By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, April 21 -- When the UN "Committee of Experts on Public Administration held a press conference on April 21, the two panelists spoke about transparency, open government, and even fighting corruption along with the media.
Inner City Press then asked about the UN itself: the bribery case about former PGA John Ashe, the eviction of the Press covering it and the role of Under Secretary General Cristina Gallach, the lack of a freedom of information act at the UN. Periscope video here.
Vice Chair of CEPA Allan Rosenbaum of Florida International University told Inner City Press he'd never herd of John Ashe. He agreed on the need for a FOIA, but said that in "my country," corruption officials are rooted out.
Inner City Press began to ask about the UN's immunity but got cut off. The question was never allowed. This is today's UN.
As the UN bribery scandal gathered force Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an audit by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services of the Global Sustainability Foundation (GSF), David Ng Lap Seng's Sun Kian Ip Group and its affiliates including the "World Harmony Foundation" and South South News, among others.
The audit, completed early this year but first put online by Inner City Press, directly criticizes Cristina Gallach, the Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information.
But Ban's audit, notably, does not mention that Ban accepted Ng's South South Award and was in the program of Ng's August 2015 event in Macau.
Nor does Ban's audit mention that his Sri Lanka adviser Vijay Nambiar and his spouse, Ban Soon-taek, were both present at the founding of the Global Sustainability Foundation; the latter took photos with South South News' indicted Vivian Wang at the UN Correspondents Association ball where UNCA gave Ng, from whose South South News it took money, a photo op with Ban himself.
On April 16, at Ban's and his USG Cristina Gallach's direction, Inner City Press' long time UN office in S-303 was evicted and five boxes of files were dumped onto First Avenue. Video here and here.
UNITED NATIONS, April 21 -- When the UN "Committee of Experts on Public Administration held a press conference on April 21, the two panelists spoke about transparency, open government, and even fighting corruption along with the media.
Inner City Press then asked about the UN itself: the bribery case about former PGA John Ashe, the eviction of the Press covering it and the role of Under Secretary General Cristina Gallach, the lack of a freedom of information act at the UN. Periscope video here.
Vice Chair of CEPA Allan Rosenbaum of Florida International University told Inner City Press he'd never herd of John Ashe. He agreed on the need for a FOIA, but said that in "my country," corruption officials are rooted out.
Inner City Press began to ask about the UN's immunity but got cut off. The question was never allowed. This is today's UN.
As the UN bribery scandal gathered force Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an audit by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services of the Global Sustainability Foundation (GSF), David Ng Lap Seng's Sun Kian Ip Group and its affiliates including the "World Harmony Foundation" and South South News, among others.
The audit, completed early this year but first put online by Inner City Press, directly criticizes Cristina Gallach, the Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information.
But Ban's audit, notably, does not mention that Ban accepted Ng's South South Award and was in the program of Ng's August 2015 event in Macau.
Nor does Ban's audit mention that his Sri Lanka adviser Vijay Nambiar and his spouse, Ban Soon-taek, were both present at the founding of the Global Sustainability Foundation; the latter took photos with South South News' indicted Vivian Wang at the UN Correspondents Association ball where UNCA gave Ng, from whose South South News it took money, a photo op with Ban himself.
On April 16, at Ban's and his USG Cristina Gallach's direction, Inner City Press' long time UN office in S-303 was evicted and five boxes of files were dumped onto First Avenue. Video here and here.
