UN GATE, Jan 27
– Inner City Press
on 5 July 2018 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' Department
of Global
Communication issued
a letter banning
Inner City Press
from the UN - for
life. With no due
process.
Guterres has
put the UN in the US
Press Freedom Tracker,
here.
The
head of the UN
Department
of Global
Communications
said,
again, that the UN
would answer Press
questions to the
Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric and his
Office;
Dujarric said
the same on
camera.
On January
27 before another
lame Q&A
by
Stephane "French
Whine"
Dujarric in
which he
dodged on
Taiwan and
quoted only
WHO's Tedros
on Coronavirus
(silence
from
pro-China Guterres,
who has
canceled his Jan
28 press
conference) after
the July 26
noon briefing
had no
questions at all,
video here,
Inner
City Press submitted 1517
questions,
including why
it continues
to be
lawlessly banned
from entering
to ask
questions in
person:
"There
are more than
1000+
questions
UNanswered. No
answers at all
during the
four days of
the US v Ho
trial showing
corruption in
the UN says it
all; no
answers during
the Honduras
narco-president trial
while UN bragged
about taking his
money, nor on
OneCoin.
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.
January
27-1: On
Ethiopia, what
are the
comments and
actions if any
of SG Guterres
on that
at least 75
supporters of
the Oromo
Liberation
Front (OLF)
have been
arrested in
Ethiopia, as a
crackdown on
dissenting
political
views
intensifies
ahead of
general
elections.
January
27-2: On
Pakistan, what
are the
comments and
actions if any
of SG Guterres
on that The
man leading
protests
accusing
Pakistan's
army of human
rights abuses
has been
arrested for
alleged
criminal
conspiracy and
sedition.
Manzoor
Pashteen was
taken into
custody in
Peshawar along
with nine
others from
his Pashtun
Protection
Movement.
Mr Pashteen
has drawn tens
of thousands
to rallies in
cities around
Pakistan.
A fellow
protest leader
said he was
being punished
for simply
demanding
human rights.
The powerful
military,
unused to
criticism,
denies
wrongdoing.
Mr Pashteen, a
charismatic
former
veterinary
student who
shot to
prominence two
years ago, has
become the
face of the
Pashtun
Tahaffuz
(Protection)
Movement
(PTM), in a
country where
few openly
challenge the
military.
January
27-3: On
Nepal, what
are the
comments and
actions if any
of SG Guterres
on that
detention of
more than a
dozen
activists
-
including
members and
staff of
Amnesty
International
Nepal -
Amnesty
International’s
South Asia
Director,
Biraj Patnaik,
said:
“The Nepal
authorities
must
immediately
and
unconditionally
release our
staff and
supporters and
other
activists who
have been
detained
solely for
exercising
their rights
to freedom of
expression and
peaceful
assembly.
January
27-4: Again in
light of SG
Guterres'
Geneva Town
Hall
statements,
what is your
response to
For a young
adult at the
beginning of
her/his
career,
working with a
prestigious
body like the
United Nations
(UN) would be
a dream come
true.
And every
year, the UN
plays host to
thousands of
interns around
the world. But
how is a
person
supposed to
survive for
two, three,
even six
months without
any pay?
Unpaid
internships
are
exclusionary
and classist
and it is
especially
shocking when
this kind of
lack of
diversity
exists in an
institution
that is
supposed to
champion
representation
and social
equality.
Funnily
enough,
Article 23 of
the
organisation’s
Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights
is literally
"Everyone who
works has the
right to just
and favourable
remuneration
ensuring for
himself and
his family an
existence
worthy of
human
dignity".
So when the
organisation
posted about
yet another
unpaid
internship (a
full-time gig
that could go
on for three
months and
requires one
to be enrolled
in a Master's
program no
less) to
point out the
hypocrisy
January
27-5: On
corruption and
Angola, on
which you
refused to
answer
yesterday,
what are the
comments and
actions if any
of SG Guterres
on the Luanda
Leaks exposure
of Isabel dos
Santos of
Angola, and as
Inner City
Press has
repeatedly
asked, what
are his
comments and
action on the
repeated
retweeting of
Isabel dos
Santos'
denials by his
close staffer
Aguinaldo
Baptista?
Now, A banker,
Nuno Ribeiro
da Cunha, who
was named as a
suspect was
found dead in
his house in
Lisbon,
Portugal. He
managed the
account of oil
firm Sonangol,
formerly
chaired by Ms
Dos Santos, at
the small
Portuguese
lender
EuroBic.
January
27-6:
Immediately
describe the
role of Angola
and the dos
Santos family
in the
campaign of
Antonio
Guterres ot
become UNSG.
January
27-7: On UN
sexual
exploitation
and abuse -
alleged - as
Inner City
press asked in
writing in
2019 without
response, this
is a request
that you
immediately
provide the
if-asked
information
for the report
of UN rape in
Darfur data
dumped to
Conduct and
Discipline
website on the
morning of
January 17 and
the "if asked"
information
about the two
new cases of
sexual
exploitation
in CAR by
Cameroonian UN
"Police" that
were put
online after 5
pm on December
30 (a day when
you refused to
answer 7
questions
including on
previous UN
rapes), and
the (Dec 19)
rape case by a
UN Volunteer
in DRC in June
2019 - what
nationality?
What's been
done for the
victim(s)? and
the Dec 9 sex
abuse cases in
CAR by Gabon,
DRC and
Morocco UN
"peacekeepers,
and the Dec
g about
the Office of
the Special
Envoy for the
Sahel, and the
two more
November 26, 3
pm cases of
sexual
exploitation
in CAR by
Cameroon
troops in
September 2019
(!)
January
27-8: On SG
Guterres' Town
Hall in
Geneva, on
which you
refused Inner
City Press'
Dec 20
question, what
is your
summary of
what SG
Guterres said
given that
Inner City
Press has now
publishing
more of it?
Please explain
SG Guterres'
statement that
interns should
not (ever) be
paid, and how
this is not
create unfair
advantage for
the most
affluent?
January
27-9: As
previously and
repeated
asked, where
has UNSG
Antonio
Guterres been
for the past
week(s), and
how much
public money
has he spent?
January
27-10: On
press freedom
and the
Dominican
Republic, UNSC
member, what
are the
comments and
actions if any
of SG Guterres
and separately
USG Melissa
Fleming on the
criminal
charges
against Marino
Zapete? The
Fourth Penal
Chamber of the
Court of First
Instance of
the National
District, in
Santo Domingo,
the capital,
is scheduled
to try Zapete,
a former
broadcast
reporter with
local
television
outlet
Teleradio
America, on
criminal
defamation
charges based
on his
reporting on
alleged
corruption
September
4-8:
Immediately
explain the
single lawless
line from MALU
on 30 August
2019:
"Greetings
Matthew Lee
from Inner
City Press,
Your media
accreditation
request, with
reference no:
M5413398, has
been declined
for the
following
reason: Media
accreditation
was withdrawn
on 17 August
2018." This is
a formal
request for
the UN's
explanation of
grounds for
this denial.
And a demand
for answer to
these
questions,
which MALU has
declined to
answer:
Who made the
decision?
Where is the
list of those
accredited by
[MALU]?
What and to
whom is the
process of
appeal?
September
3-19: On press
freedom and
Cameroon, on
which you
refused to
answer on
August 13
despite saying
the office was
staffed and
answering, now
more specific:
what is the
SG's comment
and action if
any, post
golden statue,
to that Paul
Atanga Nji,
territorial
administration
minister, says
Cameroon's
journalists
are becoming
highly
unpatriotic.
"They have one
main
objective,
just to
sabotage
government
action, to
promote
secessionist
tendencies,"
said Nji. "I
urge them to
be
responsible.
Those who do
not want to
respect the
laws will be
booked as
being
recalcitrant
and will be
treated as
such"... 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 [and AOC
unblocking Dov
Hikind],
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, here.
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?
Immediately
explain the
single lawless
line from MALU
on 30 August
2019:
"Greetings
Matthew Lee
from Inner
City Press,
Your media
accreditation
request, with
reference no:
M5413398, has
been declined
for the
following
reason: Media
accreditation
was withdrawn
on 17 August
2018." 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 Fleming
have not even
responded...
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 - and
respond that
Inner City
Press on
August 24
applied like
100s or 1000s
of others to
cover the
upcoming UNGA
high level
week,
including now
formally
offering to
answer any
quesions the
UN / DSS might
have, having
been vetted
and accredited
elsewhere
since, as both
USG DSS
Michaud and
MALU have
formally been
timely
informed --
and how it is
possible that
a media that
closely covers
and uncovers
the UN could
be denied
entry, other
than (SG)
censorship.
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