| UN Former
Spox Says Inner City Press Should Be Sued
For Linking Guterres to Briber CEFC
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Feb 18 – In today's corrupt
UN, where Antonio Guterres
lusts for an UNmerited second
term, current spokespeople ban
the Press that asks, and
former spokespeople imply the
threat of libel SLAPP suits:
Strategic Litigation Against
Public Participation.
Guterres held a scam "press
conference" on February 18,
from which Inner City Press
was banned but video of which
it never the less published,
with commentary and unanswered
questions. Mark Seddon, a
former spokesman for the UN
President of the General
Assembly - a position thrice
bribed by Chinese government
firms, as proved in Federal
SDNY trials - replied:
"'Corrupt' &
'bribe taking' are extremely
serious allegations to make
without a scintilla of
evidence. If you made such
claims in the UK for instance
you would likely fall foul of
the libel laws & rightly
so."
"Rightly so."
Inner City Press responded
with a question that
current spokespeople Stephane
Dujarric and Melissa Fleming,
and now Seddon, have not
answered: "Please explain
why @AntonioGuterres '
public financial disclosure
covering 2016 omitted money he
took from Gulbenkian, which
tried to sell its oil company
to CONVICTED UN bribery firm
CEFC China Energy - and
why
@MelissaFleming bans
Inner City Press which asked."
No answer. And so this, a
collaborative project, more
analysis:
When Antonio
Guterres was elected five
years ago, real hopes had been
invested in the convalescence
of the UN, that was left half
moribund by the Korean Ban
Ki-moon. Unpretentious,
competent and full of bonhomie
was the first impression of
many of those who met Guterres
during his campaign. Soon
after the election, the
genuine less and less
sympathetic nature of the UN
secretary general won
through.
Now most leaders
realize that his election was
a mistake. His failure is
illustrated recurrently by
weak management practices,
corruption, press bullying and
total loss of impact and
influence for the UN. Not a
single achievement could be
quoted on the top of the head
related to his 5-year mandate.
No results, but many
let-downs. By adopting a
positive approach towards the
United Nations, the permanent
five are bound to deal with a
number of unflattering truths
about the current situation
within the UN system.
Rotten by
stagnation, corruption,
incompetent leadership and
total lack of effectiveness,
after 75 years of existence
even strong UN supporters
question its relevance.
During his
mandate, several heads of UN
agencies have resigned after
their mismanagement,
corruption and abuse of power
files landed in the media. The
UN moral debacle is
illustrated by the following
factual examples: The former
Executive Director of UNAIDS,
Michel Sidibe, stepped down
six months before the
expiration of his term because
of “defective leadership” that
tolerated “a culture of
harassment, including sexual
harassment, bullying, and
abuse of power”.
The head of the
UN Palestinian refugee agency,
Pierre Krähenbühl, resigned
after a scandal involving
accusations of nepotism and
abuses of authority. The
investigation, leaked to the
press, depicted an “inner
circle” around Krähenbühl,
accused of “engag[ing] in
misconduct, nepotism,
retaliation … and other abuses
of authority.”
The UN’s
environment chief, Erik
Solheim, got sacked following
severe criticism of his
internal rule-breaking. The
audit revealed that Solheim
had “no regard for abiding by
the set regulations and
rules”. The UN biodiversity
Chief, Cristiana Pasça Palmer,
had to resign after leaked
internal audit documents
described a chaotic work
environment at the Secretariat
and allegations that Pasça
Palmer discriminated African
staff members on the basis of
their race.
Furthermore,
Antonio Guterres has allowed
sexual harassment and assault
to flourish in the UN offices
around the world, with
accusers ignored and
perpetrators free to act with
impunity. Indeed, the UN
conceded that sexual
misconduct is a concern but
declared the Secretary General
Guterres has “prioritised
addressing sexual harassment
and upholding the
zero-tolerance policy”. Let’s
consider the effects of this
policy since the reality is
quite different.
Tackling sexual harassment at
the UN is still not a
priority. Survivors of sexual
assault and discrimination
struggle to be heard and
seldom get justice or
reparations. Victims are
struggling to have their cases
heard because the UN has a
trust issue. The system lacks
independence and there is a
real problem with complaints
being taken seriously.
As a matter of fact, sexual
harassment and assault
multiply at the United
Nations. While the agency has
encouraged the reporting of
sexual harassment, unfairly
when victims finally make
disclosures, they are often
unjustly treated and there is
a prevailing tendency to
protect the sexual aggressors.
Dozens of people
told the media of abuse
ranging from verbal harassment
to rape, and complained the
system simply turned a blind
eye. This is the result of the
zero-tolerance policy of
Guterres. Most UN sex
offenders are falling through
the cracks. Only few of them
got caught.
At UN
Women, Ravi Karkara, tasked
with promoting gender equality
and youth partnerships, was
dismissed for harassment. UN
Women found that Karkara had
sexually harassed, exploited
and abused two non-UN
personnel, harassed a UN
intern, and used his work
email account to distribute
pornography.
At UNESCO, Frank
LaRue, the Assistant
Director-General for
Communication and Information
was dismissed for proven
sexual harassment in 2018. The
Guatemalan La Rue got sacked
for serious misconduct after a
solid investigation by IOS. He
was found guilty of sexual
harassment and aggression
against a colleague working in
his office. Once his case
revealed by the media,
the DG of UNESCO had no other
option but to get rid of him
right away.
At the United
Nations, Fabrizio Hochschild
Drummond, special advisor and
deputy to the UN Secretary
General, has been suspended
after being accused by women
of abusive behavior. Several
complaints have been filed by
women who worked with him,
citing instances of harassment
and other inappropriate
behavior. In 2020, Fabrizio
Hochschild, born in the United
Kingdom and of Chilean
nationality, was in charge of
the commemorations of the 75th
anniversary of the
Organization.
Other senior UN
figures that were investigated
over allegations of sexual
harassment include the World
Food Program’s country
director in Afghanistan, Mick
Lorentzen and Luiz Loures, an
Assistant Secretary general of
the UN, and deputy executive
director at UNAIDS. Three of
the alleged victims said they
had lost their jobs, or been
threatened with termination of
contract, after reporting
sexual harassment or
assault. Loures is a
good example of the UN failing
to cope properly with sexual
misconduct. The investigation
related to allegations of
sexual harassment by Luiz
Loures, led him to stepping
down in 2018.
The same year,
the WHO's Office of Internal
Oversight Services cleared
Loures of wrongdoing but the
investigation was reopened
after concerns were raised
about the process and after
additional women spoke
out. An OIOS official
acknowledged that the
investigation had concluded,
and the accompanying report
issued. Media agencies
requested a copy or summary of
the report, but were told that
the decision to share the
results lies with WHO and
UNAIDS. The
Secretary-general’s office
declined to provide an update,
citing confidentiality. That
much for the transparency of
Guterres’ zero-tolerance
policy.
In five
years, Antonio Guterres
disappointingly failed to
assume his functions. Instead,
he painted a dark, negative UN
picture, with him alone in the
middle. And despite his
appalling record, he is still
applying for a reelection.
This should not be allowed to
happen. Watch this site.
***
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