| UN Guterres Bloviates on
Law While Weak and Banning Press
from UN 2 Faced at Davos
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
UN
GATE,
Jan 20 – As UNSG Antonio
Guterres bloviates about
compliance with law on BBC
(while lawlessly banning Inner
City Press from the UN), now
UN staff have sent this to
Inner City Press:
Dear Matthew
Russell Lee, This is
what staff feel about SG
interview with BBC.
Secretary-General
António Guterres recently told
the BBC that the US is acting
with impunity and believes its
power matters more than
international law. While this
may sound principled, it
contradicts the real condition
of the United Nations under
his own leadership.
As staff members
inside the system, we see a
very different reality. The
United Nations today is weak,
and many of its managers are
the ones enjoying impunity.
Those who expose corruption,
abuse of authority, and
mismanagement are not
protected—they are punished,
marginalized, and in many
cases forced out of their
jobs.
Oversight bodies
are manipulated. Legal
frameworks are bent.
Investigations are selectively
used as tools of retaliation
rather than instruments of
justice. Recruitment is no
longer based on merit but on
favoritism, loyalty, and
internal politics. Some senior
officials who are medically
and professionally unfit
remain in powerful positions,
while competent staff are
sidelined.
This is why the
Secretary-General’s statement
rings hollow. You cannot speak
credibly about “impunity”
abroad while tolerating or
enabling impunity inside your
own institution. You cannot
lecture states about the rule
of law while your own managers
evade accountability.
The founding principles of the
United Nations—integrity,
equality of states, justice,
and accountability—are now
under threat not only from
powerful countries, but from
internal decay and weak
leadership. The problem is not
only external power; it is
internal failure. Mr.
Guterres has lost the moral
authority to speak about
impunity when his own
management team allows
corruption, retaliation, and
incompetence to flourish.
What the United
Nations needs is not
speeches—it needs strong
leadership that restores
integrity, protects
whistleblowers, enforces
accountability, and rebuilds
trust. Today, because of
weakness, negligence, and
mismanagement at the top, the
United Nations is losing its
soul. We do not need more
rhetoric. We need a
Secretary-General who can
truly defend the values he
speaks about. Antonio must go.
In the UN bar
back on December 12 there was
an overpriced tuxedo event
which was billed as featuring
Guterres.
Expensive tickets
were sold - previous guests
have included the indicted and
imprisoned UN briber Ng Lap
Seng and others. Then,
no Guterres. Instead, PGA
Annalena Baerbock, the subject
of detailed complaints of
corruption.
Also celebrated
is Javier Bardem, who famously
defended Woody Allen (whose
photos with Jeffrey Epstein
were released in DC today).
In the morning
Inner City Press asked dozens
of UN officials in writing to
"immediately disclose the
financial and other
relationships and payments
between the UN and UNCA for
use of the Delegates Lounge
and any other facility for
tonight's "gala" with the PGA,
and how it relates to the
stated policy (including on
paper towels and Cafe) of
saving money." No answer. Just
UNITAR patting itself on the
back.
The UN
Correspondents Association
will be giving a "Gold" award
to two of its own board
members. The membership
includes Iranian state media
known to feature "interviews"
of tortured guests. Javier
Bardem is another honoree.
The UNCA
group targeted Inner City
Press, ultimately working with
Guterres to have it banned
from the UN, after it reported
that UNCA President Gianpaolo
Piolo gave an UNCA event to
Sri Lankan ambassador Palitha
Kohona after engaging in a
financial transaction with
his. Pioli is still on the
board, having handed over the
presidency to a friendly
fellow Italian. Whistleblowers
be damned - and ousted.
This is today's
UN - and we will have more on
it.
***
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