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By Matthew Russell Lee

UN GATE, Feb 1 – The UN's own report on its systemic failure in protecting civilians in Myanmar, as in Cameroon, typically stopped short of naming who was in charge and who is responsible: Antonio Guterres, Secretary General since January 2017. Then Guterres' head of communications pimped out refugees by publishing personal identifying information, while banning the Press from the UN now 942 days

  On January 31, with Guterres still complicit, word of a coup underway in Burma, with Aung San Suu Kyi detained despite having turned a cold shoulder to the Rohingya, like Guterres. On January 31, Inner City Press asked the UK Mission, as president of the UN Security Council for February: "on deadline, for UK's response to current developments in Myanmar / Burma... Inner City Press specifically asked to be provided the WebEx codes to be able to ask its questions: This is a timely request that you sent Inner City Press the pass code(s) to access your UNSC Presidency press briefing on February 1. Please confirm receipt." This was sent on January 31 to PR Barbara.Woodward, Jaclyn Licht, Sorcha Lowry and Isabella Olex.

   Nothing. Not even a confirmation of receipt. We will continue to report on this.

   Disrespect of the press is spreading while in Burma The military seized power from Myanmar’s elected government today, detaining top civilian leaders–including State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi–and activists, and imposing emergency rule for up to one year until new elections are held, according to multiple news reports.     Those reports said local and international broadcasters were off the air, and internet connections and phone services were down or intermittently disrupted in major cities. Some local journalists had gone into hiding over fears of possible reprisals for their previous reporting. We'll have more on this - and this:

Back on August 25, 2019 from a bipartisan group of US Senators, while UN Guterres remains complicit and corrupt, this: "U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Todd Young (R-IN) today issued the following statement commemorating the third anniversary of the Burmese military’s genocide against the Rohingya minority in Burma’s Rakhine State:     “Today, August 25, marks three years since the Burmese military undertook a campaign of systemic violence against the Rohingya people in Burma’s Rakhine State, forcing more than 740,000 people to flee their homes and cross into Bangladesh to seek safety. There are now more than one million refugees living in Bangladesh, while thousands more remain displaced from their homes and in need of humanitarian assistance in Burma.      “The Rohingya deserve meaningful justice and accountability for the terrible crimes committed against them, as do Burma's other ethnic minorities who the Burmese military has terrorized for decades. We call for an end to the cycle of impunity for gross human rights violations committed by the Burmese military. The Burmese government must act to address the root causes of the crisis in Rakhine State, which must include restoring Rohingya citizenship and guaranteeing access to fundamental rights and freedoms."

  In today's UN itself, a journalist can be targeted by Guterres, roughed up by his thugging guards and banned now 943 days.

  Meanwhile on Cameroon, where Paul Biya cut the Internet then gave Guterres a golden statue and UN Budget Committee favors as chair in exchange for Guterres' silence, some of these groups let Guterres and the UN off the hook, focus on the underdogs' fight back and even block on the Internet those who question that.

 On Myanmar Inner City Press reported how Guterres rejected warning from his own senior staff about the impending slaughter, so caught up in outmoded infatuation with Aung San Suu Kyi.  Inner City Press was in mid 2018 roughed up by Guterres' Security and banned from the UN since, 590 days and counting. Its written questions on Myanmar have been ignored by Guterres and his spokespeople, now including Melissa Fleming, even while still spokesperson for UNHCR. It is shameful.

  Inner City Press asked Guterres, and this directly to Melissa Fleming on August 21: "On the repatriation of Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar set to start on August 22, what is the UN system's role? Why is it going forward with a system that will give returnees non citizen, "Bengali" ID cards? National Verification Cards (NVCs), which do not confer rights nor citizenship and, through an NVC application process, effectively identify Rohingya as “Bengali” or more generally as “foreigners.” What has been the UN system's, specifically UNHCR's, role in this in the past?  the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar and the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees forcibly repatriated an estimated 250,000 Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to northern Rakhine State, and Myanmar began issuing Temporary Resident Cards (“White Cards”) to Rohingya, which, like NVCs, did not confer rights.  What did Guterres do on this while at UNHCR?"

  Still, no answer at all from Fleming, even as she virtue-signal tweets. We will not relent.

   On April 20, 2019, two months before Guterres had Inner City Press targeted and then banned 590 days since, Inner City Press asked Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq two questions about Myanmar, the Kachin and press freedom. From the UN transcript: Inner City Press:  I wanted to ask about Myanmar.  There's… not in Rakhine State, but the Kachin minority has put out a call saying that, basically in… in… in light of the increased fighting, there are about 2,000 people that are… have fled their villages and are without any health care or anything, and I'm wondering, what… what… is the UN aware of this?  And what are they doing about it?" The answer was laughable, and Farhan Haq now covers up UN peacekeepers' rapes just as Stephane Dujarric has been doing.

On April 17, 2019, Inner City Press asked Guterres' Assistant SG Ursula Mueller if during her five day trip to Myanmar the issue of the mandated envoy was even broached. She said it was not. (Her full briefing is archived on UNTV, including Inner City Press' question to her on the UN's mis-handling of the crackdown in Cameroon on Anglophones). More here.

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