In Other Media-eg New Statesman, AJE, FP, Georgia, NYT,  Azerbaijan, CSM Click here to contact us     .

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon IMF
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - CJR - PFT

UN GATE, August 26 – Inner City Press on 5 July 2018 was banned from entering the UN, two day after it was physically removed from conducting interviews outside meeting about the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' $6.7 billion budget.

  Then Guterres' Department of Global Communication, run by Melissa Fleming, issued a letter banning Inner City Press from the UN - for life. With no due process, no right of appeal.  Guterres has put the UN in the US Press Freedom Tracker, here. Guterres' Spokesman Stephane Dujarric falsely promised on camera that he would be answering banned Inner City Press' questions - but see below.

     On August 26 after Guterres again refused to answer but the IMF did answer, May 6 here, Feb 25 here, Feb 4 here, here (3 Dec 2020), like here, before Stephane "French Whine" Dujarric, previously the face of UN lies on cholera in Haiti (and on July 9 saying he will continue hybrid briefings, exclusion of Inner City Press more and more absurd), not his now equally censoring Associate Eri Kaneko, nor Deputy Farhan Haq, held a briefing and Inner City Press submitted yet more questions (blocked by Dujarric's screener Florencia Soto Nino on +1 917 226 7816 and Dujarric himself on +1 917 622 7652; he directed some favored scribes to Eri Kaneko on +1 917 208 8910, who now blocks Inner City Press on WhatsApp as well) including on the basis on which it continues to be lawlessly banned from entering to ask questions in person. Now also on the basis for withholding publicly funded UN video from the Press. There was no answer from Farhan Haq on +1 917 592 4591, not even a confirmation of receipt, and now UN official like Hua Jiang, Eri Kaneko, now on screen Jennifer Confilio, Adam Smook, Marisela Rivera and others to be named taking public money for a UN briefing blocking email questions about the UN's spread of Covid 19 - May 21 Inner City Press video with commentary here and here, edit here, June 16 video of Kaneko who had briefing go dark and never returned to explain here and here -- who will be held accountable? July 16 and ouster here, July 17 raw and UNTV... August 11 briefing and quarantine violations, Nov 23 here (with those allowed in obsessed by Antony Blinken and Linda Thomas-Greenfield, whom we too will cover, and did even before nomination, here), Feb 11 here, Feb 12 here (short because Honduras coverage, another Guterres cover up), Feb 26 here, March 1 here, March 2 here, March 3 here (Twitter video briefing by Brenden Varma who blocks Inner City Press on Twitter), April 13 here, April 15 here, April 16 here, April 21 here, April 22 here, April 23 here, May 4 here, May 6 here, May 25 stand-up here, May 26 here, June 2 stand-up here, June 3 stand-up here, June 4 here,  June 8 stand-up here, June 17 stand-up here, IMF answer to ICP on June 24 here, VLOG Aug 3 here, Aug 4 here, Aug 9 here & Aug 9 Q&A here, Aug 16 Vlog here, Aug 24 Vlog at UN here, Inner City Press asked:

These written question are posed and responses requested pursuant to the until-now broken commitment the the UN will "continue to answer e-mailed questions from Mr Lee" Inner City Press, here

Aug 26-1: Immediately explain the basis for banning me and Inner City Press from the UN and its briefings when not only the IMF on May 20, 2021 on Sudan and El Salvador, here, 

and IMF on June 10, 2021: on Tanzania and Cameroon  and on El Salvador

and Wilson Center on May 20, 2021 on North Korea, here, and also on March 26, 2021 the US State Department takes Inner City Press' questions, transcript here 

and May 27, 2021 "Briefing with Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Julie Chung On the Secretary’s Upcoming Travel to San Jose, Costa Rica," "Let’s go the line Matthew Russell Lee.  QUESTION: Sure. Thanks a lot and thanks for taking the question. I had wanted to ask specifically about Honduras. There have been a series of cases in the Southern District of New York where the brother of the president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, his brother Tony was convicted of drug trafficking," see here.

What is the response of SG Guterres' / USG Fleming to the letter sent to her and others by the Quinn Emanuel law firm regarding ending Press censorship?  See "answer" August 9, here: letter received, no change in status - no reply.

After repeated non-answers to the above, on August 9 UN Spokesperson Dujarric was asked "Quinn Emanuel wrote a letter to the UN asking about reinstatement of our colleague Matthew Lee into the UN press corps. Do you have any comment on that?        Spokesman:  No. All I can tell you is that we've received the letter, and I'm not aware of any change to his status... It's been received. Whether or not it's been answered, I don't know yet." How can the UN, which preached press freedom, not even answer a letter for a journalist from a major law firm? What is your answer? When will Inner City Press be restored to resident correspondent status, like various state media?

On attack on Kabul airport, Abbey Gate and Baron Hotel, how does this impact the UN staff left behind while SG Guterres' SRSG is already in Almaty on which you have refused Inner City Press' questions on the UNAMA email it exclusively obtained and published? 

On Cameroon, what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres on the "Cameroon military opening fire at Christians in Bail/Ambazonia worshipping yesterday Sunday?      Same incident yesterday in another Church in Balangui/ Ambazonia.  Reports say 4 people died in these incidents" 

On UNDT opacity, on which you have refused to answer, explain why on August 26, a supposedly "public" case was held - but the access link was dead, not only to Inner City Press but to the public at large: "UNDT/NBI/2020/022 (Mancinelli) The Applicant contests the Administration’s finding of misconduct and imposition of a disciplinary sanction against her." 

On Ethiopia what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres on that more than 200 people have been killed following fighting in  East Wollega Zone in the Oromia region

On Afghanistan what is SG Guterres' response to “The situation in Afghanistan is very dangerous and likely to get much worse,” they wrote, alleging that the U.N.’s decision to continue operating without additional safety protocols, “is being done at the expense of the safety and security of Afghan nationals.” 

On Ethiopia what are SG Guterres comments and actions if any on that the Southern Command Military Court has passed guilty verdict on members of the army who were accused working for Tigray People’s Liberation front (TPLF). 

On Morocco and Algeria on which you have previously refused to respond, what now are SG Guterres' comments on that Morocco has rejected reasons put forward by Algeria in its decision to sever diplomatic relations with its North African neighbor.  Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra announced his country’s decision on Tuesday to cut all ties with Morocco for "hostile acts". 

On Guinea-Bissau, what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres on that Guinea-Bissau's President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has said the former army chief will not be handed over to the United States where he is wanted for alleged drug-trafficking offences.

Given the Aug 24 UNDT case about UNDP Country Director Samuel Bwalya colluding / forging with Ethiopia's government, immediately state how many other cases of UN staff or officials colluding with Ethiopia's government the UN is aware of, and describe each.

On UN sexual exploitation and abuse - alleged - this is a repeated request on the new cases of UN child rap in CAR by UN "peacekeeping" troops from Cameroon - and Nepal peacekeeper child rape in DRC - data-dumped at 11:36 am on August 19, 2021 that you immediately provide the "if asked" information which Inner City Press already asked each of your for without response (cover up), also all those earlier July and the June 15 data-dumped cases none of you have answered Inner City Press on, also about case of child rape in CAR by a Gabon "peacekeeper," a UN civilian child rape in DRC and a UN civil sex abuse case in South Sudan    

On Afghanistan and the UNAMA memo from Marija Sendekovic Inner City Press obtained and published, questions: How was Almaty selected? What other cities were considered? What information was required? Was it a bidding process? How long ago did the UN make this plan? How many staff are in Almaty? WHY DID YOU REFUSE TO ANSWER FROM AUG 16?

On Ethiopia and Tigray, what is SG Guterres' explanation of and action on this leaked audio of UN Country Team?

On UN retaliating against whistleblowers, what is SG Guterres' response to recent public statements by Emma Reilly that steps are being taken to fire her by the end of August, under a UN claim that whether names of Uighur dissidents were given to China is irrelevant to the case? Now, confirm or deny that USG Pollard is inquiring into / investigating UN staff who re-tweet Emma Reilly, as she states.

 On the in-person, no-vax "honor system" UNGA week Inner City Press has asked each of you in writing about every week day since Aug 3, what is you response to a Turtle Bay resident responding to presumptive Manhattan BP Mark Levine with "As a resident of the United Nations neighborhood, the evident disregard the UN is showing for its own World Health Organization's guidance is not appreciated"? 

 Why is the investigation of Fabrizio Hochschild taking so long, particularly in light of the quotes attributed by the SG by Swanson in the audio Inner City Press exclusively published

 As I asked in writing on the morning of July 6, without answer from any of you, On UN sexual exploitation and abuse - alleged - this is a request on the new 2021 UN sex abuse in DRC and Haiti by UN "peacekeeping" civilian international UN staff members, including UN Volunteers, with nationality not given (alleged rape), dumped at 10 am on July 6, 2021 that you immediately provide the "if asked" information, also the June 15 data-dumped cases none of you have answered Inner City Press on, also about case of child rape in CAR by a Gabon "peacekeeper," a UN civilian child rape in DRC and a UN civil sex abuse case in South Sudan, all data dumped at 12:35 pm on Jan 5, 2021, ... This is a request that you immediately confirm receipt of these questions and requests.  This is a request that you immediately confirm receipt of these questions and requests and explain how UN spox and official blocking such questions is not complicity -Matthew Russell Lee, InnerCityPress.com

On SG son Pedro Guimarães e Melo De Oliveira Guterres, explain how the business of Explorer Investments has been reviewed for conflicts of interest. Explain immediately how Pedro Guterres doing business with Rwanda while Antonio Guterres was UNSG was and is not a conflict, and what was disclosed and to whom. 

On UN staffer Karim Elkorany, indicted in SDNY for lying to FBI about drugging and raping women while working for UN in Iraq, immediately state what the outcome of the victim complaining to the UN was - and why Elkorany was back at liberty in New Jersey.

On Honduras and COVID corruption by the Juan Orlando Hernandez administration, what are the comment and actions if any of SG Guterres on the corruption allegations here? And again, what is the read out of Guterres' panel sent to Honduras? 

***

Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.

Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA

Mail: Box 20047, Dag Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017

Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540

Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

 Copyright 2006-2021 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com for