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by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

UN GATE, Sept 20  – How corrupt is the UN-world system under Antonio Guterres, who bans the Press which investigates? This example is again from ITU, International Telecommunication Union, whose whistleblowers have, like others, reached out to banned Inner City Press, which put ITU questions to 30 plus UN spokesperson with no reply:

"Dear Matthew,  I have to thank you for your continuing support and published articles regarding horrible situation in ITU. Next ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-26) is set to take place in Doha, Qatar, from 9 to 27 November 2026, where elections for the new ITU leadership will be held... The ITU, the United Nations’ oldest specialized agency, is facing an unprecedented internal crisis. Inside the agency, sources describe an environment defined not by institutional mandate, but by aggressive self-preservation and internal purges. At the center of the controversy is an assertion that leadership has weaponized internal administrative mechanisms to silence dissent and shield an inner circle of senior officials from accountability.   

A Culture of Impunity and the "WIPO Report" Cover-Up   Former Head of Legal Antoine Dore - currently on mysterious extended leave amid speculation of serious misconduct investigations - was reportedly tasked alongside interim legal head Nikos Volanis with shielding executive leadership. Allegations suggest that executive pressure was applied via legal channels to tamper with or suppress independent oversight findings - including a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) report that identified systemic harassment and abuse of authority within the administration.    Cascading Leadership Failures and the Deputy Secretariat Vacuum    The fallout has triggered a high-stakes power struggle ahead of upcoming elections, leaving key leadership posts in total disarray:    The Border Scandal: Sitting Deputy Secretary-General Tomas Lamanauskas has made the unprecedented decision not to seek a second term... in exchange for institutional silence regarding his border incident.    Council Chair Withdrawal (BT): ITU Council Chair Bosun Tijani  unexpectedly withdrew his candidacy for the Deputy Secretary-General position. Sources indicate Tijani, responsible as Council Chair for overseeing pending misconduct complaints, chose to distance himself from the administration after uncovering the sheer volume of substantiated abuse-of-authority cases being routinely buried by senior leadership.    Systemic Shields: Former Council Chairs Frédéric Sauvage (France) and Cristiana Flutur (Romania) are also cited by insiders as having been leveraged to stall formal inquiries, though a growing coalition of Member States is now pushing back against the operational paralysis.    Systemic Collapse of Institutional Oversight    The mechanisms built to ensure integrity within the UN agency appear to be failing from within:    Oversight Resignation: The Chief of Oversight recently resigned, Senior official Maria Traficanti, who faces numerous documented harassment complaints, remains protected at the highest level. To ensure continued immunity, leadership appointed Roopa Rangaswami - an official with no prior ethics background - to head the Ethics Office, effectively neutralizing internal whistleblower protections.    Political Maneuvering: Strategic advisor Stephen Bereaux (Bahamas) continues to draw criticism for "triple dipping" roles across senior D2 postings, DSG campaign activities, and Member State consultancies. In a move to safeguard positions, Hans Baritt was brought in as D2 Chief of Admin and Finance, serving as a placeholder to secure executive alignment regardless of election outcomes.  As Member States prepare for the upcoming council sessions, the accumulating evidence points to an agency in deep administrative peril - where the global mandate of telecommunications governance has been traded for institutional survival and executive immunity.

More coming.

After repeated refusal to respond by spokespeople including Stephane Dujarric and Melissa Fleming, here was the first complaint on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here. On July 25, 2026 Inner City Press again re-applied to re-enter the UN to ask these questions, application here.  From USUN and Mike Waltz? Nothing. Watch this site.

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