UNITED NATIONS GATE, June 27 – Afterthe UN Security Council held belated "Arriaformula" session about Cameroon on May 13, an informal one with no outcome on which even co-sponsors Germany and the UK refused to answer Press questions, hypocrisy and cover up of the UN's failure remain evident. Video by banned Inner City Press here.
Ireland is a wanna-be member of the Security Council, and it is already bowing cravenly before Paul Biya's goverment looking for a vote, like Guterres. "A special envoy of the government of Ireland was on June 24 at the Ministry of External Relations to present the candidacy of his country. The Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of Cooperation with the Commonwealth, Felix Mbayu on June 24, 2019 received in audience the special envoy of the government of Ireland, Ambassador Kenneth Thompson during which both personalities discussed on deepening cooperation ties and he presented Ireland's interest in becoming a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Ambassador Kenneth Thompson was accompanied to the audience by the Ambassador, Head of European Union Delegation to Cameroon, Hans-Peter Schadeck. Speaking to reporters after the audience, Thompson said the reason he was in Cameroon and at the Ministry of External Relations was because Ireland is looking for a sit as a non-permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations for the years 2021 and 2022. "But this campaign that we are running for the Security Council is important for us also as a way of getting Ireland better known in the world. It is true in Cameroon and in Francophone Africa, Ireland is not well known but we are working to improve these relations. We are very anxious that we are being seen as good partners of countries like Cameroon in the United Nations. " he stated. The special envoy noted that he listened to the very effective statement by the Minister Delegate on the problems that Cameroon is facing and on Cameroon's perspective towards the United Nations. "Cameroon of course has always been a strong defender of the multilateral system like Ireland and we will expect that if we are elected to the Security Council, we will be listening very carefully to the concerns of the government of Cameroon during that time and we will do everything that we can to make sure the that views of all the member States of the United Nations are reflected in any debate. We will always maintain an open dialogue," Thompson stated. While appreciating the model adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) towards the promotion of certain values, trying to find human solutions to issues, taking into account differences in the society and upholding the values of peace, the special envoy equally stated that bilateral relations between both countries will be considerably improved." Shameful.
Belgium is a member of the Security Council,and heard what was said in the UNSC on May 13. Even the sanitized Lowcock and handpicked NGO version was troubling. But on May 25, "friends of Cameroon in Belgium joined officials of the Cameroon's embassy in celebrating the 47th edition of the National Day. The day was celebrated in Belgium on May 25, 2019 with a garden party organized at the courtyard of the residence of Cameroon's Ambassador to Belgium Daniel Evina who said this year's theme of the National Day was carefully chosen by the Head of State with emphasis on unity and living together within the present context where these virtues are seriously threatened especially in the North West and South West Regions of our great Fatherland. "This clearly shows that peace, unity in diversity and living together constitute cardinal values constantly preached by the Head of State, Paul Biya, the architect of our national unity and a leading peace crusader. Despite the security threats, our country has continued to follow its determination towards emergence in 2035," he stated. During the garden party, images on the touristic potentials of Cameroon, ongoing and accomplished projects were being projected on a giant screen with the Ambassador promising at the end to constantly make available verifiable and authentic information on the evolution of situations in Cameroon. The guests on their departure from the ceremony were each handed sachets of Cameroon coffee as well as the last four special editions of 'Jeune Afrique Economique' Magazines. Three of these magazines have President Paul Biya at their cover pages with information therein elaborately on an improved image of Cameroon." Wow. We'll have more on this.
And on this: early on the morning of May 6 Inner City Press submitted written questions, this one to the UN Mission of Belgium which has done nothing at all about Guterres' now 312 days of banning Inner City Press: "Press Q re Cameroon, any UNSC meeting, Belgian Mission's position on that and continued banning of Inner City Press from entering UN - To: peter.verbrugghe [at] diplobel.fed.be, isabelle.bardijn [at] diplobel.fed.be, newyorkUN [at] diplobel.fed.be: this is a Press request to the Belgian Mission as a member of the UN Security Council to be informed this morning of your Mission's knowledge of any upcoming UNSC meeting about Cameroon of any kind, including Any Other Business informal consultations, whether May 13 or any other date. Inner City Press wrote to you about this in July 2018, below. Also, what is your country's position on the situation there and what will / would it seek to accomplish at any UNSC meeting (and if there is no meeting, why not). Relatedly, please explain how it is legitimate for the UN to bar entry to Inner City Press after ousting it while it covered the 3 July 2018 Fifth (Budget) Committee then chaired by Cameroon, and asked about this situation and other under-performance by the UN. Inner City Press' most recent application for re-accreditation to enter and cover the UNSC stakeout, submitted on 15 April 2019, was denied without explanation on April 17. ("Greetings Matthew LEE from ICP INNER CITY PRESS, Your media accreditation request, with reference no: M66561081, has been declined.") What has your Mission does, or what will it do, about this?" 25 full days later, after UN noon briefings promoting Guterres' and Dujarric's current European junket, and still no answer. Collusion in censorship - and more...
On the other hand, publicly (mis) funded Voice of America which has Guterres favored access to the UN ran an article about the Arria meeting not by its UN correspondent but by another, who now writes about the Cameroon military with NO MENTION of its killings in the SW and NW of the country, or even abuses of civilians in the North. This is from VOA: "A Cameroon military engineering corps compactor is constructing a portion of the road linking its northern border town of Kousseri to the Chadian capital Ndjamena and Borno state in northeastern Nigeria. Colonel Jackson Kamgain, director of Cameroon military engineering corps, says they re-launched the World Bank-sponsored project in March 2018 after it had been abandoned for four years. He said since independence in 1961, the Cameroon military engineering corps has participated actively in the development of all localities and insures that major projects in conflict zones are not abandoned unlike in many other countries where military engineering departments concentrate only on making access easy for troops in areas of war or conflicts." Why are taxpayers funding this?Or VOA after it lobbied UN Stephane Dujarricto oust Inner City Press, here?
The May 13 meeting ended without any outcome, after Paul Biya's longtime Ambassador Tommo Monthe lashed out at social media as UNSG Antonio Guterres does. Monthe told Inner City Press, as it asked about Biya cutting the Internet in the Anglophone zones, that Inner City Press could get thrown out of the UN. And it was, by Guterres, now 332 days and counting.
(Inner City Press went and began interested at the Ambazonia / Southern Cameroonsdemonstration in the 47th Street park, in the rain, video here.)
