UNITED NATIONS,
August 11 – When Ivanka Trump
met UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres on July 28,
it was not listed in the UN
Media Alert. But Guterres had
UN Photo, a UN in-house unit
of the UN Department of Public
Information, come and document
the ceremonial handshake.
These photos soon turned up on
Associated Press, for sale
(like so much else at the UN,
particularly at DPI whose
director took now convicted
Macau businessman Ng Lap
Seng's funds even for the UN's
slavery memorial, audit here.)
Guterres' Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric on August 3 insisted
to Inner City Press that it is
"small outlets" that
improperly use and sell UN
Photos. Small like AP, Reuters
and Agence
France Presse? Inner
City Press on August 11, with
a new head of DPI Alison Smale
in-coming
in September, asked Dujarric
for an update, UN transcript here: Inner
City Press: on DPI. I
had asked you a couple of
times about this, the issue of
the running of photographs
taken by UN Photos by wire
services, without even
crediting the UN. What
steps have been taken?
Have any credits been changed?
Spokesman: I understand
that all the right credits.
Inner
City
Press: I
still see one of Ban Ki-moon
in Le Bourget…
Spokesman: Okay, I'm
saying with the major agencies
we deal with, I think
everything has been
straightened out, and whatever
miscommunication has been
straightened out. As I
said, it's been… what has been
the case for years is that a
number of small outfits or
websites will sometimes use
the photos without credit, and
we chase after them every time
we hear about them.
Inner
City
Press: Well,
I… I asked you about one in particular
that says "Mark Garten/AFP"
and it's a picture of Ban
Ki-moon at Le Bourget and it's
still up, so…
Spokesman: I'm just
saying… so all these things
are chased after and there are
a lot of them and we chase
them. The rules are
clear, is that the UN
distributes its photo products
free of charge, and agencies,
individuals, groups, whatever,
are not allowed to resell
them.
Inner City Press: And on North
Korea, has… or DPRK, has the
Secretary-General spoken with
his predecessor, Ban Ki-moon,
on this?
Spokesman: I'm not aware
that he has or that he has
not.
Global
Communications... While the UN
has belatedly told Inner City
Press that how its Ivanka
Trump photos showed up on AP
is "not
normal" and is being
looked into - the UN Spokesman
on August 2 told Inner City
Press is is all about AP -
there's more. UN Photo
material has been used by Reuters
and Agence
France Presse (AFP) with
NO MENTION of the UN, see here
(RIP) and here.
Both have permanent seats on
the executive committee of the
UN Correspondents Association,
to which Dujarric "lent"
the UN Press Briefing Room
then evicted
and still restricts
Inner City Press. Is that
normal? The "AFP" photograph
Inner City Press asked
Dujarric about is one of Ban
Ki-moon in Le Bourget in a
cafeteria line - it never
appeared in the UN Photo
database. We'll have more on
this. The Ivanka Trump photos
were listed as UN
photographer's name "via AP" -
but worse, in a previous case,
[unmasker]
Samantha Power photos showed
up on AP with a the name of a
photographer paid by the UN,
without any mention of UN
Photo, here.
This is a trend. Inner City
Press, for the Free
UN Coalition for Access,
emailed UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric: "When UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres met
on July 28 with Ivanka Trump,
it was not in the UN Media
Alert. However, photo(s) taken
by UN Photo appear to have
been provided to Associated
Press, which put them up for
sale. This is a request from
the Free UN Coalition for
Access for you as UN
spokesperson (and former DPI
official) to explain both why
this meeting was not on the UN
Media Alert, and the apparent
disparate treatment of some UN
media, giving the exclusive
photos to AP. Did the UN or
any of its staff or
contractors charge money for
this? On deadline. Please
confirm receipt." Dujarric as
is his custom neither answered
nor confirmed receipt. So at
the August 1 UN noon briefing,
Inner City Press asked him
again. Video here.
From the UN transcript:
Inner City Press: something
that I had emailed you, but I
will ask you now. There
was a meeting on Friday
between the Secretary-General
before he left and Ivanka
Trump. And it wasn't on
the Media Alert, but
apparently UN Photo was there,
but then some people noticed
that AP was selling the
photos…
Spokesman: I'm aware of
the situation with the AP,
which is not normal, and we
are in touch with them.
Inner
City Press: Can
you, are you going to answer
like how it happened?
Was money charged?
Spokesman: I said it's
not normal and we are in touch
with them. Obviously, no
one is allowed to sell or
distribute photos taken by UN
photographers without giving
proper credit, and no one is
allowed to sell those
photos. As I said, we
are in touch with them.
Inner City Press: Why
was it [not in the Media
Alert]?
Spokesman: It was a
private lunch. We will
go to our guest now.
A
wire service insider said
audibly that AP's long time
bureau chief was being
accused, perhaps even attacked
(the trope DPI's and
Dujarric's partners in the UN
Correspondents Association
board like to use). But it is
a simple and obvious
questions, and one that we
will pursue the answer to.
Watch this site. The slow pace
of UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres' reforms and
appointments, particularly on
Africa, are been brought into
focus by his just began two
week vacation, undisclosed
under Inner City Press asked
about it. The Special Adviser
on Africa position has been
vacant and "ad interim" for
almost as long as the
Department of Public
Information, at four months.
Inner City Press learned on
July 31 that the Africa
Adviser position was offered
to the now-ongoing head of UN
Women; her continuing in her
UN Women post is the
justification for non action.
But what about the Africa
positions in the Department of
Political Affairs, UNDP and
even on Genocide? What about
DPI, where Maher Nasser as "ad
interim" for four months has
yet to take any action on
Inner City Press April 1 request
to him, and more
recently confirmed
received by Guterres, to
reverse 18 months of
censorship? This is a trend:
Inner City Press asked
Guterres why he hasn't
released his budget speech, or
reform plans on May 25, the
day after Guterres' holdover
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
refused to provide the speech
to Inner City Press when it
asked. Guterres paused then
said it should be public,
seeming to believe that
Dujarric had, in fact,
released it. Video
here. But he had not and
has not. And now with Guterres
gone on an UNdisclosed two
week vacation, on July 31
Inner City Press sought to
cover the UN Security Council
End of Presidency reception it
was invited to - but had to
leave after 15 minutes, to
meet the UN Department of
Public Information's 7 pm
censorship deadline imposed on
it for 18 months and counting
for asking, including then DPI
chief Cristina Gallach, about
UN corruption. As Inner City
Press left, DPI's Hua Jiang
gave greeting. But it is
her department which continues
to restrict and censor Inner
City Press. It is shameful. On
July 19, Guterres spokesman
Farhan Haq refused to even
tell Inner City Press WHERE
Guterres would meet about
reform. On July 26, Guterres'
postponed Town Hall was listed
as "Closed" - thankfully, one
of his Assistant Secretaries
General publicly tweeted the
link. (So, see Periscope video
here).
Questions were raised about
racial discrimination in the
UN, specifically the case
against UNHABITAT's Joan Clos
that Inner City Press has
repeatedly asked about.
Guterres seemed not to be
familiar with it; he said he
is protecting whistleblwoers
but Mirando Brown and Emma
Reilly, following Anders
Kompass, would disagree, and
there are no Press
protections. The Pension Fund
CEO is refusing to seat two
staff representatives and
Guterres says he has no power
to change that. Inner City
Press asked Guterres'
spokesman Farhan Haq about
these issues. Haq said that
the OIOS investigation of
Clos' comments is ongoing -
this is not what Clos has
implied, some time ago - and
on the Pension Fund, he
mentioned Ms. Boykin. But her
job has been advertised. So
does Guterres have the power
to defend staff's rights or
not? Guterres is "pausing"
mobility, and proposing
changes to the Departments of
Management and Field Support.
We'll have more on this. From
the UN July 19 transcript:
Inner City Press: this retreat
that the Secretary-General is
planning for 22 July, will you
confirm that it's at
Greentree? And number
two, are all Member States
invited, or are groups
invited? And some Member
States have said there was a
meeting with something called
the Group of Friends of the
Future of the United
Nations. Is… did that
meeting take place?
Because I looked at his
schedule, and I never saw
it. Was such a meeting
held? And was it about
reform?
Deputy Spokesman: This
meeting on 22 July is part of
the effort to discuss the
reforms of the United
Nations. It is, in fact,
with all Member States, and
it's not at a location that I
disclosed, but it's in the New
York area.
UNreal.
Also that Guterres, who has
only held one solo press
conference at headquarters
since his election, is said to
hold none until September,
vacation at some undisclosed
dates in August. This lack of
transparency is not allow of
other leaders. We ad FUNCA
will have more on this.
Diplomats from a number of
countries have complained to
Inner City Press about it, for
example that in the run-up to
Guterres' "retreat" with
member states on July 22 at
the Greentree estate where
many of the now-failed UN
Cyprus talks took place, there
is "no document, no document
at all." Instead, there are
letters making the rounds: one
to Guterres' chief of staff,
another offering Guterres
support as a European and a
shorter US letter. Yes, reform
of the UN would require less
buck-passing, like Guterres
has done on the outrage of the
UN's World Intellectual
Property Organization helping
North Korea with cyanide
patents and using criminal
defamation law against the
press. The need for reform is
also shown every day in the Ng
Lap Seng / John Ashe
prosecution which Inner City
Press has been covering, here.
But Guterres has yet to be
transparent, or to end
censorship by his Secretariat.
We'll have more on this.
It
was Dujarric who evicted Inner
City Press, and has kept it
restricted in its movements in
the UN for the more than 200
days so far of Guterres'
tenure. On May 25, Inner City
Press asked Dujarric again, video here
On May 25, an NGO
representative who corresponded
"secretly" with Dujarric to
get Inner City Press evicted
and restricted was allowed
onto the UN's second floor
without the UN minders imposed
on Inner City Press. This is
UNtransparent. Why and how has
UN censorship continued,
without hearing or appeal?
***
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