Prelude to UN Scandal, Lorenzo with PGAs Deiss & Khalifa, UNCA Amnesia

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 10 -- The scandal unveiled in the corruption charges against former UN General Assembly President John Ashe, Francis Lorenzo of South South News and others continues to expand. This is in spite of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon trying to limit the UN's inquiry to only two groups, Sun Kian Ip and the Global Sustainability Foundation.

 Ban and other UN apologists have also tried to say John Ashe, and perhaps Sam Kutesa (whose wife is affiliated with the Global Sustainability Foundation) are the only PGAs affected.

 But Inner City Press' reporting has found not only a lack of transparency, but also connection to Lorenzo and Ashe affiliated groups for a number of other former PGAs. (The current PGA, Mogens Lykketoft, employs Ashe's chief of staff and his Office has been used to campaign for fellow Dane Helle Thorning Schmidt to head UNHCR.)

 Beyond the two above named, the GSF and Sun Kiam Ip, the compromised positions of the others in the UN's orbit, including the South-South Steering Committee for Sustainable Development (SS-SCSD), the  International Organization for South-South Cooperation (IOSSC) and the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA) have come to the fore.

  As noted, both SS-SCSD and IOSSC have posted notices on their websites expressing shock at the charges against Ashe and Lorenzo. 

 IOSSC says: "In light of recent events, Mr. Francis Lorenzo is suspended from his position as Executive President of IOSSC." (IOSSC is ostensibly an international organization with members like Sri Lanka, beyond Ashe's Antigua and Barbuda and Lorenzo's Dominican Republic; it echoes to IIMSAM, a group now in Dubai whose impermissible use of Diplomat passes Inner City Press uncovered, even while as here there were attempts in the UN to cover up, here: IIMSAM with another former UN PGA.)

  But before the fall, Lorenzo not only schoozed UN officials, correspondents and diplomats - he collected PGAs, and held press conferences in the UN Press Briefing Room, like here.

Here's Lorenzo giving an award to (Swiss) PGA Joseph Deiss, with UN caption "Joseph Deiss, President of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly, receives an award from the UN-founded South-South News." (Note that: UN "founded" SSN.)

UN scandal via UN Photo II: Lorenzo with yet another former PGA, #Swiss Deiss http://t.co/uhHWC2aG1o pic.twitter.com/Xs77qO78St

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 11, 2015

 When Deiss began, Inner City Press reported:

"Joseph Deiss on his first day at President of the UN General Assembly was asked by Inner City Press if he is paid by the Swiss government. Video here, from Minute 21:37.

  No, Deiss replied, there is “no involvement by the Swiss government.” He said he is “totally free from the Swiss government.” Video here, from Minute 23:15.

  But later he conceded that the Swiss government pays for his apartment -- “I get from the government... a flat to live on” -- and for his airfare. Video here, from Minute 25:10. Those are payments, and the contradiction between the unequivocal claim of “no involvement by the Swiss government” and the subsequent admission he receives a free apartment from the Swiss government does not bode well.

  Deiss also said without further specificity that he has “some activities outside the government that [he] can reduce but continue to receive a salary.” 

  What ARE those activities? Should they not be disclosed, for possible conflict of interest?

  The UN budget of the PGA's office pays for a total of four professional level posts, and $289,000 for expenses. Inner City Press has been told that fully three of these posts are being given by Deiss to Swiss nationals. When asked, Deiss responded vaguely about his commitment to diversity.

  Deiss seemed to say that two or three Swiss will be put on the UN payroll, in the four professional posts he controls. Inner City Press understands that these will also be receiving Swiss government pension payments.

  Inner City Press was told months ago that in order to beat out Belgium's Louis Michel for the nomination of the Western European and Other Group to become President of the GA, Deiss bought the vote of Finland by promising a post -- one of the four -- to a Finn. Inner City Press asked Deiss' transition team the question weeks ago, without answer.

When Inner City Press asked Deiss about this on September 14, he denied it."

 Even further back, here is Lorenzo with "Haya Rashed Al Khalifa (second from right), President of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly."

UN scandal, via UN Photo: Lorenzo with another former PGA, Khalifa #Bahrain http://t.co/uhHWC2aG1o pic.twitter.com/EITDjXjhSW

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 11, 2015

  At least the UN Photo website hasn't deleted these photos.  On SS-SCSD's site, the link to John Ashe now says "The Page You Are Looking For Could Not Be Found."

 From other involved websites, compromising material is simply absent.  On UNCA's site, for example, there is nothing before 2013. But evidence remains on other groups' sites.

  Inner City Press yesterday published photographs from an UNCA award ceremony at which UNCA took Ban into a side room for photo-ops with the involved businessmen, after taking money from Lorenzo's South South News and giving SSN an award.

   While UNCA does not represent all journalists accredited to cover the UN -- Inner City Press for example quit the group in 2012 with another Executive Committee member and co-founded the new Free UN Coalition for Access -- the UN gives it a privileged position, a large clubhouse on the third floor of the UN and, automatically, the first question at press conferences.

  But is that appropriate, given that UNCA received money from South South News, “NGO 1” in the filing against Ashe? Not only did UNCA receive money from South South News: it gave the group an “UNCA award” at a ceremony at the high-ceilinged Cipriani's restaurant on December 15, 2011.

  Inner City Press, which did not quit UNCA in fully ripened disgust in 2012, was present on December 15, 2011 and witnessed, when Secretary General Ban Ki-moon came into Cipriani's, him being shepherded into a side room for photographs with Asian men in business suits who Inner City Press did not then recognize.

  Shepherding Ban for this (compensated) photo op with dubious businessmen was Giampaolo Pioli, then as now the president of UNCA. South South News interviewed Pioli that night, bragging of the UNCA award it got / paid for, screenshot from video here.

Photo: President of UNCA, on SSN before giving them award. How much has UNCA gotten from South South? pic.twitter.com/9LnoW19IPM

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 9, 2015

    (For context it must be noted too that Pioli rented one of his Manhattan apartments to Palitha Kohona then granted Kohona's request as Sri Lanka's Ambassador to screen his government's war crimes denial film “Lies Agreed To” in the UN's Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium: this precipitated Inner City Press quitting UNCA, in full disclosure.)

   How can UNCA be given first questions to ask about a scandal involving South South News, from which UNCA took more then to which it gave an award? And what are the other implications?

  (In terms of Mr. Ng's desire for photo ops, Inner City Press is informed that he separately wanted a photo with US President Obama, and paid six figures to a middleman - who disappeared with the money. UNCA on the other hand, one wag noted, delivered Ban Ki-moon for photos at Cipriani's.)

#UNCA delivered #BanKiMoon for this photo, with indicted Lorenzo, businessman & Wang, story soon pic.twitter.com/wsz2S8x5ma

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 10, 2015

  UNCA, it should be noted, has been and is open to business interested beyond Mr. Ng and South South News. Another UNCA awards ceremony was sponsored by a company called “Acoona;” the Italian oil company ENI pays the group money.

But UNCA's South South News connection, given what has been disclosed and charged this week, should at a minimum and as a first step disqualify UNCA from first questions from the UN, and from the continuation of its role.

Wider, and going forward in this series, limiting UN investigation to OIOS - whose director of investigations Stefanovic has resigned, Inner City Press hereby exclusively reported on October 9 - looking at only two NGOs is laughable. The scandal is expanding: there is a pattern here, pattern and practice. Watch this site.

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