteres their
concerns about
the Peruvian
executive’s
presence at
the
International
Civil Service
Commission
meeting in New
York given the
SG's supposed
policy of
'zero
tolerance' of
sexual
harassment.
May
22-4: On Egypt
and the rights
and conditions
of the poor,
what is the
SG's comment
and action if
any on that
Egypt will
raise
electricity
prices by an
average of
14.9 percent
in the
2019-2020
fiscal year
beginning in
July, Sisi's
Electricity
Minister
Mohamed Shaker
said on
Tuesday? Egypt
has committed
to deep cuts
to energy
subsidies as
part of a
three-year,
$12 billion
IMF loan
program it
began in late
2016...
May
22-5: On
Cameroon, what
is the SG's
comment if any
and action if
any at all on
for example
that Paul
Biya's forces
reportedly
shot dead 4
month old
Martha in
Muyuka on 20th
May?
May
22-6: On
China, what is
the SG's
comment and
action if any
on that
prominent
Chinese human
rights lawyer
Mr. Yu
Wensheng, who
for a number
of years has
defended human
rights and
promoted the
rule of law in
China and
represented
human rights
activists and
lawyers, was
put on trial
behind closed
doors on 9 May
at the
Intermediate
People’s Court
of Xuzhou
City?
May
22-7: On Tibet
and China,
what is the
SG's comment
and action if
any on that
Chinese
authorities
continue to
detain Tibetan
monks and
other peaceful
critics
arbitrarily
imprisoned
since the
protests
across the
Tibetan
plateau? There
has been no
information
regarding some
of the
prisoners’
whereabouts,
wellbeing, or
charges...
May
22-8: On
Taiwan and
China and the
WHO, please
immediately
state does SG
Guterres
support or
oppose calls
for Taiwan to
be granted
observer
status at the
World Health
Organisation’s
annual
gathering?
May
22-9: Also on
colonialism
and the P5,
please
immediately
state the SG's
position on
calls for the
UK to
relinquish
control over
the Chagos
Islands
May
22-10: On
press freedom
and
Bangladesh,
what is the
SG's comment
and action if
any on that
Bangladesh
authorities
have blocked
access to the
popular news
portal
Poriborton.com,
one of the
country's top
five online
news outlets,
which was shut
without notice
on Sunday?
Again, on
press freedom
(in
courthouses)
and
Bangladesh,
what is the
SG's comment
and action if
any on that on
16 May the
Bangladesh
Supreme Court
issued a
notification
restricting
the
publication of
news on
on-going
cases? What is
each of yours
- particularly
the SG's -
response to
the letter
written and
sent by
Burundi
activist
Manisha
Lievin? To the
April 15
letter to the
SG, DSG and
USG Smale for
which receipt
has not even
been
acknowledged,
other than a
single lawless
line from
MALU: "Your
media
accreditation
request, with
reference no:
M66561081, has
been
declined"?
This is a
formal request
for the UN's
explanation of
grounds for
this denied,
and since
SGcentral, the
SG's chief of
staff and
Deputy SG and
USG Smale
haven't even
confirmed
receipt of the
April 15
letter much
less
responded, for
reconsideration.
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.
May
21-1: On
Cameroon, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on that Member
of Parliament
Essomba
Bengono has
said on TV,
"Do you know
how many times
God had to
wipe out the
human race to
constitute a
people? Do you
know how many
times? The
number of
alliances he
made with man?
He sais “I’m
destroying
Sodom and
Gomorrah”. We
are not
counting the
number of
deaths, you
understand?"
May
20-1: On Sri
Lanka, what is
the SG's
comment and
action if any
on that ten
years since
the end of Sri
Lanka's brutal
civil war, the
government has
failed to
provide
justice for
the conflict's
many victims.
The Sri Lankan
government
pledged to
provide
justice for
wartime abuses
and to take
other measures
to promote
respect for
human rights
in a United
Nations Human
Rights Council
resolution
adopted in
October 2015.
But there has
been none to
provide
justice and
accountability.
What has the
SG done?
May
16-2: On
Sudan, what is
the SG's
comment and
action if any
that the new
interim vice
president,
Mohamed Hamdan
“Hemeti”
Dagolo, was in
charge of the
janjaweed
militias in
Darfur?
May
15-3: On the
Public
Financial
Disclosures
for 2017
belatedly
published over
the weekend of
April 27-28,
please state
why Mohammed
Ibn Chambas,
like the
Executive
Secretary of
the UN
Biodiversity
Convention,
Cristiana
Paşca-Palmer,
UNICEF's
Henriette
Fore, with
documented
links to
ExxonMobil and
others, USG
Mark Lowcock
(undisclosed
while the
Secretariat's
speaker at the
UNSC Arria on
Cameroon),
UNCTAD's
Mukhisa
Kituyi, UN
Women's
Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka,
UNOG chief
Michael
Moller, UNDP
chief Achim
Steiner,
Heidi Mendoza,
Adama Dieng,
UN Security
chief Peter
Drennan,
Rosemary
DiCarlo and
Nicholas
Haysum, is not
even on the
list. OIOS
chief
Inga-Britt
Ahlenius
reported - why
not Mendoza?
Where IS
Mendoza? Isn't
it a bad
practice for
the UN's head
(anti)
genocide
definition
official to
conceal from
the public
even cursory
financial
disclosure?
Did DiCarlo
decline to
make any
public
disclosure
despite being
the UN's top
political
officer? What
is the even
plausible
applicability
of this line
from SG
Guterres' web
page: "Please
note that
given the
multi-cultural
environment of
the UN and the
often security
sensitive
locations
where UN staff
are either
working or
come from,
full public
disclosure may
not always be
a viable or
sensible
option for
certain staff
members"? Why
has Guterres
changed the
previous
system in a
which a
"choosing not
to disclose"
statement was
upload and
listed, to one
which helps
conceal who
reports and
who does
not?
Again, state
why
considering
the UN bribery
conviction of
Patrick Ho of
CEFC, and
CEFC's attempt
to purchase
the oil
company of
Gulbenkian
Foundation
which paid Mr.
Guterres in
2016 was
omitted from
his online
public
financial
disclosure
covering 2016,
and why
Guterres has
not even
started an
audit of CEFC
in the
UN.
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