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By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR Letter PFT Q&A, NY Post

UNITED NATIONS GATE, Sept 16 – Inner City Press on 5 July 2018 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' Department of Global Communication issued a letter banning Inner City Press from the UN - for life. With no due process. Guterres has 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 September 16 more than three hours before a noon briefing by Spokesman Stephane "French Whine" Dujarric said Guterres is captain of a New York Islanders hockey game (!) and cynically apologized for mis-attributing the atrocities in Guernica but not Cameroon, after the July 26 noon briefing had no questions at all, video here, Inner City Press submitted 1210 questions, including why it continues to be lawlessly banned from entering to ask questions in person: "There are more than 800+ 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 Sept 6 (while you still withhold if-asked information about Cameroon child rape(s) in DRC),  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, 8-30, Sept 3-5, 9-13 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.

September 16-1: On Zimbabwe, what is the SG's comment and action if any on that Zimbabwean doctors have staged a walkout in protest at the alleged abduction over the weekend of Peter Magombeyi, head of the doctor's union who has led strikes over poor pay and working conditions. 

September 16-2: On Indonesia and West Papua what is the SG's comment and action if any on that an Indonesian human rights lawyer, in hiding in Australia and facing allegations of provoking civil unrest in Papua and West Papua provinces, has broken her silence to accuse Indonesian authorities of “intimidation”, and fabricating a criminal case against her.  Veronica Koman said on Sunday claiming the Indonesian government was seeking “scapegoats”  

September 16-3: Why has SG Guterres still refused to disclose on his financial disclosure covering 2016 payments he received from the Gulbenkian Foundation which tried to sell its oil company Partex to CEFC China Energy, whose UN representative Patrick Ho was convicted of UN bribery in the SDNY court and is imprisoned in the MCC jail where Jeffrey Epstein was? 

September 16-4: On Hong Kong (and China), what is the SG's belated comment and action if any on that a pro-democracy Hong Kong legislator called for an investigation of what she said were “brutal crackdowns” and “police brutality” against demonstrators in the former British colony.  “Today marks the 100th day of the movement, but there is no sign the police will exercise restraint. This is a direct result of the lack of democracy in Hong Kong, as the government is not held accountable for its endorsement of police abuse,” Chan said. 

September 16-5: On China and Xinjiang, what is the SG's comment and action if any on that Chinese authorities have housed countless children whose parents are detained or in exile in state-run child welfare institutions and boarding schools without parental consent or access.” 

September 16-6: On China and Zambia (and other African nations) what is the SG's comment and action if any on that the Zambian government has deported a Chinese media executive over "derogatory and abusive language", a spokesman said.  Yi Jian is the chief executive officer of TopStar Communications Company Limited, which is a joint venture between Beijing-based Star Times and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC).  Mr Yi was deported on Thursday under a warrant signed by Interior Minister Stephen Kampyongo.  He was removed from the country “because there were reasonable grounds to believe that his presence in Zambia and conduct were likely to be a danger to peace and good order”, according to immigration department spokesperson Namati Nshinka.  The Chinese executive was on record as having "used derogatory and abusive language, not only towards employees of Top Star, but also towards government officials, on multiple occasions", he added 

September 16-7: On corruption, Ebola and the DRC (and MONUSCO), what is the SG's comment and action if any on that Police in Congo have detained the former minister of health amid an investigation into the use of Ebola funds as confirmed Ebola deaths rose to near 2,000 and confirmed cases of the virus exceeded 3,000 in the sprawling African nation.  Former Minister of Health Oly Ilunga was taken into custody, police said in a statement Saturday.
 But his lawyers have stressed that he denies wrongdoing, saying almost half the money in question was spent after he had resigned in July.  What about the rest? What about MONUSCO? 

September 16-8: On press freedom and Albania, what is the SG's comment and action if any on that Albania shut down one of Europe’s most promising media experiments. Now the government has been ordered to cough up €140m in damages. On air for her regular morning news show, Sonila Meco was forced to begin narrating for the audience what was unfolding before her...

  September 13-1: On Cameroon, again on the question you have refused to answer or allowed to be asked in the UN Press Briefing Room, given that Paul Biya's speech which SG Guterres immediately praised reiterated threats to crush "separatists" and denied that any marginalization has taken place, while leaders have been given life prison sentences, what is the meaning of Guterres' praise - now that Ayuk Tabe on whose refoulement from Nigeria the SG and DSG stayed silent has said Biya's "speech was a non-event and a non-starter"? Who worked on this UNSG statement - Francois Lonceny Fall? Rosemary DiCarlo? Had the Biya regime given the UN any heads-up? And again, where is the if-asked information about the Cameroon UN peacekeepers child rape in DRC? 

September 10-3: What are the SG's and USG Fleming's view of the ethics of UN Correspondents Association official taking a paid trip to China at this time, with regard to Xinjiang, Hong Kong and bribery by China Energy Fund Committee, which tried to buy the oil company of Gulbenkian Foundation which has made payments to the SG? See here

September 9-6: On UN sexual exploitation and abuse, again this the request that 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 and that you immediately provide the "if asked" information about  that you immediately provide the "granular" information that was promised last week at another noon briefing Inner City Press was banned from, to correspondents who barely ask or publish about this topic.

September 4-8: Immediately explain the single lawless line from MALU on 30 August 2019: "Greetings Matthew Lee from Inner City Press, Your media accreditation request, with reference no: M5413398, has been declined for the following reason: Media accreditation was withdrawn on 17 August 2018." This is a formal request for the UN's explanation of grounds for this denial. And a demand for answer to these questions, which MALU has declined to answer:  Who made the decision?  Where is the list of those accredited by [MALU]?  What and to whom is the process of appeal? 

September 3-17: 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. 

September 3-19: 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? Immediately explain the single lawless line from MALU on 30 August 2019: "Greetings Matthew Lee from Inner City Press, Your media accreditation request, with reference no: M5413398, has been declined for the following reason: Media accreditation was withdrawn on 17 August 2018." 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 Fleming have not even responded... 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.

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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