Now in a speech - the "Nelson Mandela lecture," with no questions - in Cape Town, South Africa, Mohammed didn't once mention the scandal, except to say that social media can be rough. She spoke of riding a hover-craft on Lake Chad, and praised Uganda.
This week Ugandan former UN President of the General Assembly Sam Kutesa was exposed as taking a $500,000 bribe from China Energy Fund Committee. And after the indictment, the UN of Mohammed and Antonio Guterres wen tforward and used $1 million from CEFC. Guterres canceled his photo op; the speech remained on Mohammed's public schedule. But the UN refused to say how much this trip to Cape Town cost the public. These are basic questions. Mohammed ended with a vow of UN reform. Well, start by answering questions. End UN censorship, and retaliation against whistleblowers. We'll see.
For now, from the UN's resident coordinator in Kenya Sid Chatterjee, given the position by his father in law Ban Ki-moon and now or soon reporting to Amina Mohammed, the spin that the detailed Rosewood Racket report is "fake news." Is this? An environmental group has launched a petition to get Ban's successor Antonio Guterres to investigate Mohammed. Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Dujarric about the petition, now at 89,000 signatures, and about Mohammed recusing herself, on November 17, Periscope video here, UN transcript here, and below. While Mohammed never found time to answer Press questions about her rosewood signatures while in New York, it emerges she met with the UN Censorship Alliance (UNCA) to spin her November 25 speech or "Nelson Mandela lecture" in South Africa. On November 24, Inner City Press asked three of her and Antonio Guterres' spokespeople for the cost: "Regarding the Deputy Secretary General travel to South Africa to give a speech, please state the size and composition of her delegation and the cost to the UN / taxpayers." But this is the only answer they sent, nothing about the cost: "The Deputy Secretary-General is visiting South Africa on official travel." But that wasn't the question. Nor did Mohammed even change her Public Schedule when steering clear of the November 21 event with the China Energy Fund Committee, after founder Patrick Ho's indictment for UN bribery - but still took and used CEFC's $1 million. And they are selling her and her boss Guterres for $1200 on Wall Street. This is disgusting. On November 20, Inner City Press asked Dujarric's deputy Farhan Haq, video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: It has to do with this rosewood situation. There's an upcoming meeting of the CITES [Convention on Illegal Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna] convention in Geneva and their own document leading to the conference says that the certificates were signed after the wood was already in China, which as much as I can make out from the statement of the Secretary-General and what the Deputy Secretary-General has said in her two interviews on it doesn't seem to be acknowledging that the wood was already illegally exported to China at the time she signed 4,000 certificates. So now that there's 82,000 signatures requesting an investigation by the Secretary-General, is it possible to know… because this is CITES now. This is not the Environmental Investigation Agency. It's not a newspaper. It's a formal body that has press conferences in this room saying this about the 4,000 signatures. So, I guess I just want to know, when is she going to come and… I know she's back in the building. Is it possible to have a press conference on this topic?Deputy Spokesman: "Well, regarding the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, if they have any concerns to raise with us on this, then they can take that up. If they have concerns to raise with the Government of Nigeria, then they take that with them, and, as Stéphane [Dujarric] had made clear, it's for the Government of Nigeria to respond." This stonewalling won't work; now other issues have arisen, like this German story on which Inner City Press asked. From the November 17 transcript: Inner City Press: Yesterday, I had asked you about… about some questions about this rosewood situation, and I want to say that yesterday, there were 46,000 people petitioning for the Secretary-General. Now, there's 62,000. But you had said to me, go and read Le Monde, so I did read Le Monde, and there's no mention of Cameroon in it, but, in fact, in the report by the Environmental Investigation Agency, there is… and in other reports, there are talk that some of these logs don't over come from Nigeria, which would make them outright illegal, signing any certificate for their export. So, I wanted to… this is the kind of thing I would like to ask Amina Mohammed if she did a press conference, just what did she know about… I'm sure there's answers. I'm sure there's many things that could be said. Spokesman: Next time she's in front of the press, she will be… she has engaged with journalists who have written stories on this and has not been hiding from anything. Quite to the contrary. We have said what we've had to say. I think any further questions on how this issue is dealt with should go to the Nigerian Government. Inner City Press: But just so you know, the petitioners are not writing to the Nigerian Government. They’re saying that there’s inconsistencies… Spokesman: I've answered the question about the petitioners. Inner City Press: This is kind of a related question that you may or may not like, but there's a lot of interest by… by Greenpeace and other environmental organizations in a… in a… in a move by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to end what's called an embargo on logging, or an embargo on new, you know, industrial logging concessions. And so people… I could imagine a UN body or the Secretariat itself, since it relates to climate change, might have a position on this. Sorry to ask you, but given the 62,000 signatures, would Amina Mohammed, otherwise, you know, responsible for sustainable development on many issues, would she be recused from deciding the Secretariat's position on logging matters until this logging matter is cleaned up? Spokesman: You’re jumping over conclusions that, I think, that have… over facts that have been an Olympic record. Inner City Press: Read the petition. Spokesman: I'm not talking about the petition. I'm talking about your… the logic within your question. I think Amina Mohammed has, in her past capacity, in her current capacity, has been a very strong advocate against illegal logging and has shown that through her actions. Thank you." Then he ran off the podium. Inner City Press had asked him on November 16, video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: I want to ask you about, again, this rosewood situation. Yesterday I'd asked what I think is a simple question, whether the certificates, the thousands of certificates, that the Deputy Secretary-General signed were filed in real time with CITES [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna] as seems to be required. I don't know if I'm going to get an answer to that, but I have a different, I guess, superseding question, which is that there's now online, launched by a group called Rainforest Rescue, a petition to Secretary-General António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres to investigate the allegations against Amina J. Mohammed. The international community must prosecute criminals between timber trafficking. And it has 46,000 signatures so far. So what's this procedure… can I just finish the question? What is the procedure in the United Nations for a civil society petition such as this which has garnered 46,000 requests in a very short period of time? Will the Secretary-General actually compare the report to what's been said publicly by Amina J. Mohammed and consider these environmental people's deep concern about it? Spokesman: First of all, we receive petitions all the time, and they're looked at and… Inner City Press: Is there a threshold? Spokesman: We value as a matter of principle our engagement with civil society. We have spoken and have said what we've had to say on behalf of the Deputy Secretary-General, including the fact that she has… she followed all the rules. If there are questions about CITES and the workings of the Nigerian Ministry of Environment, I would encourage you to talk to the Nigerian Ministry of Environment. The Secretary-General has full confidence and continues to have full confidence in the Deputy Secretary-General. Inner City Press: Separate question. Separate question. Was she aware… this is not about CITES. Was she aware… the report says that much of the timber that was actually exported comes from Boko Haram territories, i.e., money would go to Boko Haram. And some of it was illegally smuggled from Cameroon, so it's a question that's not addressed by any… Spokesman: I think it is addressed… it's addressed in the statement. I would also encourage you to read the lengthy Q&A she did with Le Monde." But the petition was launched after that. When will Mohammed answer Press questions? Will Guterres, as petitioned, investigate?
From the petition: "UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed has been implicated in rosewood trafficking. The former Nigerian Minister of Environment is said to have acted to facilitate the sale of 10,000 shipping containers of illegal rosewood to China. Tell the UN to prosecute the criminals behind timber trafficking. To: the UN Member States, the CITES Signatory States and the CITES Secretariat. The UN Deputy Secretary-General has been implicated in the illegal sale of rosewood. The UN must prosecute the criminals behind timber trafficking.... Chinese authorities played an uncharacteristically positive role in the incident by seizing no less than 10,000 shipping containers of illegal rosewood. The timber is valued at more than $300 million. According to the EIA, the Nigerian Ministry of Environment responded by simply issuing the missing documents retroactively. This allowed over 1.4 million illegal logs to be laundered, in violation of both Nigerian laws and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The traffickers allegedly bribed senior Nigerian officials – including ministers and members of parliament – with more than US $1 million. The scandal is an impressive illustration of the power wielded by the timber mafia. The then Minister of Environment, Amina J. Mohammed, appears to have personally signed the fraudulent documents as one of her last actions in office. She is currently serving as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Mohammed has since denied the allegations. Please call on UN Secretary-General António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres to investigate the allegations against Amina J. Mohammed. The international community must prosecute the criminals behind timber trafficking." Then again, Guterres and Mohammed have been ignoring a petition to end Press censorship, here. We'll have more on this.
