| Amid UN
Censorship, No Zambia Answers But Here By
US, No Reply to Quinn Emanuel Letter
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Video
Q&A
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
UN GATE, August
16 – Each day, the current
United Nations gets worse. For
some time we have focused on
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres moving from
concealing his links to UN
briber CEFC China Energy to
banning the Press that asks,
to failures on Sri Lanka,
Cameroon, Haiti, Honduras
(JOH) & Nigeria (Nnamdi
& Igboho).
Now the
sleaze and censorship extends
to Zambia. Inner City Press
has submitted question after
question to Guterres'
spokespeople Stephane Dujarric
and Melissa Fleming, most
recently about tensions and
abuses around the upcoming
elections. No answers at all,
including after the elections
results. But this, from the
US:
"The United States
congratulates President-elect
Hakainde Hichilema on his
victory in the August 12
general elections. We
congratulate the people of
Zambia for exercising their
right to vote in historic
numbers and welcome
commitments from all parties
to a peaceful and orderly
transition."
The UN has
neither
responded to
or offered any
explanation
when a
lawyer's
letter - to UN
official
Fleming, and
Tal Mekel, and
to each UNCA
Executive
Committee
member - urged
them to have a
dialogue about
ending the
UN's banning
and censorship
of Inner City
Press.
On
August 9,
journalist
Benny Avni
asked Dujarric
about the
letter, video
here,
transcript:
Question:
My second
question is
the law firm
‑‑ what is it
called? ‑‑
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.
Question:
You're not
aware? I mean,
aren't you
part of the
group that
decides the
fate of... or
even the
negotiations...
The letter
calls for
renegotiation
[Cross
talk]
Spokesman:
I decide the
fate of no
one.
[Laughter]
Trust me,
trust me, my
authority is
extremely
limited,
whether at
home or at
work.
What I can
tell you and,
joking aside,
is that the
letter has
indeed been
received, and
I'm not aware
of any... and
there has been
no change in
Mr. Lee's
status.
Question:
Has the letter
been answered?
Do you plan to
answer
it?
Spokesman:
It's been
received.
Whether or not
it's been
answered, I
don't know
yet.
The
letter was
received by
the UN's
Melissa
Fleming, Maria
Luiza Vioti
and Tal Mekel
and to each
UNCA Executive
Board member,
to them citing
UNCA's stated
goals that it
has a charter
to supposedly
uphold.
What's
next? Since
the letter,
Inner City
Press has
published
exclusive
stories not
only from the
U.S. court
systems but
about the
United
Nations,
including its
agencies UNOPS,
UNFPA,
UNITAR
and UNESCO.
(Also credited
in AP,
Daily
Mail, and
Nigeria's
Sahara
Reporters,
amid answers
from the IMF.)
But
none of its
written
questions have
been answered
by the UN
Spokespeople,
and it remains
banned from
entry to the
UN's
briefings.
This must
end.
Having
asked for a
colleagial
discussion,
and while
still offering
it, things
must turn to
the law. UNCA
is a New York
State
non-profit
which has not
only not
abided by its
stated goals -
it has
tortiously
interfered
with a
journalist's
right to cover
the United
Nations.
The United
Nations itself
propounds
Article 19 of
the Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights,
and has other
legal duties
that must be
addressed by
national
courts,
particularly
in the UN's
host
country...
Those
in receipt of
the first,
friendly
letter:
melissa.fleming@un.org,
marialuiza.viotti@un.org,
mekel@un.org,
malu@un.org,
and
UNCA
Valeria
Robecco, ANSA
News Agency,
Nabil Abi
Saab,
Al-Araby,
Jianguo Ma,
Xinhua News
Agency, Edith
Lederer,
Associated,
Giampaolo
Pioli,
Quotidiano,
Linda Fasulo,
Ibtisam Azem,
Al-Araby
Al-Jadeed
Newspaper, Ali
Barada, France
24, Asharq
Al-Awsat;
Oscar Bolanos,
OMB News,
Sherwin
Bryce-Pease,
SABC South
Africa -
Alexander
Hassanein, The
Tokyo Shimbun,
Maria
Khrenova,
TASS, Philippe
Rater, Agence
France-Presse,
Kaori Yoshida,
Nikkei, Betul
Yuruk, Anadolu
Agency at
president@unca.com,
valeria.robecco@gmail.com,
nabisaab@gmail.com,
mjg222888@gmail.com,
elederer@ap.org,
giampioli@aol.com,
lindafasulo@gmail.com,
ibtisam.azem@alaraby.co.uk,
abarada@hotmail.com,
ombyvozque@gmail.com,
s.brycepease@gmail.com,
alexander@tokyoshimbun.us,
khrenova_m@tass.ru,
philippe.rater@afp.com,
kaori.yoshida@nex.nikkei.com,
byuruk@aa.com.tr
We'll have
more on this.
Watch this
site.
***
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
|
,
