UNITED NATIONS,
July 3 – Eleven days after UN
Security officers led by UN
Lieutenant Ronald E. Dobbin
and four others who refused to
give their names pushed Inner
City Press' reporter out
of the UN during a speech by
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres, on July 2 the
Government Accountability
Project has criticized
the ouster and called for
Inner City Press to be
reinstated as a UN Resident
Correspondent. GAP writes:
"as security expelled Mr. Lee
from the building, he
encountered Catherine Pollard,
the UN’s Under-Secretary
General (USG) for General
Assembly and Conference
Management, who pointedly
ignored his plight and simply
stayed her course, despite his
plea for her intervention.
Along the way, Mr. Lee also
asked the guards for their
names, which they refused to
provide. This most recent
incident is the latest in a
long history of harassment
directed at a journalist who
has been critical of UN
management and operations over
the years. Mr. Lee’s
investigative reporting has
broken stories concerning
sexual abuses committed by
peacekeepers in Africa, the
role of UN peacekeepers in
bringing cholera to Haiti, and
war crimes in Sri Lanka,
Burundi and Sudan [and
Cameroon]. Mr. Lee’s reporting
has also helped to expose
corruption at the Headquarters
of the United Nations,
including the current bribery
scandals surrounding former
General Assembly President
[Sam Kutesa and] John Ashe."
In the
eleven days since the ouster,
live-streamed on Periscope and
then put on YouTube,
the UN of Antonio Guterres has
not responded in any way.
Inner City Press was first
told to "Ask Security" then to
"Ask DPI" or as it now
absurdly wants to be known,
the UN Department of Global
Communications. But as GAP
continues, "Like USG Pollard,
the Under-Secretary for Global
Communications, Alison Smale,
seems deaf to Mr. Lee’s
distress; she has refused for
eight months to answer e-mails
or respond to a petition to
restore his credentials as a
resident correspondent." Inner
City Press since the ouster
has raised it to Smale not
only in writing (again) but
also in person - with no
response. Global
Communications, indeed. GAP
concludes: The Government
Accountability Project
therefore urges the Member
States of the United Nations
to combat the silencing of a
journalist by taking action at
the offices of the
self-appointed guardian of
free speech, itself: the
United Nations. Matthew Lee
should be: Reinstated as a
resident correspondent with
appropriate access to
facilities and events, and
Issued a public apology for
the improper expulsion that
occurred on June 22nd." To
Inner City Press, it is the
first of these, restoration to
its long time work space S-303
which sits empty every day,
assigned to an Egypt state
media Akhbar al Yom whose
Sanaa Youssef, while a former
president of the UN
Correspondents Association
(1984) has not asked the
UN a question in a
decade. As to apologies from
today's UN, the disingenuous
apology in Haiti for example
shows how much those are
worth. We'll have more on
this. Guterres' lead spokesman
Stephane Dujarric evaded Inner
City Press' questions then ran
off the podium. Video here.
Despite the fact that
Guterres' armed guards ousted
Inner City Press and that the
UN Department of Public
Information under Alison Smale
did nothing, Dujarric babbled
that Inner City Press should
"ask DPI" then ran off the
podium. Video here.
From the UN (controlled) transcript:
Inner City Press: Farhan
[Haq], on Monday, when I
informed him that on Friday I
had been, during an event in
which the Secretary-General
was giving a speech, made to
leave by UN Security while
other non-resident
correspondents, a distinction
you just cited, were still in
attendance, he said to talk to
security. And that seems
strange to me, because it
seems to me that the
Secretariat, like civilian…
Spokesman: I think if
there are any issues that you
have…
Inner
City Press: My
issue…
Spokesman: If you have
any issues with your access,
you should take them up with
DPI [Department of Public
Information] and the people
who actually issue the
accreditation.
Inner City Press: They
came… they came and they said
there was nothing they could
do…
Spokesman: "Thank you
very much. Brenden." The
UN transcript
omitted the audible question,
"So can Security just at will
bar journalists?" Video here.
The UN of Guterres, Dujarric
and Smale is a place of
corruption and censorship, and
self-serving erasure even of
the questions asked, with the
public's money. The day
before, after cutting off
Inner City Press' question
about protests of Guterres'
inaction on sexual harassment
cover-ups at UNAIDS, Dujarric
called on a correspondent for
a London-based Arabic daily.
Then he called on that same
correspondent again before
returning to Inner City Press.
Sensing this second round
might be cut off, Inner City
Press began asking about
Guterres inaction on Cameroon
then on his Security's ouster
of the Press which asks. But
Dujarric after evading the
Cameroon question turned to Al
Jazeera which asked what even
it called a light question
about the French label pin on
Dujarric's sear-sucker jacket.
Then Dujarric simply left the
room, so that Inner City
Press' question about
Guterres' use of his Security
to target the Press could not
be asked. On June 22 Inner
City Press was live-streaming
Periscope and preparing to
write about Secretary General
Antonio Guterres' claims about
his visit to Mali, where he
didn't even inquire into a
recent case child rape by a UN
Peacekeeper. With the event
still ongoing, Inner City
Press was approached by
Lieutenant Dobbins and told
that since it was just past 7
pm it had to leave the
building. Video here.
That is not
the rule, nor the practice.
But Inner City Press under
Guterres and his head of
Global Communications Alison
Smale has inexplicable been at
the "non-resident
correspondent" level lowered
from that of no-show state
media like Akbhar al Yom's
Sanaa Youssef, assigned Inner
City Press' long time office
despite rarely coming in and
not asking a question in ten
years.
While
Guterres and Smale have
created and encourage the
atmosphere for targeting the
Press, Dobbins had and has his
own reasons. Inner City Press
previously exclusively
reported on fraudulent
promotions in the UN
Department of Safety and
Security, beginning of series
here
with a leaked document
with Dobbins own name on it,
under the heading "Possible
Promotions... if Dobbins does
not want Canine / ERU."
Document here.
Since the publication, Dobbins
and a number of UN Security
officers have openly targeted
Inner City Press. This has
been raised in writing to
Smale (for eight months), for
almost 18 months to Guterres
and his deputy Amina J.
Mohammed, whose response has
been to evade questions on
Cameroon and now an ambiguous
smile while surrounded by UN
Security. On June 25 Inner
City Press asked Guterres'
Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq
about it, video here,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press:
on Friday there was the Eid
event in which António
Guterres gave a speech, and I…
I want… I guess I want to put
this in a general way because
I don't understand it.
During the event, as the event
went on, I was required to
leave by a Lieutenant Dobbins
and the emergency response
unit. And it seemed
strange, because there were
many other non-resident
correspondents at the
event. So, I wanted to
know… to know, one, what are
the rules? Number two,
is it acceptable for a… a… UN
Security to… to single out and
target a specific
journalist? And I did…
and I ask this because I've
previously written a story
about promotions in DSS
[Department of Safety and
Security], including Mr.
Dobbins, and whatever that is,
what are the provisions in the
UN to make sure that security
cannot abuse its powers?
So those are… I… I… I'd like
you to answer that, and also
they didn't give their
names. The other
individuals refused to give
their names. Is that UN
policy?
Deputy Spokesman: UN
Security has their
policies. Your concerns
with them need to be addressed
to UN Security. I'm not
going to comment on your own
problems with UN
Security. Brenden, come
on up.
Inner
City Press: I
don't understand. This
happened at a speech by the
Secretary-General.
Deputy Spokesman: No,
I'm sorry, your security
issues are things you're going
to have to deal with.
Inner City Press: It's not a
security issue. It was
done in the name of the
Secretary-General. Is he
speaking tomorrow at 6 p.m.
somewhere? Can you say where
the Secretary-General is
speaking tomorrow at 6 p.m.?
Deputy Spokesman: I’m
not going to argue with you on
this." There was more - video
here.
Even if Lt
Dobbins and his team and
commanders wanted to interpret
and twist the existing rules
in a way they are not enforced
against any other non-resident
correspondent at the UN, the
Guterres Eid al -Fitr event
listed in the UN Department of
Public Information was still
ongoing, making it
unquestionable that Inner City
Press had a right to be in the
UN and cover it.
But
even as Inner City Press
dialed DPI's Media
Accreditation and Liaison
Unit, getting only voice mail,
Dobbins made a call and UN
“Emergency Response Unit”
officers arrived, with barely
concealed automatic weapons.
One of them repeatedly pushed
Inner City Press' reporter in
the back, forcing him through
the General Assembly lobby
toward the exit. Video here.
UN
Under Secretary General
Catherine Pollard was told the
ouster and did nothing, as was
a Moroccan diplomat. The
heavily armed UN Security
officers refused to give their
names when asked. Lieutenant
Dobbins, with no name plate on
his uniform, refused to spell
his name. He said, I have my
orders. From who - Guterres?
His Deputy SG or chief of
staff, both of whom were at
the event? DSS chief Drennan?
DPI chief Alison Smale?
Inner City Press repeatedly
asked to be able to get its
laptop computer, which was
upstairs - there was no way to
have known it would be ousted
during Guterres' event.
But
Dobbins and the others
refused, as did the UN
Security officers at the gate.
Inner City Press remained
there, with dwindling cell
phone battery, raising the
issue online to Smale, under
whose watch Inner City Press
has remained in the
non-resident correspondent
status it was reduced to for
pursuing the Ng Lp Seng UN
bribery case into the UN press
briefing room where Guterres'
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
ordered it out, then had it
evicted. A DPI representative,
whom Inner City Press asked to
call Smale, was unable or
unwilling to even let Inner
City Press go in escorted to
get its laptop.
Just
in the past week, when Inner
City Press complained of
Dujarric providing only to Al
Jazeera the response of
Antonio Guterres to the US
leaving the UN Human Rights
Council, Dujarric and the Al
Jazeera trio claimed
to MALU that the coverage was
“too aggressive.” Journalism
is not a crime? Next week,
Antonio Guterres is set to
give remarks, to which Inner
City Press has requested the
right to cover response, to
the UN Correspondents
Association, which not only
has not acted on this
censorship, but has fueled it.
Inside the
UN the Eid event continued,
alongside a liquor fueled
barbeque thrown by UN
Security. This DSS sold
tickets to non resident
correspondents, and allowed in
people who had nothing to do
with the UN, including some
seeming underage. When Inner
City Press audibly raised the
issue to UN Safety and
Security Service chief Mick
Brown, he did nothing.
The
Moroccan diplomat emerged and
chided Inner City Press for
even telling him of the
ouster, claiming that “25% of
what you write is about
Morocco.” Some Periscope video
here.
Pakistan's Permanent
Representative, who hosted the
Eid event, said she would look
into it. Sweden's spokesperson
asked whom to call in DPI and
when Inner City Press said,
Alison Smale, responded, Who
is Alison Smale? Indeed.
Smale has
refused to respond in any way,
in the eight months she has
been Guterres' “Global
Communications” chief, to a
5000 signature petition to
restore Inner City Press to
its unused office S-303 and to
adopt content neutral media
access rules going forward.
That, and appropriate action
on Lt. Dobbins and the others,
must be among the next steps.
Watch this site.
***
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