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By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR Scope PFTracker

UNITED NATIONS GATE, February 4 – UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the lead spokesperson for Secretary General Antonio Guterres who has put Inner City Press on his UNdisclosed banned from the UN list along with "political activists," here, blocks Inner City Press on Twitter. This as he tweets about expensive restaurants, the Eiffel Tower, his ferry commutes - and blames his directives to UN Television to NOT film Guterres on "my fat fingers on my small iPhone." But on the same day, February 4, Dujarric de la Riviere had no response at all to Inner City Press' written request for "a formal question for immediate answer and confirmation of receipt   Cameroon Biya's Minister Delegate of Justice Momo Jean de Dieu has on camera warned that Biya's opponents "might end up like 'arrogant' Jews whom Hitler put in gas chambers" - his words, video here.      What is the SG's comment and action on this?" Five hours later and counting, nothing. Nothing at all. On January 28 Inner City Press asked Dujarric as well as Guterres and others, "While your Administration and Office of the Spokesperson have refused to answer a single written question from Inner City Press for fourteen work days, in contravention of conventions USG Smale made to UN Special Rapporteur David Kaye and Spokesman Dujarric made on camera, two formal questions for immediate answer and confirmation of receipt  1) in Cameroon it is reported that opposition figure Maurice Kamto as been arrested, after the 100+ arrests and shootings Inner City Press asked you about earlier today. What is the SG's comment and action, what are the read-outs of his six conversations with Paul Biya and of Francois Fall's visit there?  2) Again, what is the SG's response to the attached petition from South Sudan about (his) peacekeepers killing two civilians there?     Please explain how it is legitimate to ban from enter into the UN the media that has been asking about these and other questions, with no hearing or appeal.  On deadline." But hours later, there was no answer at all. This after Dujarric had held a January 28 UN noon press briefing without a single question on anything in Africa, much less UN corruption. It is pure censorship, (over) paid for with the public's money. How does a UN spokesperson buy a $3.75 million apartment and put kids in two separate expensive Manhattan private high schools, while even other UN staff members are told they couldn't take off Christmas Eve or New Years Eve this year because Guterres reforms were so important (that Guterres flew to Lisbon before they were even voted on by the UN Fifth Committee)? And while having roughed up and banned, and refusing the questions of, the Press that asks about the reports on these issues? We'll have more on this. On January 14 at noon Inner City Press in writing asked Guterres, his Deputy SG Amina J. Mohammed, USG Alison Smale and Dujarric (the last two have promised answers, here and here) questions including: "January 14-2: On Central African Republic, please immediately provide the SG's comment and action on photos of videos of blue helmeted peacekeepers, apparently from the UN's Mauritanian contingent, carrying wounded / killed people near Ippy." No answer at all, even as Spokesman Dujarric tweets about expensive restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side, here - so Inner City Press which has been asked to report on his outrage, which includes video and photos of blue helmet dragging and "bragging" out corpses, now uploads some here. A full 24 hour later, Inner City Press again in writing asked Guterres, Amina J. Mohammed, Alison Smale, Dujarric and others: "On Central African Republic, please immediately as you did not yesterday provide the SG's comment and action on photos of videos of blue helmeted peacekeepers, apparently from the UN's Mauritanian contingent, carrying wounded / killed people near Ippy. To ensure your prompt response, here are two of the photos." And nothing - totally unaccountable. This is Guterres' UN. Even though the UN simply stonewalls rather than seeking to answer, we'll note that some say this footage is front when "anti-balaka" tried to free people imprisoned by the Mauritanian UN peacekeepers - and the the UN Group of Experts published a photo with the blue helmets omitted.  Last week for four work days in a row Dujarric has refused to answer a single one of Inner City Press' written questions, on Cameroon and Sri Lanka and Sudan and Thailand and DRC and Uganda and Bangladesh and UN corruption, including Guterres' omitting from his financial disclosure the Gulbenkian Foundation which tried to sell its oil coming to China Energy Fund Committee. No answers, even as Dujarric tweets about an expensive restaurant near him on the Upper East Side, with a menu including: Duck Confit notre facon $28.50, Sauteed Calf's Liver shallot sauce $30; Boeuf Bourguignon $28.50; Brook Trout grilled or sauteed; sirloin $44." Bon appetit! The refusal to answer is despite three promises by Guterres' Global Communicator Alison Smale that there would be answers. And his own statement that "we continue to answer Mr. Lee's questions," here. Dujarric, the record shows, is a long term censor. While claiming to the Colombia Journalism Review and in more detail in emails to Inner City Press supporters which we have yet to publish that the basis for excluding Inner City Press is "behavior," for years Dujarric harassed and tried to intimidate Inner City Press about content. Once when in charge of media accreditation he ordered Inner City Press to stop referring in writing to then UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous as "the drone." That was pure content. Likewise when Dujarric summoned Inner City Press to berate it about using a hashtag, #WW2. Is that behavior? Here's video of the day Dujarric returned to the Briefing Room, after a stint that included sleeping open mouthed in a room under the UN library; he promised to answer "your" questions then gestured at the room much more full that he has it today. Video here. Dujarric for years has wanted to censor - and it was the arrival as SG of corrupt censor Antonio Guterres which turned him loose. Soon Dujarric was arbitrarily banning Inner City Press from photo ops on the 38th floor, not for behavior but for reporting on them. He is everything that is wrong with the UN, selectively serving Gulf state media and censoring independent Press, now no answers for three days. We'll have more, much more on this, as long as it takes. On 24 October 2018 one of Dujarric's friendly interlocutors, UN Security Inspector Matthew Sullivan - who has called Dujarric a great man while also calling US Senator Elizabeth Warren "Jokeahontas," here, blocked Inner City Press from an event on Burundi and Cameroon, video here. On December 18 when Inner City Press was barred again, from a UN Human Rights event it was invited to, Under Secretary General Alison Smale told Inner City Press that the bar is the decision of UN Security. Is that the reclusive USG Peter Drennan, who tried to retaliate after Inner City Press published an internal DSS email about how he buried a threat against Guterres' opponent Irina Bokova? Or does it also stretch down to Sullivan and others, some as yet unnamed? The fact that Antonio Guterres uses these to do his dirty work makes him no better than the dictators he (sometimes) purports to criticize. On December 17 and 18 Dujarric did not answer a single one of Inner City Press' questions about conflicts Guterres pretends to care about: Sri Lanka, Somalia, Nigeria - forget Cameroon. We'll have more on this. Is the UN faux progressive, nasty nativist, or both / neither, only united in abusing its power? Sullivan used UN conference rooms for sneaker related for profit events, which Dujarric and his deputy defended. Sullivan, in turn, on 25 June 2018, three days after his underling Lt Ronald E Dobbins carried out Dujarric's and Al Jazeera's threat and had Inner City Press physically outsted, wrote "Stephane is a great man." We'll have more on this. Inner City Press asked Dujarric, "please explain how a UN spokesperson can legitimately block on Twitter a media which covers the UN, when he is posting UN information produced with public funds." While leaving questions about abuses in South Sudan and Egypt unanswer, Dujarric on his own blocking of Inner City Press replied, "As for Twitter, you are not blocked from the UN Spokesman’s account, the SG’s official account or the UN’s main account. You are most welcome to continue to follow those accounts and interact with them." Of course, that wasn't the question - it's about blocking critical media from information for which the public is paying, about UNGA speeches, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and his officials, France, trips paid for by the public. We're informed by disgusted sources that Dujarric who played a role in having Inner City Press roughed up by UN Security this summer is now tweeting, regarding litigation among the 1970s band Fleetwood Mac, "Seriously? Could this world be anymore divided?" - this as he has the Press roughed up and defends it. And the lone Like of this effusion is from... a senior UN Security official. We'll have more on this. See photograph here as of October 1, three days after Dujarric bragged on camera that he is answering Inner City Press' electronic questions incoming on Cameroon and corruption after having it roughed up in and banned from the UN and his noon briefings now for 90 days. Cameroon's 36 year ruler Paul Biya blocked Inner City Press on Twitter, here. Now people who read our first October 1 story tell us that Dujarric, while blocking Inner City Press and refusing for weeks to answer its question about whether his boss Antonio Guterres, supposedly committed to fighting sexual harassment, had even responded to Prashanti Tiwari's letter -- Dujarric follows / monitors / trolls Prashanti. So too a number of Cameroon activists. This is how low the UN has sunk - it refuses to respond to its victims but tracks them. For what? We'll have more on this.

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