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By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Periscope
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UN GATE, Jan 14  – In the United Nations from which SG Antonio Guterres has banned Inner City Press 926 days for asking about his complicity in the killing of civilians in Cameroon, poisoning them in Haiti with cholera and COVID in South Sudan, and their mass imprisonment by China in Xinjiang, on January 4 Inner City Press wrote to the Mission of Tunisia, as incoming UN Security Council president, with questions including about Ethiopia, Western Sahara, Haiti, Yemen and Cameroon.

 Inner City Press specifically asked to be provided the WebEx codes to be able to ask its questions. No answer. But the IMF takes Inner City Press' WebEx questions, here on Jan 14.

  This mirrors Guterres and his spokespeople Stephane Dujarric and Melissa Fleming's ongoing censorship of Press. Without providing any due process, now Guterres issues robo-praise of Tunisia: "In response to questions about the anniversary of the revolution in Tunisia, the Spokesman had the following to say:     The Secretary-General congratulates the Tunisian people and their leaders on the tenth anniversary of the 14 January revolution. In the years since, Tunisia has achieved significant progress in consolidating democracy and promoting socio-economic development.     The Secretary-General encourages the Tunisian people to further advance democratic reforms, build consensus on national development priorities and promote dialogue to address inequalities that have increased following the COVID-19 pandemic. He reiterates the firm commitment of the United Nations to support an inclusive democratic process that meets the aspirations of all Tunisians." Empty statements.

 Three hours later on January 4 when Tunisia's Ambassador Tarek Labed took questions, his spokesperson took them in groups of four -- without protest from the increasingly pathetic UNCA UN press corpse -- allowing Labed to evade even the questions that were asked.

No one allowed in asked about Cameroon, just the way Guterres wants it. The answer is clearly no. This is shameful - as, so far, is the Tunisian presidency of the UN Security Council.

Perhaps it is no surprise. The country just extended its "state of emergency," justifying repression.  President Kais Saied “decided on the six-month extension of the nationwide state of emergency, from December 26, 2020, to June 23, 2021,” a statement said.  The measure grants exceptional powers to the country's security forces.  It allows measures to "ensure the control of the press" - and, in the UN, banning of Press.

    Earlier, "as the Tunisian parliament considers a controversial police protection bill, protests erupted in the city of Bardo to oppose it. Human rights groups and a youth-led citizen movement dubbed Hasebhom (translated as “hold them to account”) rallied outside the parliament building against the bill, which, if adopted, would grant security forces immunity from prosecution for their use of unnecessary lethal force.   The Tunisia parliament’s decision to hold a plenary session to discuss the bill —weeks before the 10th anniversary of the revolution that toppled the Ben Ali dictatorship— was met with criticism from human rights groups and activists who have been opposing the bill since it was first submitted to the parliament in 2015.   As activists mobilized against the bill, police targeted them on- and offline. These attacks on freedom of demonstration and speech are alarming and confirm the concerns of human rights organizations that serious rights violations and persisting gaps in legal protections of rights threaten Tunisia’s strides."

At Inner City Press we ask, What strides?

  But will the five incoming UNSC members - India, Ireland, Mexico, Kenya and Norway - do their jobs of openness to the Press and public? We will be asking.

  For now Inner City Press, which will report all month about the UNSC with or seemingly without any Tunisia or Labed access, posted the Program of Work here and notes for example "Wester Africa" - that would / should include Cameroon - on January 11, Yemen on January 14, League of Arab States on January 18, Syria on January 20, Colombia on January 21, and January 26 on the Middle East. Labed said two meetings will be in person - this as Guterres violated COVID quarantine rules. Today's UN is corrupt.

   Inner City Press streamed some of the Press-less presser, here.
 Among those "given the floor" by Tunisia, while banning Inner City Press, were state media from Pakistan, a retiree of a decade, and others.

When Guterres' spokes- / hatchetman Stephane Dujarric holds his noon briefings this month while refusing all questions from Inner City Press despite an on camera promise. And Tunisia and Labed? We'll report.

Watch this site.

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