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By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Video Q&A
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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 Afghanistan, in crisis as the Taliban take city after city amid reports of Afghan army phantom soldiers. The UN, as Inner City Press exposed, had its own phantom staff there. Now under Gutteres, the UN refuses to answer any of banned Inner City Press' questions, including this month, Where *is* Guterres? Podcast here.

Here is UNAMA's spin to staff, leaked to Inner City Press and published here in full: "From: Marija Sendekovic <sendekovic@un.org> On Behalf Of OSRSG-UNAMA Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2021 5:07 PM To: UNAMA-All Staff <unama-allstaff@un.org> Subject: Message to all staff    Message to all staff  The security and political landscape has evolved quickly and we may expect further volatility in the immediate period ahead. We understand the anxiety this has caused to all of you in face of such uncertainty.  Our top priority remains the safety and well-being of all personnel.  We have put in place and implemented many approaches and security measures to help protect staff. We will continue to make all necessary adjustments to procedures and work issues in order to safeguard personnel. Many colleagues from field offices have been involved in extensive relocation actions. I thank all the many teams across the UN family who made the relocations possible. I recognize such moves can be a real upheaval and stressful to colleagues and their families. Your safety is of paramount importance to us and we will continue to support you in every way we can.   The relocations were overwhelmingly successful with the vast majority of field-based personnel safely moved out of immediate harms’ way. With a focus on keeping personnel and their families safe, we will be looking to see most national personnel mainly working from homes or the place of relocation.  The UN’s leadership is continuing to explore every viable option to support national personnel in the challenging circumstances.  In order to further reduce risks we are also looking at options to consolidate personnel reporting to the office in to fewer compounds within Afghanistan.  Another step we are taking is to continue to lower the footprint of international personnel in Kabul. No evacuation is currently being considered but it is prudent that only senior management and essential international staff stay in Afghanistan for the time-being.  In parallel to lightening of our international footprint in Kabul, we are setting up a satellite office for the UN in a nearby state in order for some international staff to support our work in Afghanistan. Almaty in Kazakhstan -that is less than two hours flight time from Kabul- has been identified as the location from where a small group of international personnel can work.  We need to display patience and fortitude in the period ahead. As representatives of the United Nations we need to remain level-headed and all work together to shape these events so that they produce the best possible outcome for Afghanistan under the circumstances. These are the moments where the United Nations is called on to perform; let us strive to do our best to meet the great expectations that the Afghan people have on us."

Earlier on August 15, there was talk of a belated "emergency" UN Security Council meeting. Nothing, of course, from the month's UNSC presidency India, or its ambassador T.S. Tirumurti, ignoring written questions from the Press and doggedly tweeting about India Day amid the decay.

   China is ready to recognize the Taliban: it is "willing to continue to develop ... friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in the run up to the UNSC meeting.

  State media attributed requests for a UNSC meeting to two lother non permanent members which, corrupted by Guterres, refused and refuse written Press questions and request: Norway (Mission helmed by partner of partner of Jeffrey Epstein Mona Juul) and Estonia.

Too little too late, a Monday meeting of the UNSC at 10 am. Photo here. India et al. would, it seems, follow Guterres and Melissa Fleming in blocking Inner City Press from the UNSC stakeout and covering the meeting.

Inner City Press' question: who would take over the Afghanistan Mission to the UN, and when? And with Burma and now Afghanistan, why exactly was Guterres re "elected" with all opposition blocked? We'll have more on this.

And this: at the SDNY courthouse which Inner City Press covers daily while banned from the UN by corrupt Guterres, on July 11, 2021 it published this story about efforts to get out translators amid assurances all would be fine and Kabul wouldn't fall for at least six months: US Army Is Sued For Delay in Releasing Names of Afghans Eligible for US Visas in SDNY.

 On August 12-13 Guterres returned from an undisclosed vacation and came to read a statement about Afghanistan and, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, take no questions. But he took one, from a partner, and then disappeared. Again.

 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, an independent (minded) journalist 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 all this. Watch this site.

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