UNITED NATIONS,
July 7 – 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's $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. Secretary
General Antonio Guterres'
spokesman Farhan Haq told
Fox News that the ban of Inner
City Press is pending a “full
review of the incident,"
calling Inner City Press a
"repeat offender." This is
false. By the UN's own written
rules Inner City Press was
authorized to remain and cover
both the June 22 event in the
General Assembly lobby at
which Antonio Guterres gave a
speech and the July 3 Budget
Committee meeting, the
existence of which was
notified to Inner City Press
by a UN Spokesperson. That
Inner City Press can film and
stream Periscope video in UN
hallways, without a UN minder,
has been communicated to Inner
City Press by the UN itself,
which told it no minder was
required to film in the hall
outside of the clubhouse the
UN gives to the silent UN
Correspondents Association.
Inner City Press' work in the
fourth flooor bullpen was
authorized by DPI; its
completing there its writing,
often eight to ten stories a
day, was open with nothing
said by UN Security when Inner
City Press left upon work's
complete, through the
Secretariat lobby and traffic
circle guard booth. Lieutenant
Dobbins on June 22 ignored the
written rules and left Inner
City Press without its laptop
for three days. Dobbins and
four officers who refused to
give their names pushed Inner
City Press right past multiple
other non-resident
correspondents. Their
presence, then and on all
other days, can be documented.
With his partner on July 3, he
grabbed Inner City Press
laptop and Inner City Press'
shirt was torn and arm twisted
before any discussion. It was
an abuse, and a set up. And
banning Inner City Press for a
review it has not even been
contacted for, involving
practices by Inner City Press
that the UN has repeatedly
authorized, is Kafka-esque or
worse. Haq refused to answer
Inner City Press questions
about the review, saying
contact the Department of
Public Information whose Under
Secretary General Alison Smale
refuses to answer e-mails or
petition, and the Department
of Safety and Security, whose
USG Peter Drennan also has a
conflict of interest. Inner
City Press published
a leaked DSS e-mail alleging
that Drennan “buried” a threat
against then-UNESCO chief
Irina Bokova, who ran against
Guterres for the position of
Secretary General. (She may
now be in line to replace
Prince Zeid as UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights,
call it musical chairs).
Drennan's response was to
initiate an invasive
investigation... of who leaked
the e-mail to Inner City
Press. He used public money to
try to triangulate where the
e-mail published by Inner City
Press had been printed out.
And now he has a role in
deciding to ban Inner City
Press from the UN compound
preventing it from asking
questions for two days and
counting? This is a conflict
of interest, the Kafka-esque
UN that has grown worse under
Guterres. Likewise, after
Inner City Press exposed
senior UN Security official
Matthew Sullivan linking up
with a group holding
for-profit events in large UN
meeting rooms, one ludicrously
involving “GPS sneakers,” what
happened next was Sullivan ousting
Inner City Press from the
photo booth over an open
meeting about the cholera
brought to Haiti by UN
Peacekeeping. There's more -
watch this site. On July 6,
when Inner City Press went to
the gate to ask politely if it
could as before enter to
attend the noon briefing and
ask questions, it was told
"No." Inner City Press
reiterated its concern about
censorship to Darrin Farrant,
a staff member of Alison Smale
of DPI who has not answered
Inner City Press' six emails
and petition; he said he would
pass the concern along. We are
waiting for an answer. At the
day's noon briefing, unlike
for most of his previous
briefing, there were no
questions at all for Brenden
Varma the spokesperson for the
President of the General
Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak.
But, in the morning, Inner
City Press had e-mailed Varma
"two questions since I am
banned from entering the UN:
Since the PGA is using the
term eSwatini, what is his
comment on this: 'A
pro-democracy activist in
Swaziland has challenged the
king's decision to change the
country's name. In April, King
Mswati III, one of the world's
last-remaining absolute
monarchs, unexpectedly
announced he was changing the
country's official name to the
Kingdom of eSwatini. The
activist, Thulani Maseko,
argued in papers submitted to
the High Court that the
decision was invalid because
there had been no prior public
consultation.' Also, what is
the PGA's comment on and
action on UN banning Inner
City Press from the UN on July
5, today and for the
foreseeable future, after it
was physically ousted from
covering the July 3 meetings
of the UNGA's 5th Committee?
The issue has been raised,
yesterday, to at least two
members of his staff." At 4:52
pm, Varma replied with this:
"As discussed before, none of
these matters (country names,
media accreditation, security
at UNHQ) are matters for the
PGA. I would have to refer to
you to the Secretariat." And
the Secretariat's spokesman
refers Inner City Press to the
Department of Public
Information, whose chief
Alison Smale has ignored six
emails and a 5000 signature
petition. Lajcak back in May
2017 told
Inner City Press which asked
about UN bribery, from Ashe
now to Kutesa, There will be
no secrets. That seemed to
imply he would not stand by as
an investigative journalist is
ousted and banned from
covering the GA. We'll see.
Also at the day's noon
briefing, the UN's deputy
spokesman Farhan Haq took
questions from France 24,
Moroccan state media, Reuters
and quickly turned over the
podium to the PGA's spokesman.
Inner City Press had asked
Haq: "Since Inner City Press'
six inquiries with the head of
DPI Alison Smale have gone
unanswered, and I am as you
know banned from entering the
building, who are you telling
me to contact in Security and
DPI? Aren't you the
spokesperson for the
Secretariat? Need answer
immediately. For now, for
noon, three questions:
In Tanzania, Julius Mtatiro
asenior leader of a Tanzanian
opposition party has been
arrested for insulting
President John Magufuli by
asking“Who is the President,
really?” Police detained him
“as they found this phrase
offensive to the president.
They went on to search Mr
Mtatiro’s home for the device
used to post on social media.”
What is the Secretary
General's comment - and his /
Country Team's action?
It is reported that Canada
will deploy up to 20 civilian
police officers to support
both the United Nations
peacekeeping mission and the
EU training mission in Mali.
So, will they be part of
MINUSMA? How many Canadian
personnel are currently part
of MINUSMA, and what is the
plan and timetable for
additional Canadian joining of
MINUSMA? Will Canadian troops
have different (and
significantly, better)
security equipment that other
countries' troops in MINUSMA?
On the deadly class between
DRC's and Uganda's militaries
on Lake Edward, what is the
SG's comment and what is
MONUSCO's action?" So far,
even after the briefing, only
this: "Regarding your question
on Lake Edward, there is no
comment or response from
MONUSCO." We'll have more on
this.
Haq told Fox News
"Matthew Lee [i]s a repeat
offender, having been
similarly removed from the
building on 22 June 2018,
Matthew Lee has been
temporarily barred from the
premises pending a full review
of this incident." There is no
offense by Inner City Press:
the rules permit Inner City
Press to cover meetings after
7 pm, on June 22 a speech by
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres and on July 3 a
meeting about Guterres' $6.7
billion budget. So since no
one from the UN contacted
Inner City Press on July 5
about any review, Inner City
Press wrote to Haq and his
boss Stephane Dujarric (out of
the office again). Haq
replied, "Receipt is
confirmed. For questions about
security issues, you will need
to be in touch with security
and with DPI." But neither
Department has a spokesperson
- Haq is the spokesperson for
the Secretariat -- and Inner
City Press has written six
times to the head of DPI
without a single response. The
head of DPI ordered an
investigation of him own staff
after Inner City Press
published a leaked email about
him "burying" a threat to
another UN system official,
Irina Bokova (who may, some
say, become High Commissioner
for Human Rights). So Haq's
"answer" is Orwellian. We will
have more on this. Guterres
was informed on June 25 by
Inner City Press of the
escalating targeting by his UN
Security Lieutenant Ronald E.
Dobbins. In fact, Guterres
deputy spokesman Farhan Haq on
July 3 essentially gave the
green light for that evening's
Security violence. On July 5,
Guterres' lead spokesman
Stephane Dujarric refused to
answer press questions about
the ouster before "his" noon
briefing. Afterward, when
Saunders sauntered out of the
UN in black sunglasses and was
informed that Inner City Press
was now banned, his response
was to complain about some of
the written coverage of him.
Video here.
So is that why he cheered on
the twisting of the Press'
arm? Will this obviously
biased official be witness in
the "full review of the
incident" pending which Inner
City Press is indefinitely
banned? Brenden Varma the
Spokesperson for the President
of the General Assembly
Miroslav Lajcak (whose chief
of staff and under-staffer
were also informed of the
Press ban) said, as his office
summarized, "This afternoon at
3:00, the General Assembly’s
Fifth Committee, which handles
administrative and budgetary
matters, will formally take
action on all outstanding
issues, including United
Nations peacekeeping budgets
and the Secretary-General’s
management reform and peace
and security architecture
reform proposals.
It will then close the second
part of its resumed session.
Following that, the General
Assembly plenary will meet to
consider the report of the
Fifth Committee." Inner City
Press was banned from this
meeting and vote. While the UN
has told Inner City Press
nothing, Guterres spokesman
Farhan Haq told FOX
News' Adam Shaw that
"security followed up, they
found Matthew Lee to be in the
building past 9 p.m., well
after the hours for a
non-resident correspondent,
and they informed him that he
was not allowed to roam around
the UN compound at that hour.
They informed him that he
would be required to leave the
premises. At that point, Mr.
Lee became loud and
belligerent, and resisted the
instructions of UN security
officers. He was then escorted
outside the building, along
with his laptop and backpack.
Based on his unacceptable
behavior, and the fact that he
was a repeat offender, having
been similarly removed from
the building on 22 June 2018,
Matthew Lee has been
temporarily barred from the
premises pending a full review
of this incident." But Inner
City Press has not been
contacted for any review,
which would have to include UN
Security twisting its
reporter's arm before any
volume, and the MALU rule
permitted coverage of meetings
after 7 pm, and for an hour
after then end. This was pure
targeting, and Guterres and
his team are
responsible. Eleven days
after UN Security officers led
by UN Lieutenant Ronald E.
Dobbin and four others who
refused to give their names
pushed Inner City Press'
reporter out
of the UN during a speech by
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres, on July 3 just after
Inner City Press interviewed
the chairman of the UN Budget
Committee, Dobbins and another
UN Security officer even more
physically removed Inner City
Press from the UN. Video
here,
tweeted here.
Hours later as diplomats and
Guterres officials who
witnessed it left the UN,
Inner City Press asked
Guterres' Under Secretary
General for Field Support Atul
Khare about the process. He
admitted, contrary to
Guterres' spokesman, that the
Support Account was still not
agreed. Shown the shirt that
UN Security officers Dobbins
and his thus far UNnamed
partner tore, he said, "I'll
talk to DPI." While
appreciated, Inner City Press
already six times wrote to
DPI's Alison Smale, and last
week spoke directly to her and
her piano playing husband
Sergei Dreznin at the End of
UNSC Presidency reception.
Inner City Press told Smale,
and an hour later emailed her,
that her continued disparate
treatment of active Inner City
Press as a non - resident
correspondent would allow
further targeting like that of
Lieutenant Dobbins and four
unnamed Emergency Response
Unit officers on June 22.
Smale didn't even confirm
receipt of the email as
requested. And on July 3 a new
officer got involved as Inner
City Press covered the UN
budget, breaking Inner City
Press' laptop, tearing its
shirt and twisting its arm.
Smale and Guterres are
responsible. This all happened
as Inner City Press was
actively writing about the
UN's murky $6.7 billion
peacekeeping budget and
questionable reforms by
Guterres. It happened directly
in front of, and ultimately at
the order of, a Guterres
Assistant Secretary General,
Christian Saunders. A number
of diplomats stood and took
pictures and videos. Here as
the interview, pre-ouster,
with the Budget Committee
chairman Tommo Monthe of
Cameroon, video here.
Guterres' spokesman Farhan on
both July 2 and July 3
insisted to Inner City Press
that the budget was agreed to
in a closed session on Sunay,
when clearly it has not been
approved. While we will have
more on the other UN Security
Officer, Inner City Press has
previously reported on issues
with Saunders, from education
to the cover up of sexual
harassment and abuse in the
UN. The fact that Antonio
Guterres allows this to go on
in his UN should disqualify
him. The UN had at least 11
days to deal with this - Inner
City Press repeatedly at the
noon briefing asked about the
rules, and the budget - and
this was their response.
Significantly, on July 3 the
Government Accountability
Project has criticized
the ouster and called for
Inner City Press to be
reinstated as a UN Resident
Correspondent. Inner City
Press asked Guterres' Deputy
Spokesman Farhan Haq, video here, UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: I'd asked
you, a week ago, about the UN
policy of UN security ousting
the non-resident correspondent
during a meeting to be covered
and refusing to give their
names, and now the Government
Accountability Project has asked
the same question. So
I'm wondering, you didn't ask
me when I answered it [sic],
what is the policy of the UN
on something as fundamental as
security officers giving their
names, and also can they oust
journalists during a meeting
such as a budget meeting that
will be upcoming, I would
believe, in upcoming days?
Deputy Spokesman: As far
as I'm aware, the security
officers were enforcing the
appropriate rules. Any
problems that you have with
them are questions that you
need to address with our
colleagues in UN security and
with Media Accreditation." But
as GAP notes, the boss of
Media Accreditation Alison
Smale has refused to answer
anything in eight months. GAP
writes:
"as security expelled Mr. Lee
from the building, he
encountered Catherine Pollard,
the UN’s Under-Secretary
General (USG) for General
Assembly and Conference
Management, who pointedly
ignored his plight and simply
stayed her course, despite his
plea for her intervention.
Along the way, Mr. Lee also
asked the guards for their
names, which they refused to
provide. This most recent
incident is the latest in a
long history of harassment
directed at a journalist who
has been critical of UN
management and operations over
the years. Mr. Lee’s
investigative reporting has
broken stories concerning
sexual abuses committed by
peacekeepers in Africa, the
role of UN peacekeepers in
bringing cholera to Haiti, and
war crimes in Sri Lanka,
Burundi and Sudan [and
Cameroon]. Mr. Lee’s reporting
has also helped to expose
corruption at the Headquarters
of the United Nations,
including the current bribery
scandals surrounding former
General Assembly President
[Sam Kutesa and] John Ashe."
In the
eleven days since the ouster,
live-streamed on Periscope and
then put on YouTube,
the UN of Antonio Guterres has
not responded in any way.
Inner City Press was first
told to "Ask Security" then to
"Ask DPI" or as it now
absurdly wants to be known,
the UN Department of Global
Communications. But as GAP
continues, "Like USG Pollard,
the Under-Secretary for Global
Communications, Alison Smale,
seems deaf to Mr. Lee’s
distress; she has refused for
eight months to answer e-mails
or respond to a petition to
restore his credentials as a
resident correspondent." Inner
City Press since the ouster
has raised it to Smale not
only in writing (again) but
also in person - with no
response. Global
Communications, indeed. GAP
concludes: The Government
Accountability Project
therefore urges the Member
States of the United Nations
to combat the silencing of a
journalist by taking action at
the offices of the
self-appointed guardian of
free speech, itself: the
United Nations. Matthew Lee
should be: Reinstated as a
resident correspondent with
appropriate access to
facilities and events, and
Issued a public apology for
the improper expulsion that
occurred on June 22nd." To
Inner City Press, it is the
first of these, restoration to
its long time work space S-303
which sits empty every day,
assigned to an Egypt state
media Akhbar al Yom whose
Sanaa Youssef, while a former
president of the UN
Correspondents Association
(1984) has not asked the
UN a question in a
decade. As to apologies from
today's UN, the disingenuous
apology in Haiti for example
shows how much those are
worth. We'll have more on
this. Guterres' lead spokesman
Stephane Dujarric evaded Inner
City Press' questions then ran
off the podium. Video here.
Despite the fact that
Guterres' armed guards ousted
Inner City Press and that the
UN Department of Public
Information under Alison Smale
did nothing, Dujarric babbled
that Inner City Press should
"ask DPI" then ran off the
podium. Video here.
From the UN (controlled) transcript:
Inner City Press: Farhan
[Haq], on Monday, when I
informed him that on Friday I
had been, during an event in
which the Secretary-General
was giving a speech, made to
leave by UN Security while
other non-resident
correspondents, a distinction
you just cited, were still in
attendance, he said to talk to
security. And that seems
strange to me, because it
seems to me that the
Secretariat, like civilian…
Spokesman: I think if
there are any issues that you
have…
Inner
City Press: My
issue…
Spokesman: If you have
any issues with your access,
you should take them up with
DPI [Department of Public
Information] and the people
who actually issue the
accreditation.
Inner City Press: They
came… they came and they said
there was nothing they could
do…
Spokesman: "Thank you
very much. Brenden." The
UN transcript
omitted the audible question,
"So can Security just at will
bar journalists?" Video here.
The UN of Guterres, Dujarric
and Smale is a place of
corruption and censorship, and
self-serving erasure even of
the questions asked, with the
public's money. The day
before, after cutting off
Inner City Press' question
about protests of Guterres'
inaction on sexual harassment
cover-ups at UNAIDS, Dujarric
called on a correspondent for
a London-based Arabic daily.
Then he called on that same
correspondent again before
returning to Inner City Press.
Sensing this second round
might be cut off, Inner City
Press began asking about
Guterres inaction on Cameroon
then on his Security's ouster
of the Press which asks. But
Dujarric after evading the
Cameroon question turned to Al
Jazeera which asked what even
it called a light question
about the French label pin on
Dujarric's sear-sucker jacket.
Then Dujarric simply left the
room, so that Inner City
Press' question about
Guterres' use of his Security
to target the Press could not
be asked. On June 22 Inner
City Press was live-streaming
Periscope and preparing to
write about Secretary General
Antonio Guterres' claims about
his visit to Mali, where he
didn't even inquire into a
recent case child rape by a UN
Peacekeeper. With the event
still ongoing, Inner City
Press was approached by
Lieutenant Dobbins and told
that since it was just past 7
pm it had to leave the
building. Video here.
That is not
the rule, nor the practice.
But Inner City Press under
Guterres and his head of
Global Communications Alison
Smale has inexplicable been at
the "non-resident
correspondent" level lowered
from that of no-show state
media like Akbhar al Yom's
Sanaa Youssef, assigned Inner
City Press' long time office
despite rarely coming in and
not asking a question in ten
years.
While
Guterres and Smale have
created and encourage the
atmosphere for targeting the
Press, Dobbins had and has his
own reasons. Inner City Press
previously exclusively
reported on fraudulent
promotions in the UN
Department of Safety and
Security, beginning of series
here
with a leaked document
with Dobbins own name on it,
under the heading "Possible
Promotions... if Dobbins does
not want Canine / ERU."
Document here.
Since the publication, Dobbins
and a number of UN Security
officers have openly targeted
Inner City Press. This has
been raised in writing to
Smale (for eight months), for
almost 18 months to Guterres
and his deputy Amina J.
Mohammed, whose response has
been to evade questions on
Cameroon and now an ambiguous
smile while surrounded by UN
Security. On June 25 Inner
City Press asked Guterres'
Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq
about it, video here,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press:
on Friday there was the Eid
event in which António
Guterres gave a speech, and I…
I want… I guess I want to put
this in a general way because
I don't understand it.
During the event, as the event
went on, I was required to
leave by a Lieutenant Dobbins
and the emergency response
unit. And it seemed
strange, because there were
many other non-resident
correspondents at the
event. So, I wanted to
know… to know, one, what are
the rules? Number two,
is it acceptable for a… a… UN
Security to… to single out and
target a specific
journalist? And I did…
and I ask this because I've
previously written a story
about promotions in DSS
[Department of Safety and
Security], including Mr.
Dobbins, and whatever that is,
what are the provisions in the
UN to make sure that security
cannot abuse its powers?
So those are… I… I… I'd like
you to answer that, and also
they didn't give their
names. The other
individuals refused to give
their names. Is that UN
policy?
Deputy Spokesman: UN
Security has their
policies. Your concerns
with them need to be addressed
to UN Security. I'm not
going to comment on your own
problems with UN
Security. Brenden, come
on up.
Inner
City Press: I
don't understand. This
happened at a speech by the
Secretary-General.
Deputy Spokesman: No,
I'm sorry, your security
issues are things you're going
to have to deal with.
Inner City Press: It's not a
security issue. It was
done in the name of the
Secretary-General. Is he
speaking tomorrow at 6 p.m.
somewhere? Can you say where
the Secretary-General is
speaking tomorrow at 6 p.m.?
Deputy Spokesman: I’m
not going to argue with you on
this." There was more - video
here.
Even if Lt
Dobbins and his team and
commanders wanted to interpret
and twist the existing rules
in a way they are not enforced
against any other non-resident
correspondent at the UN, the
Guterres Eid al -Fitr event
listed in the UN Department of
Public Information was still
ongoing, making it
unquestionable that Inner City
Press had a right to be in the
UN and cover it.
But
even as Inner City Press
dialed DPI's Media
Accreditation and Liaison
Unit, getting only voice mail,
Dobbins made a call and UN
“Emergency Response Unit”
officers arrived, with barely
concealed automatic weapons.
One of them repeatedly pushed
Inner City Press' reporter in
the back, forcing him through
the General Assembly lobby
toward the exit. Video here.
UN
Under Secretary General
Catherine Pollard was told the
ouster and did nothing, as was
a Moroccan diplomat. The
heavily armed UN Security
officers refused to give their
names when asked. Lieutenant
Dobbins, with no name plate on
his uniform, refused to spell
his name. He said, I have my
orders. From who - Guterres?
His Deputy SG or chief of
staff, both of whom were at
the event? DSS chief Drennan?
DPI chief Alison Smale?
Inner City Press repeatedly
asked to be able to get its
laptop computer, which was
upstairs - there was no way to
have known it would be ousted
during Guterres' event.
But
Dobbins and the others
refused, as did the UN
Security officers at the gate.
Inner City Press remained
there, with dwindling cell
phone battery, raising the
issue online to Smale, under
whose watch Inner City Press
has remained in the
non-resident correspondent
status it was reduced to for
pursuing the Ng Lp Seng UN
bribery case into the UN press
briefing room where Guterres'
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
ordered it out, then had it
evicted. A DPI representative,
whom Inner City Press asked to
call Smale, was unable or
unwilling to even let Inner
City Press go in escorted to
get its laptop.
Just
in the past week, when Inner
City Press complained of
Dujarric providing only to Al
Jazeera the response of
Antonio Guterres to the US
leaving the UN Human Rights
Council, Dujarric and the Al
Jazeera trio claimed
to MALU that the coverage was
“too aggressive.” Journalism
is not a crime? Next week,
Antonio Guterres is set to
give remarks, to which Inner
City Press has requested the
right to cover response, to
the UN Correspondents
Association, which not only
has not acted on this
censorship, but has fueled it.
Inside the
UN the Eid event continued,
alongside a liquor fueled
barbeque thrown by UN
Security. This DSS sold
tickets to non resident
correspondents, and allowed in
people who had nothing to do
with the UN, including some
seeming underage. When Inner
City Press audibly raised the
issue to UN Safety and
Security Service chief Mick
Brown, he did nothing.
The
Moroccan diplomat emerged and
chided Inner City Press for
even telling him of the
ouster, claiming that “25% of
what you write is about
Morocco.” Some Periscope video
here.
Pakistan's Permanent
Representative, who hosted the
Eid event, said she would look
into it. Sweden's spokesperson
asked whom to call in DPI and
when Inner City Press said,
Alison Smale, responded, Who
is Alison Smale? Indeed.
Smale has
refused to respond in any way,
in the eight months she has
been Guterres' “Global
Communications” chief, to a
5000 signature petition to
restore Inner City Press to
its unused office S-303 and to
adopt content neutral media
access rules going forward.
That, and appropriate action
on Lt. Dobbins and the others,
must be among the next steps.
Watch this site.
***
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