On West
Africa Germany
Cites Rights
Defenders As
Guterres Bans
Press From Chambas
Stakeout
By Matthew
Russell Lee, CJR Letter
PFT Q&A
UNITED NATIONS
GATE, January 10 – Before
UN official
Mohammed Ibn
Chambas'
Press-less
appearance at
the UN
Security
Council
stakeout on
January 10, he met
not only
with Secretary
General Antonio
Guterres but
also Deputy SG
Amina J.
Mohammed, who
rarely attends
such meeting if not
about her
country,
Nigeria. Inside the
Council, after
Chambas
glossed over
the denial of
democracy in
for example
Togo and
prospectively
in Nigeria, Germany's
Deputy
Ambassador
referred to
detentions
of human
rights
defenders by
UNnamed
countries in
West and
Central
Africa.
France's
Deputy Anne Gueguen
referred to Togo -
whose ruling
family France
has long
supported -
and to Guinea
Conakry, regarding
which there
was recently a
protest in
front of the
UN with photos
of Alpha Conde
victims, which
Guterres,
Mohammed and seemingly
France ignored.
The Council
canceled its
consultations.
When Chambas
came to the
stakeout, he
was told by a
staffer
now for Smale
that
Inner City
Press is "now
down covering
Wall Street,
he can't be
here;" the
first question
went to
Al Jazeera
English,
which worked
with and/or
was willingly
used by
Guterres'
spokesman
Stephane Dujarric
to get Inner
City Press
roughed up and
banned. The
questions were
entirely about
terorrism and
Boko
Haram and
not the denial
of democracy,
which is just the
way Deputy SG
Amina J.
Mohammed and
Guterres want
it. Their UN
has become
corrupt.
Inner
City Press, roughed
up and banned
from the UN
and the UNSC
stakeout now
for 190 days
and counting
by Guterres
and Mohammed
as it reports on
corruption in
their UN,
had
asked in
writing: "On
Nigeria, what
are the
comments and
actions of the
SG and
separately DSG
on that five
truckloads of
heavily armed
soldiers
yesterday
invaded the
head office of
Media Trust
Limited at
Jabi, Abuja
and proceeded
to occupy the
newspaper
company, which
publishes the
Daily Trust
titles, for
five hours,
driving out
all the staff,
carted away
desktop and
laptop
computers and
restricted
entry or
departure from
the premises?
Please state
why the DSG is
attending
today's 4 pm
meeting with
UNOWA's
Chambas while
not attending
other similar
meetings. What
is the DSG's
comment on a
relative of
President
Buhari on the
electoral
commission?"
Despite the promise
of Guterres'
USG Alison Smale
to UNSR David
Kaye that
there would be
answers, there
has been none to
this, or
questions on
Cameroon or
Togo. Chambas'
report, as to
Togo, says that
"the
inter-Togolese
dialogue
process
continued
under the
auspices of
the
co-facilitators
of the
Economic
Community of
West African
States
(ECOWAS),
President Nana
Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo of
Ghana and
President
Alpha Conde of
Guinea.
Despite
concessions
made by the
Government of
Togo and by a
coalition of
14 opposition
parties,
limited
progress has
been achieved,
owing to
persisting
disagreements
over the
modalities for
implementing
the ECOWAS
road map of 14
April. During
the reporting
period, the
ECOWAS
facilitators
held meetings
with the
Togolese
stakeholders
in Accra,
Conakry and
Lomé to assess
progress and
attempt to
move the
process
forward. While
both sides
reaffirmed
their
commitment to
the road map,
the Government
also continued
to display its
determination
to hold a
referendum on
constitutional
reforms, as
well as local
and
legislative
elections
before the end
of 2018. The
opposition
parties
maintained
their demands
for the
adoption of
electoral
reforms before
the elections,
boycotted
preparations
for the
elections and,
subsequently,
indicated that
they would not
take part in
the polls. The
opposition
parties also
continued
street
demonstrations
against what
they termed
one -sided
reforms."
Guterres' UN
is one-side,
and
UNreformed. On
Nigeria: when
is a person
related by
marriage not a
relative? The
question has
arisen in
Nigeria, where
Muhammadu
Buhari has
appointed his
relative Amina
Zakari to the
"Independent"
National
Electoral
Commission
(INEC).
The
People's
Democratic
Party (PDP)
said in a
statement:
"for us to
have a
peaceful
election, Mrs
Amina Zakari
should not be
seen anywhere
near any of
the 2019
election
processes, not
to talk of
being involved
in the
collation of
presidential results."
Buhari
spokesman
Garba
Shehu insisted Buhari
is
related to her
by marriage
only. And
that's OK?
Inner City
Press, roughed
up and banned
from even
entering the
UN for 185
days and
counting by
the UN of SG Antonio Guterres and
DSG Amina J.
Mohammed, asks
whether their
rep to West
Africa and
Nigeria Chambas
will address
or cover
up the issue.
When
the Nigerian
military tried
to defend its
killing of
civilians
near Abuja,
some
critics blamed
it on
Washington.
Interesting.
But what about
the United
Nations'
Deputy Secretary
General Amina
J. Mohammed,
who has said
that Buhari is "my
President,"
and who signed
thousands of
back-dated
certificates for
rosewood
illegally
exported to
China from Nigeria and
Cameroon?
Inner City
Press asked
about her signatures
and got
roughed up and
banned from
the UN; its
written
questions
about Amina
Mohammed and
Nigeria are
not
answered by
Guterres'
spokesmen
Stephane Dujarric
and Farhan Haq
despite the
false
promises of
Guterres' Global Censor
Alison Smale to
David
Kaye, who
never followed
up. Today's UN
system is
more and
more corrupt.
Hours
after
UNICEF was
suspended frmo
working in
north-east
Nigeria,
accused by
spying by the
Buhari
government of
which UN
Deputy
Secretary
General Amina
J. Mohammed
was a part, as
fast-signing
Environment
Minister,
until
belatedly
assuming her
post in New
York, it has
been
reinstated. The
Nigerian
military said
UNICEF staff
“train and
deploy spies
who support
the insurgents
and their
sympathizers”. It
said UNICEF’s
operations
were being
suspended in
the northeast
until further
notice.
Now
after what it
calls extensive
deliberations,
the ban has
been lifted. Until
this year,
UNICEF has
seemed one of the
relatively
better
parts of the
UN system -
but now they
too are
censors, like
Amina J.
Mohammed (whose
December 14
schedule, once
again,
says "all
appointments
are internal."
If she couldn't
even handle
this....).
It's
not worth
asking the UN
a written
question -
they haven't
answered a
single one of
Inner City
Press' more than 20
questions this
week, despite
USG Alison
Smale's
promise to
UNSR David Kaye. Guterres
corrupts
everything. The
UN has banned
Inner City
Press from
entering its
campus since
July 5, claiming
that its Lieutenant Ronald
Dobbins
targeted
ouster of
Inner City Press
from a speech
by Secretary
General
Antonio Guterres
on June 22
then from a
meeting about
his budget on
July 3 were
"altercations."
On August
17, with no
due process
and no
accountability,
Guterres'
Global Censor
Alison Smale issued
a ruling
without once
hearing from
Inner City Press, making
the ban permanent.
Now this ban
has been extended
beyond
the UN Secretariat
to the other
side of First
Avenue, the
once crown
jewel of
the UN
system now corrupted
to (as in CAR
and Myanmar),
UNICEF, the
"children's agency."
Inner City
Press has
responded to
an
UNICEF invitation
to an event
for a book
by Kul Gautam
on September
5. On Friday
August 31 past
6 pm UNICEF's
Michelle
Siegel wrote,
"bring your UN
media
accreditation
for security
clearance. If
you are not a
currently
accredited UN
journalist you
will not be
admitted to
the event."
Wonder(ed)
why. Now it
emerges that
Kul Gautam earlier
on August 31
met with
Guterres (who
dominated
the photo
promoting the
book) - and
then Inner City
Press was disinvited.
On September 5
Inner City Press
went to
check out,
then stake
out, the event,
which is its
right. A slew
of people
with no UN ID at
all went in.
After a time,
not Guterres
but his chief
of staff Maria
Luiza
Viotti and her
chief of
staff Mr.
Eihab Omaish,
previously
Jordan's
Deputy PR,
arrived. Inner
City Press
informed them,
politely, that it
had been
banned from
this UN book
event. They
did not react
at all. This is
what Guterres is
doing to the
UN, including
its badges
that Guterres
through Smale
can
revoke the
moment you ask
him about
cash, Cameroon
or corruption.
Now UNICEF
of Henriette
Fore and
Queen Rania and David Beckham
have joined
Guterres'
censorship,
hamhandedly.
(We'll
assume Fore
checked this
with the
Queen, and
Bend it Like
Beckham, and
the one and
only
Kul Chandra
Gautam, author
of “Global
Citizen from
Gulmi"). Guterres
and Amina J.
Mohammed are
killing the UN. We'll
have
more on this.
***
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