UNITED NATIONS
GATE, July 24
– 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 July 24 two
hours before the
UN noon
briefing by Deputy Farhan
Haq before
which
he for the second
day refused
to answer written
questions
about UN child
rape in DRC, here
--
Dujarric is
away on
vacation for
the whole
month of July
--
Inner
City Press submitted 1062
questions,
including why
it continues
to be
lawlessly banned
from entering
to ask
questions in
person:
"There
are more than
700+
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
3-28,
and July 1-2,
8-23
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.
July
24-1: On Sri
Lanka and
impunity, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on
that
Sri Lanka's
parliament has
blocked a
visiting
United Nations
human rights
expert from
meeting with
judges hearing
war crimes
cases, citing
fears of
foreign
interference
in the
judicial
system.
The UN's
Clement Voule
to the South
Asian nation
to discuss
civil rights
protections in
Sri
Lanka.
But opposition
leader Mahinda
Rajapakse told
parliament on
Tuesday that
Voule's plans
to meet with
senior judges
overseeing
cases
concerning
military
excesses
during the
former
strongman's
tenure
amounted to
foreign
interference.
On Wednesday
parliament
speaker Karu
Jayasuriya
said he had
"intervened
and stopped
the meeting. I
thank the
opposition for
bringing this
to my notice,
I have taken
timely
action."
July
24-2: On UN
(SG)
withholding of
information
about reported
UN child rape,
as Inner City
Press asked
you yesterday
morning
without any
answer, "This
is a Press
request that
you
immediately
provide all
if-asked and
additional
information
about the new
allegation of
SEA by a
Moroccan UN
Peacekeeper -
apparently,
rape of a
child - in the
DRC, uploaded
after 11 am on
July 23,
including what
if being done
for the child
victim and any
steps taken to
avoid this
constant
repetition of
abuse despite
the SG's
ostensible
commitments.
Inner City
Press is
asking in
writing
because banned
from briefing
and any follow
up questions,
now for [more
than] a
year."
July
24-3: On
Cameroon,
after the SG
took Biya's
golden statue
and UN Budget
Committee
favors, what
are the
comments and
actions if any
from him and
separately DSG
Amina J.
Mohammed on
the protests
on July 22 by
those
Ambazonians
illegally
detained in
Kondengui
Central
Prison?
July
24-4: What is
the SG's
comment and
action on
UNESCO's Hong
Kwon having
lost 11 out of
13 cases in
Geneva in
2018? On what
many in Paris
take to be his
end there
despite
supposed
contract
extension to
2021, after he
made the
Chinese DDG
"look bad"?
Will Hong Kwon
work for Mr.
Guterres'
Secretariat?
And again,
what is the
status of the
possible
renewal of
Colin Stewart
given the
sexual
harassment
allegations of
which UN staff
complain to
banned Inner
City
Press?
July
24-5: On press
freedom and
Kuwait, what
is the SG's
comment and
action if any
on that on 23
July 2019, a
group of
several
persons
dressed in
civilian
clothes
kidnapped
prominent
activist and
journalist
Hamoud
Al-Rabah, a
member of the
Bedoon
community in
Kuwait. When
he was
abducted,
Al-Rabah was
with his wife
eating in a
restaurant in
the centre of
Kuwait City at
around 6 pm.
The group
forcibly put
him into a
Mazda and
quickly drove
away with a
siren blaring,
which is
typical of the
security
forces'
vehicles.
It is believed
that the State
Security
Agency was
responsible
for the
kidnapping and
is holding
Al-Rabah, due
to the tweets
that he
published on
his twitter
account, in
which he
defended the
civil and
human rights
of the Bedoon
community and
demanded the
release of a
dozen
recently-detained
activists...
Now that the
US Court of
Appeals for
the Second
Circuit has
ruled against
public
officials
blocking
critics on
Twitter even
if the
official
claims their
account is
private, what
is the
justification
for UNSG
Spokesperson
Stephane
Dujarric, with
the UN flag in
his profile
photo and
Guterres
promoting
content,
blocking Inner
City Press?
What is SG
Guterres'
response /
reaction to UN
DSS and
Guterres'
actions on
Inner City
Press being listed
in the U.S.
Press Freedom
Tracker.
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
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?
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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