| At
UN as P5 UK Denies FOIA
Request for Yemen Documents,
Censors Alliance Sells E10
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video,
1st
Person
UNITED NATIONS,
February 15 – In the UN
Security Council there are the
Permanent Five (the US,
France, UK, China and Russia)
and then the Elected, or
Other, Ten. Some do a better
job than others during their
two year (or in the case of
Italy and the Netherlands, one
year) on the Council. Italy
before it left the Council decided
to try to raise its profile by
serving espresso in the
UN-given clubhouse of the UN
Correspondents Association, a
group which by its own
admission is not, and
apparently feels it cannot be,
about press freedom. In fact,
UNCA had the investigative
Press thrown out for pursuing
the story of UNCA's receipt of
funds from convicted UN briber
Ng Lap Seng, who then got a
photo with the Secretary
General at UNCA's fundraiser
at Cipriani. Today to its dues
paying members UNCA is selling
"informal" access to E10
ambassadors. But for what? Consider
the opacity of the P5, with
the UK as first example: the UK
silence about the plight of
Anglophone residents of the
former British Southern
Cameroons persists even in the
face of a Freedom of
Information Act request from
Inner City Press.
More than five
months ago on 15 August 2017
Inner City Press asked the UK
government for records
concerning Cameroon. After
repeatedly extending the time
to response, now the UK has
denied access to all
responsive records, letter here,
saying that "the release of
information relating to the
UK’s discussion on UN business
could harm our relations and
other member states of the
United Nations (UN)."
Here
on Patreon is the full denial
letter, from which Inner City
Press is preparing an appeal,
on Yemen as well - it has 40
working days.
This is shameful
- the UK is also exiting
transparency.
On February 6 in
front of the UN Security
Council, Inner City Press
asked the United Kingdom's
Deputy Ambassador Jonathan
Allen for the UK's comment on
Nigeria's forced repatriation
of 47 to Cameroon. From the UK
transcript: Inner City Press:
Nigeria did a forced
repatriation of 47 Cameroonian
leaders. The UNHCR said it was
illegal. The US has commented
on it. Does the UK have any
view? Amb Allen: I’m afraid I
wasn’t aware of that before.
I’ll have to get back to you
on the details." Video here.
At day's end, a UK Mission
spokesperson sent Inner City
Press a short comment, here.
As
Inner City
Press pursues
these
questions at
the UN, it
remains restricted
to minders by
the head of
the UN
Department of
Public
Information
Alison Smale,
who it is
noted is
British - and
functionally a
censor. A
retaliator,
too? Smale has
not explained
why Inner City
Press' long
time work
space is
assigned to
no-show,
no-question
Egyptian state
media Akhbar
al Youm.
On Cameroon
and Yemen, UK Denies Inner
City Press FOIA Request
After 170 Days, Preparing
to Appeal, 40 Work...
by Matthew
Russell Lee on Scribd
Meanwhile
the French government, which
claims at the UN and elsewhere
that human rights is in its
DNA, has ignored the
refoulement, limited its
condemnation instead, via Foreign
ministry
spokeswoman
Agnes Von der
Muhll, on "new
killings of law enforcement
officials that took place on 1
February in Cameroon."
In Yaounde,
France's Ambassador Gilles
Thibault is focusing, like
Reuters' ostensibly charitable
arm, on the cultivation of
pepper, see here.
This is colonialism.Are these
the relations that the UK
claims would be hurt by
complying with FOIA? Watch
this site.
***
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