UNITED NATIONS
GATE, June
3
– 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 June 3
more than four
hours before the
UN noon
briefing in
which Dujarric
when
asked for
Guterres'
comment on Tiananmen
Square 30
years anniversary said
"No, I have no
particular
comment on
that," here,
Inner City
Press submitted
894
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,
21-31,
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.
June
3-1: On Sudan,
what is the
SG's comment
and action on
that today
Sudanese
security
forces have
moved against
a protest
sit-in camp of
non violent
demonstrators,
besieging the
site and
setting fire
to tents,
witnesses and
protest
leaders said.
Machine gun
fire and
explosions
were heard;
protest
organizers
said at least
five people
were
killed?
June
3-2: On China
and human
rights, what
is the SG's
belated
comment today
on the 30th
anniversary of
the slaughter
by the
government of
non violent
demonstrators
in Tiananmen
Square?
June
3-3: On
Cameroon what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on that at
least 300
people were
arrested in
demonstrations
in several
cities across
Cameroon on
June 1? The
MRC party said
its members
and supporters
were arrested
while calling
for the
release of
Maurice Kamto
and 150 of
their
supporters,
who were
imprisoned
late January
during
protests
against
October 2018
elections.
Kamto and his
supporters
have been
charged with
"hostility
against the
homeland"
June
3-4: On Sri
Lanka, what is
the SG's
comment and
action if any
on that The
Human Rights
Commission of
Sri Lanka
(HRCSL) has
complained to
the President
of the Bar
Association of
Sri Lanka
(BASL) about
the
discriminatory
practices of
some members
of the bar
against a
minority
community.
In a letter
addressed to
the President
of BASL,
President's
Counsel
Kalinga
Indatissa, the
HRCSL said the
Commission has
been informed
that the
members of
Mawanella and
Badulla
regional Bar
Associations
have refused
to appear on
behalf of
members of the
Muslim
community
arrested in
the backdrop
of the
post-Easter
Sunday suicide
attacks.
As a result,
family members
of those
arrested have
been compelled
to obtain
services of
lawyers from
other regions
entailing much
financial
hardship?
June
3-5: On UN
sexual abuse
and
exploitation,
please
immediately
provide all
if-asked
information
for new SEA
allegation
against South
African
peacekeeper in
DRC uploaded
just after the
noon briefing
on May 30,
since Inner
City Press is
banned from
entering to
ask at noon
briefing. Also
as requested
provide any
and all hand
up on 1st
quarter UN SEA
statistics, as
Inner City
Press
requested
yesterday.
Your failure
to respond is
in context a
cover up: note
that the
journalist
Sidy Djimby
Ndao contacted
Inner City
Press about
the Senegal
allegation,
based not on
your hidden
and not
answered on
"disclosures"
by
InnerCityPress.com.
Now the lead
Spokesman
refuses to
answer and
explain why
the SG does
not disclose
the
nationality of
international
staff accused
of sexual
misconduct,
and of the
April 17
regarding
Burundi and
South Africa
peacekeepers
and still the
Cameroon
troops' rape
allegations
you have not
provide any
further
information on
..
June
3-6: On
freedom of
expression and
China, what is
the SG's
comment and
action if any
on
that
Three days
before the
most sensitive
political
anniversary on
the Chinese
calendar,
Twitter
suspended the
accounts of
Chinese
political
commentators
in what it
said was an
accident. The
move showed
starkly the
global
political
ramifications
of Silicon
Valley
slip-ups.
Twitter’s
action, which
one human
rights worker
said affected
more than 100
users, came
over several
hours late
Friday and
early
Saturday. It
hit human
rights
lawyers,
activists,
college
students and
nationalists,
who use
workarounds to
get access to
Twitter, which
is banned in
China. Just
about every
part of the
raucous, if
small,
Chinese-language
Twitter world
was
affected.
The accounts
began rapidly
disappearing
just days
before the
30th
anniversary of
the crackdown
on a
student-led
pro-democracy
demonstration
in Tiananmen
Square in
Beijing. Many
online assumed
the worst: a
coordinated
attack by
Beijing to
project its
suffocating
internet
censorship
outside its
own digital
borders? In
the UN, what
has the
accountability
been for Lt
Ronald E.
Dobbins and
those those
refused on
camera to give
their names?
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
31-6: On the
use of public
funds, ONCE
AGAIN, given
that you've
only said SG
will "travel
on to Aachen
in Germany,
from 29 to 30
May to receive
the
International
Charlemagne
Prize, an
honour which
has been
awarded
anually since
1950 for
efforts made
in the service
of European
unification.
The
Secretary-General
will be back
in the office
on Monday, 3
June" - where
will the SG be
from May 30 to
June 3,
separately, at
what cost to
the public
including
security
costs? Who
flew to
Germany to
witness the
award
ceremony, why
and at what
cost?
May
30-3: On South
Sudan, AGAIN,
please explain
the photographs
of Guterres'
DSRSG
Moustapha
Soumaré with
UNSC
sanctioned
Malek Reuben
Riak on
Peacekeepers'
Day. How did
this happen?
Who invited
him? For what
purpose? What
accountability
for this will
there be?
May
24-2: On
China, what is
the SG's
comment and
action if any
- including in
light of his
still
undisclosed
connection to
CEFC China
Energy through
its bid for
Gulbenkian
Foundation's
oil company,
on that
Developed and
sold by the
China
Electronics
Technology
Corporation, a
state-run
defense
manufacturer,
the system in
Kashgar is on
the cutting
edge of what
has become a
flourishing
new market for
technology
that the
government can
use to monitor
and subdue
millions of
Uighurs and
members of
other Muslim
ethnic groups
in
Xinjiang?
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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