| UN Staff Describe
Discrimination of
Guterres to Inner City
Press Which He and
Fleming Ban
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
UN GATE,
Feb 9 – How hypocritical is
today's UN under Antonio
Guterres? In his September 23,
2025 UNGA speech, he mouthed
platitudes about "safeguarding
human rights defenders,
journalists, and freedom of
speech" -
this while
he bans Inner City Press from
even entering the UN and his
spokespeople Stephane Dujarric
and Melissa Fleming refuse all
Press questions. Now he
is said to be itching to
condemn racism in DC. But
this, from his staff:
"In the UN
system, racism often does not
appear as an open slur. It
appears as a decision letter.
It appears as a
“non-selection,” a blocked
promotion, a sudden negative
appraisal, a contract not
renewed, a disciplinary
process built on selective
facts, or a complaint
dismissed as
“unsubstantiated.” It is
carried out with signatures,
titles, and official language.
Yet the impact can be the same
as a racist post: humiliation,
exclusion, and the
unmistakable message that
certain staff are treated as
less credible, less deserving,
and easier to discard.
That is why ASG Human
Resources, OIOS, and the USG
for Management/Administration
must take this seriously.
These offices are supposed to
be guardians of fairness and
equal treatment—not the
channels through which bias is
laundered into “policy.”
When they ignore
patterns of discrimination,
overlook comparable cases,
dismiss credible concerns as
mere “perceptions,” or
tolerate retaliation against
staff who speak up, they are
effectively projecting the
administrative equivalent of
that “apes” insult. It may not
be a video, but it becomes a
lived experience—felt in
careers destroyed, reputations
stained, and families pushed
into uncertainty. So the
point is simple: we cannot
condemn dehumanization in
public and normalize
dehumanization in
administration.
If leaders want
staff to trust the UN’s
anti-racism commitments, they
must stop hiding behind
procedures while allowing
decisions that perpetuate
exclusion and impunity. Staff
do not need more slogans. They
need accountability,
transparent reasoning, and
decisions that treat every
person—regardless of race,
nationality, accent, or
background—with equal
dignity. History offers
a harsh lesson: great
institutions and countries do
not collapse because outsiders
mock them. They collapse when
they begin mocking
themselves—publicly and
shamelessly—without grasping
the cost until it is too late.
The same applies to the United
Nations. The UN will not fail
simply because of financial
pressure. It will fail when
its own guardians—OIOS, ASG
Human Resources, and USG
Management/Administration—undermine
its foundation through
negligence, selective justice,
tolerated racism, and a
visible lack of commitment to
the principles the UN claims
to defend."
Guterres,
they say, should end
censorship. Application was
made on June 19, 2025 and
denied six months later, with
no explanation given, now by
MALU and Tel Mekel. 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
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station,
NY NY 10013
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 2006-2025 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|