UNITED NATIONS
GATE, August
30
– 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 August
30
more
than three
hours before a
noon
briefing by Assistant
Spokesperson
Florencia
Soto
Nino-Martinez in
which there
was not a
single
question by
anyone let it
about Africa,
after the July 26
noon briefing
had no
questions at all,
video here,
Inner
City Press submitted 1169
questions,
including why
it continues
to be
lawlessly banned
from entering
to ask
questions in
person:
"There
are more than
700+
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
August 7
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,
June
3-28,
and July 1-2,
8-31 and August
1-5,
8-29
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.
August
30-1: While
the SG is in
DR Congo, what
are his
comments and
action if any
on that a
Catholic
bishop in the
Democratic
Republic of
Congo says
illegal
logging in the
south-east of
the country is
threatening
the rare
mukula tree?
"While the
whole world
decries the
ravages of the
Amazon fires,
an ecological
disaster is
under way near
us," Fulgence
Muteba Mugalu
said. The
bishop of
Kilwa-Kasenga,
in Haut
Katanga
province,
blamed
intensive
lawless
activities by
the Chinese
and people
close to the
Congolese
government.
The bishop
fears the
illegal
activity will
spread into
the Kundelungu
National Park,
a protected
area The
mukula, with
its
distinctive
red colour, is
popular in
China where it
is used to
make
furniture.
The
slow-growing
tree is
already
threatened
with
extinction in
neighbouring
Zambia.
August
30-2: On Hong
Kong and
China, what
are the SG's
comments and
actions if any
on the
detention of
Joshua
Wong,Agnes
Chow, Andy
Chan, Althea
Suen, Cheng
Chung-tai and
others, amid
crackdown on
planned
peaceful
protest
against
extradition
law changes,
etc?
August
30-3: On
Sierra Leone,
the
environment
and the law,
what is the
SG's comment
and action if
any on that
people living
next to Sierra
Leone's
biggest
diamond mine
have taken the
government to
court over
failing to
protect them
from alleged
environmental
problems
caused by the
company that
runs it.
The complaint,
filed at a
West African
regional
court, said
water had been
contaminated
and houses
damaged by
blasts at the
mine. It
also said the
government had
failed to
ensure the
company, Octea
Limited,
relocated
hundreds of
families away
from the
site.
August
30-4: On press
freedom, the
courts and
Cambodia, what
are the SG's
comments and
actions if any
on that a
verdict has
been delayed
in the
espionage case
against two
Cambodian
journalists,
Uon Chhin and
Yeang
Sothearin who
are accused of
undermining
national
security by
supplying
information to
a foreign
state, an act
punishable by
up to 15 years
in
prison?
The two men
and others
were sitting
inside the
courtroom
awaiting the
verdict Friday
morning when a
court officer
entered and
announced the
delay. The
officer read a
statement
saying the
judge who was
set to
announce the
verdict was
busy because
of a meeting
in the justice
ministry. The
officer said
the new date
for the
verdict would
be announced
later.
August
30-5: On
Liberia,
alleged arms
transfers and
investigations,
what is the
SG's comment
and action if
any on that
police in
Liberia say
they are
keeping watch
over a woman
in hospital
who has been
drugged and
violently
assaulted
after
publishing a
video online
accusing
officials of a
secret arms
deal.
The woman said
she was on a
trip with the
officials in
Mali when they
bought
weapons.
One of the
people she
accused of
leading the
trip to Mali,
Monrovia city
mayor
Jefferson
Koijee, has
denied the
claims.
The police
have said they
are waiting
for her
medical
treatment to
be complete
before
investigating
both the
attack and the
weapons
haul.
August
30-6: On UNSC
member Kuwait,
what are the
SG's belated
comments and
actions if any
on that more
than a dozen
Bidun
activists
detained in
Kuwait since
July 2019
began a hunger
strike on
August 22 to
protest human
rights
violations
against
themselves and
the Bidun
community.
The detained
activists,
over a dozen
of whom are on
hunger strike,
include
Abdulhakim
al-Fadhli,
Awad al-Onan,
Ahmed al-Onan,
Abdullah
al-Fadhli,
Mutaib
al-Onan,
Muhammed
al-Anzi,
Yousef
al-Osmi,
ِNawaf
al-Bader,
Hamed Jamil,
Jarallah
al-Fadhli,
Yousif
al-Bashig,
Ahmed al-Anzi,
Hamoud
al-Rabah,
Khalifa
al-Anzi, and
Reda
al-Fadhli.
August
30-7: On
Cameroon and
press freedom,
what are the
SG's belated
comments and
actions if any
on that Amadou
Vamoulke, the
head of the
Cameroon Radio
Television for
nine years in
which he
repeatedly
spoke out
against the
government’s
monopoly on
television
coverage and
the
criminalization
of media
workers,
officially
arrested and
detained at
the Yaounde
Kondengui
Prison in
2016?
August
30-8:
Regarding a
statement sent
on August 28
by the Under
Secretary
General of
DSS, copied to
Hua Jiang and
others, please
immediately
explain
a) why, since
DSS states
that it does
not have a ban
/ bar / block
on me but only
enforces that
I not exercise
the rights of
a UN
accredited
journalist
(which were
stripped from
me without any
hearing or
right to
appeal), I
have in the
past year been
blocked from
entering the
UN even with
invited with a
ticket,
and b)
why, since DSS
states that it
does not have
a ban / bar /
block on me
but only
enforces that
I not exercise
the rights of
a UN
accredited
journalist
(which were
stripped from
me without any
hearing or
right to
appeal), my
August 24
application to
enter the UN
like 100s of
other
correspondents
to cover the
upcoming UNGA
high level
week has not
yet been
granted,
and c)
with regard to
USG Michaud
writing
that "On
10 July 2018
UNDSS escorted
Mr. Matthew
Lee from the
UNHQ complex
after he
attempted to
gain
unauthorized
access to a
locked area" -
explain, at
long last,
what this
"locked area"
was, since it
was only the
(unlocked)
Vienna Cafe
outside the UN
Budget
Committee
meeting which
by the rules I
was allowed to
cover,
and d)
with regard to
USG Michaud
writing that
the "DSS role
is now limited
to ensuring
that
unaccredited
individuals do
not enter the
premises," how
it is that
tourists, and
NGO visitors,
who are not
accredited by
DPI/DGC are
allowed in by
DSS, but I
have not been
for the past
year. Again,
please
immediately
explain wny my
August 24
application to
enter the UN
like 100s of
other
correspondents
to cover the
upcoming UNGA
high level
week has not
yet been
granted
August
30-9: Please
respond to
complaint received
by Inner City
Press, about
which we asked
in writing on
August 29: A group
called "USA
Mali
charitable
association of
New York” also
known as UMACA
obtained a
501c3 which
they used to
get CSW status
at the United
Nations. The
problem there
is they used
that status to
bring in many
many people to
the UN grounds
in NYC by
getting them
UN passes.
More
disturbing is
the amount of
people they
traffic in to
the USA with
their status
as CSW members
by the UN
General
Assembly. A
few years
back, the UN
gave them over
50 computers
as a donation,
in turn they
shipped them
to Africa for
sale.
August
30-10: On
Burundi and
Tanzania, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on that
Tanzania plans
to send back
Burundi
refugees to
their homeland
soil as at
October
1.
According to
Tanzania
Interior
Minister Kangi
Lugola
an agreement
was stroke
with the
Burundian
government
such that the
refugees will
be repatriated
in groups as
at October 1
until they are
done with the
process. In a
statement
issued to the
media, the
Tanzanian
government
said that they
were working
with the
United Nation
(UN) to secure
their return
effect
effectively.
Question: how
is Tanzania
working with
the UN? Do the
UN and SG
agree with
this forced
refoulement?
August
30-11: On UN
sexual
exploitation
as banned
Inner City
Press asked
each of you
yesterday
morning
without any
response, "On
UN sexual
exploitation
and abuse -
alleged - this
is a request
that you
immediately
provide the
"if asked"
information
supplied about
other cases in
the past
before Inner
City Press was
banned, about
the cursory
update this
morning
listing a SEA
case by a
Republic of
Congo
(Brazzaville)
peacekeeper at
MINUSCA in
CAR. Also,
again, what is
Guterres'
answer, which
you refused to
provide after
banned Inner
City Press
asked you and
others in
writing on the
morning of
August 19 that
you
"immediately
provide all
if-asked and
additional
information
about the new
allegation of
SEA announced
at 11:01 am
today, of
child rape by
a Cameroonian
"peacekeeper"
in DR Congo
August
30-12: On
Mali, what is
the SG's
comment and
action if any
on that
hundreds of
lorries and
other vehicles
have been
blocked from
entering the
capital of
Mali, Bamako,
on the fourth
day of a
protest over
the poor state
of the
country’s
roads. The
protests
started on
August 23 in
the western
city of Kayes
and have
spread across
Mali, with
demands for
improvements
of dilapidated
roads and
railways.
August
30-13: On
Cameroon, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on that
thousands of
residents of
Cameroon's two
English-speaking
regions after
the life
sentences
given to 10 of
their leaders,
including
Sisiku Ayuk
Tabe. More
than 500,000
people have
been forced
from their
homes in the
crisis.
August
30-14: On the
repatriation
of Rohingya
from
Bangladesh to
Myanmar, what
is Guterres'
position on
the system
that will give
returnees non
citizen,
"Bengali" ID
cards?
National
Verification
Cards (NVCs),
which do not
confer rights
nor
citizenship
and, through
an NVC
application
process,
effectively
identify
Rohingya as
“Bengali” or
more generally
as
“foreigners"?
What has been
the UN
system's,
specifically
UNHCR's, role
in this in the
past?
What did
Guterres do on
this while at
UNHCR?
August
30-15: In
light of the
death of
Jeffrey
Epstein, now
on August 27
multiply
accused of sex
trafficking
along with
Ghislaine
Maxwell who
was allowed to
promote her
now closed
charity in the
UN Press
Briefing Room,
as Inner City
Press asked
without any UN
response on
July 22,
please
immediately
disclose all
UN
interactions
with his
Ghislaine
Maxwell's
TerraMar
Project and
relatedly,
with Paolo
Zampolli.
August
30-16: Given
that the SG's
public
schedules for
August 2,
August 5,
August 6,
August 7,
August 8,
August 9,
August 13,
August 14,
August 15,
August 16 and
August 19 were
entirely
blank, not
even "all
appointments
internal" as
before but
just blank,
where WAS the
SG and how
much did it
cost the
public? How
much will his
three country
trip cost? Who
is going on
it? Since
public
officials from
Trump to de
Blasio to
Corey Johnson
all disclose
where they
are, and given
the UN system
travel
scandals at
UNRWA, UN
Women and
previously
UNEP, explain
why Mr.
Guterres' lack
of
transparency
is not part of
the problem.
Given the
Secretariat's
communication
failures,
state when
exactly Ms.
Fleming takes
over from
Alison Smale,
whether Ms.
Fleming is
still has
stated on her
profile at
UNHCR (Chief
Communications
@Refugees as
of August 30)
and if she is
answering
some/any of
her e-mail
there. She is
being written
to there was a
second time
today, well
before the
Sept 5
deadline for
UN "approval"
to cover UNGA
week.
August
30-17: On
press freedom
and Cameroon,
on which you
refused to
answer on
August 13
despite saying
the office was
staffed and
answering, now
more specific:
what is the
SG's comment
and action if
any, post
golden statue,
to that Paul
Atanga Nji,
territorial
administration
minister, says
Cameroon's
journalists
are becoming
highly
unpatriotic.
"They have one
main
objective,
just to
sabotage
government
action, to
promote
secessionist
tendencies,"
said Nji. "I
urge them to
be
responsible.
Those who do
not want to
respect the
laws will be
booked as
being
recalcitrant
and will be
treated as
such"... Now
that the US
Court of
Appeals for
the Second
Circuit has
ruled against
public
officials
blocking
critics on
Twitter even
if the
official
claims their
account is
private, what
is the
justification
for UNSG
Spokesperson
Stephane
Dujarric, with
the UN flag in
his profile
photo and
Guterres
promoting
content,
blocking Inner
City Press?
What is SG
Guterres'
response /
reaction to UN
DSS and
Guterres'
actions on
Inner City
Press being
listed in the
U.S. Press
Freedom
Tracker, here.
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 - and
respond that
Inner City
Press on
August 24
applied like
100s or 1000s
of others to
cover the
upcoming UNGA
high level
week,
including now
formally
offering to
answer any
quesions the
UN / DSS might
have, having
been vetted
and accredited
elsewhere
since, as both
USG DSS
Michaud and
MALU have
formally been
timely
informed --
and how it is
possible that
a media that
closely covers
and uncovers
the UN could
be denied
entry, other
than (SG)
censorship.
June
11-1: On
Cameroon, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on this report
from Chinese
state media:
"YAOUNDE, June
10 (Xinhua) --
Cameroon's
House Speaker
of National
Assembly
Cavaye Yeguie
Djibril on
Monday
denounced
foreign
interference
in the
country's
internal
affairs which
he referred to
as
"conspiracy."
Again, how
many offices /
desk does the
Secretariat
give to
Chinese state
media inside
the UN?
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.
,
