UNITED NATIONS
GATE, June
26
– Inner City Press
on July 5 was banned
from entering the
UN, the day after it
filed a criminal
complaint against UN
Security for
physically removing
it from covering the
meeting about the UN
Secretary General
Antonio Guterres'
$6.7 billion
peacekeeping budget,
as witnessed and
essentially cheered
on by senior UN
official Christian
Saunders, tearing
its reporter's
shirt, painfully and
intentionally
twisting his arm and
slamming shut and
damaging his laptop.
On August 17,
Guterres' Global
Communicator Alison
Smale issued a
letter banning Inner
City Press from the
UN - for life. With
no due process. She
and Guterres have
put the UN in the US
Press Freedom
Tracker, here.
Smale said,
again, that the UN
would answer Press
questions to the
Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric and his
Office;
Dujarric said
the same on
camera.
On June 26
four
hours before the
UN noon
briefing Inner
City Press submitted 975
questions,
including why
it continues
to be
lawlessly banned
from entering
to ask
questions in
person:
"There
are more than
500+
questions
UNanswered.
And Monday
Sept 17,
Tuesday Sept
18, Wed Sept
19 and
Thurs and Fri
Sept 21, that
whole week, no
questions
answered. Nor
Sept 25, nor
28th - nor
October 2 nor
3. While
appreciating
and using what
was belatedly
sent on
May 20
about sexual
exploitation
allegations
and on March
28 in partial
request to
Inner City
Press'
questions
about the UN
bribery
sentence of
Patrick Ho of
CEFC and
CEFC's 2018
attempt to buy
the oil
company of
Gulbenkian
Foundation
which paid the
SG, no answers
on Dec 17 or
18 or 19 or 20
or 21 -
another FIVE
days in a row,
even as SG's
direct
conflicts of
interest and
failure to
disclose
emerge, and a
newest low. No
answers on
January 30 nor
31 nor
February 1 nor
4 nor 5 nor 6
nor 7 nor 11
nor 12 nor 13
nor 14 nor 15
nor 18 nor 19
nor 20 nor 21
nor 22 nor 25
nor 26 nor 27
nor March 1 -
27 (!) And now April 1, 3-30 (one
answer
in the
entire month -
corrupt), and
now May
1-13, 15-17,
21-31,
June
3-25,
many
questions.
No answers at
all during
those four
days of the US
v Ho trial
showing
corruption in
the UN says it
all. This ban
is just
censorship -
and Inner City
Press must be
allowed back
into the noon
briefing to
ask its
questions in
person and
follow up on
them.
June
26-1: On UN
corruption and
impunity, what
is the SG's
comment and
action on
today's
sentencing of
Vivian Wang of
South South
News who pled
guilty to UN
bribery? Why
has Mr.
Guterres not
even begun an
audit of CEFC
China Energy,
whose Patrick
Ho was
convicted of
UN bribery and
which tried to
buy the oil
company of
Gulbenkian
Foundation
from which
Guterres
received funds
in 2016, not
disclosed on
his public
financial
disclosure
form covering
that
year?
June
26-2: Also on
China, what is
Mr. Guterres'
comment and
action if any
on the
disturbing UN
HRC speech by
the vice
governor of
Xinjiang,
Aierken
Tuniyazi,
which used the
cases of four
people – who
may be guilty
of no crime –
to justify the
arbitrary
detention of
approximately
one million,
while
insisting that
all people in
Xinjiang “are
united as
closely as the
seeds of a
pomegranate”?
June
26-3: On
Cameroon (and
possibly
Switzerland),
what is the
SG's post
golden statue
and UN Budget
Committee deal
comment and
action if any
on threats by
Cameroon's
ambassador to
Switzerland
against
protests of
Paul Biya's
stay, all in
the dubious
cash, at the
Intercontinental
Hotel there?
Does the
freedom of
assembly and
opinion apply?
Or just
repression and
crackdown and
censorship?
June
26-4: On Saudi
Arabia, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on the South
African
sisters who
were
imprisoned in
Saudi Arabia,
initially
without
charge, who
have described
their ordeal
on June 25 and
said they had
brought a
complaint to
the United
Nations? Yumna
Desai, a
former English
teacher at the
University of
Ha’il in
northern Saudi
Arabia, said
she had been
held at Dhaban
prison in
Jeddah from
2015 to 2018.
A year and a
half after her
arrest, she
was told she
had been
charged with
unspecified
“cyber
crimes”.
Her sister
Huda Mohammad,
who had been
married to a
Saudi national
and has a
daughter with
Saudi
citizenship,
was imprisoned
for a year and
never informed
of any
charge.
June
26-5: On press
freedom and
France, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on the
government
questioning
and
intimidation
of the
journalists
who identified
French tanks
in local video
footage of the
war in Yemen,
showing that
the
government-owned
weapons
company Nexter
provided
weapons and
tanks to Saudi
Arabia, which
were then used
against
civilians in
Yemen — and
that the
government
knew about
this. It
triggered a
sharp reaction
by the French
government,
which has
pressed
charges
against the
journalist for
revealing
state secrets;
the report is
based on
classified
documents....
In the UN,
what has the
accountability
been for Lt
Ronald E.
Dobbins and
those those
refused on
camera to give
their names?
What is each
of yours -
particularly
the SG's -
response to
the letter
written and
sent by
Burundi
activist
Manisha
Lievin? To the
April 15
letter to the
SG, DSG and
USG Smale for
which receipt
has not even
been
acknowledged,
other than a
single lawless
line from
MALU: "Your
media
accreditation
request, with
reference no:
M66561081, has
been
declined"?
This is a
formal request
for the UN's
explanation of
grounds for
this denied,
and since
SGcentral, the
SG's chief of
staff and
Deputy SG and
USG Smale
haven't even
confirmed
receipt of the
April 15
letter much
less
responded, for
reconsideration.
AGAIN,
immediately
explain how it
is legitimate
to ban from
enter into the
UN the media
that has been
asking about
these and
other
questions,
with no
hearing or
appeal.
June
21-4: On press
freedom and
Cameroon, what
is the SG's
belated
comments,
after the
golden statue
and UN Budget
Committee
deals, and
action if any
on that Paul
Biya's censors
have charged
journalist
Paul Chouta
with criminal
defamation and
"hate speech"?
Five police
officers
arrested
Chouta, who
works as a
reporter for
the privately
owned Cameroon
Web news
website, in
response to a
defamation
complaint
filed by
French
Cameroonian
writer
Calixthe
Beyala,
according to
Cameroon Web
editor-in-chief
Emmanuel
Vitus. Chouta
was detained
at the local
police
headquarters
following his
arrest, and on
May 31 was
denied bail,
according to
his lawyer,
Emmanuel Simh.
On June 10, he
was charged
with
defamation,
spreading
false news,
and hate
speech. His
next court
appearance is
scheduled for
July 9...
June
18-2: On the
SG and China,
what is his
response to
Dolkun Isa,
president of
the World
Uyghur
Congress, who
called the
Xinjiang visit
by Voronkov
“an
irrevocable
mistake on the
part of
General
Secretary
Guterres.”
“It is truly
shameful for
the UN
June
14-5: Since
the SG claimed
publicly that
the mansion he
lives in
"cannot" be
sold, please
immediately
provide any
and all
documents with
such a
restriction,
and separately
explain why
the concept of
cy pres or
reformation of
donor intent
has not been
explored.
Separately,
Boutros
Boutros Galli
wrote in his
book that the
building was
given by
Arthur
Houghton
through the
United Nations
Association of
the USA. What
actual
inquires, with
UNA-USA or any
successor to
Houghton or
Corning Glass,
has Guterres
made?
June
11-1: On
Cameroon, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on this report
from Chinese
state media:
"YAOUNDE, June
10 (Xinhua) --
Cameroon's
House Speaker
of National
Assembly
Cavaye Yeguie
Djibril on
Monday
denounced
foreign
interference
in the
country's
internal
affairs which
he referred to
as
"conspiracy."
"Cameroon has
become an
object of
conspiracy
intended to
destabilize
the country.
To justify
their
interference
in internal
affairs, the
conspirators
pretend to
denounce it."
Again, how
many offices /
desk does the
Secretariat
give to
Chinese state
media inside
the UN?
June
4-3: On UN
sexual abuse
and
exploitation,
AGAIN as
requested on
the morning of
June 3
immediately
disclose what
IS the new
"allegation of
SEA" which the
UN on the
morning of
June 3
announced by
e-mail.
Clicking
through to the
UN website,
the previously
announced case
against South
Africa
peacekeeper is
no longer at
the top of the
page, and it
is unclear
what the new
allegation is.
This lack of
clarity is
unacceptable.
May
15-3: On the
Public
Financial
Disclosures
for 2017
belatedly
published over
the weekend of
April 27-28,
please state
why Mohammed
Ibn Chambas,
like the
Executive
Secretary of
the UN
Biodiversity
Convention,
Cristiana
Paşca-Palmer,
UNICEF's
Henriette
Fore, with
documented
links to
ExxonMobil and
others, USG
Mark Lowcock
(undisclosed
while the
Secretariat's
speaker at the
UNSC Arria on
Cameroon),
UNCTAD's
Mukhisa
Kituyi, UN
Women's
Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka,
UNOG chief
Michael
Moller, UNDP
chief Achim
Steiner,
Heidi Mendoza,
Adama Dieng,
UN Security
chief Peter
Drennan,
Rosemary
DiCarlo and
Nicholas
Haysum, is not
even on the
list. OIOS
chief
Inga-Britt
Ahlenius
reported - why
not Mendoza?
Where IS
Mendoza? Isn't
it a bad
practice for
the UN's head
(anti)
genocide
definition
official to
conceal from
the public
even cursory
financial
disclosure?
Did DiCarlo
decline to
make any
public
disclosure
despite being
the UN's top
political
officer? What
is the even
plausible
applicability
of this line
from SG
Guterres' web
page: "Please
note that
given the
multi-cultural
environment of
the UN and the
often security
sensitive
locations
where UN staff
are either
working or
come from,
full public
disclosure may
not always be
a viable or
sensible
option for
certain staff
members"? Why
has Guterres
changed the
previous
system in a
which a
"choosing not
to disclose"
statement was
upload and
listed, to one
which helps
conceal who
reports and
who does
not?
Again, state
why
considering
the UN bribery
conviction of
Patrick Ho of
CEFC, and
CEFC's attempt
to purchase
the oil
company of
Gulbenkian
Foundation
which paid Mr.
Guterres in
2016 was
omitted from
his online
public
financial
disclosure
covering 2016,
and why
Guterres has
not even
started an
audit of CEFC
in the
UN.
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