UNITED NATIONS GATE, July 2 – Inner City Press on July 5 was banned from entering the UN, the day after it filed a criminal complaint against UN Security for physically removing it from covering the meeting about the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' $6.7 billion peacekeeping budget, as witnessed and essentially cheered on by senior UN official Christian Saunders, tearing its reporter's shirt, painfully and intentionally twisting his arm and slamming shut and damaging his laptop. On August 17, Guterres' Global Communicator Alison Smale issued a letter banning Inner City Press from the UN - for life. With no due process. She and Guterres have put the UN in the US Press Freedom Tracker, here. Smale said, again, that the UN would answer Press questions to the Spokesman Stephane Dujarric and his Office; Dujarric said the same oncamera. On July 2 three hours before the UN noon briefing, Inner City Press submitted 1000questions, including why it continues to be lawlessly banned from entering to ask questions in person: "There are more than 600+ questions UNanswered. And Monday Sept 17, Tuesday Sept 18, Wed Sept 19 and Thurs and Fri Sept 21, that whole week, no questions answered. Nor Sept 25, nor 28th - nor October 2 nor 3. While appreciating and using what was belatedly sent on May 20 about sexual exploitation allegations and on March 28 in partial request to Inner City Press' questions about the UN bribery sentence of Patrick Ho of CEFC and CEFC's 2018 attempt to buy the oil company of Gulbenkian Foundation which paid the SG, no answers on Dec 17 or 18 or 19 or 20 or 21 - another FIVE days in a row, even as SG's direct conflicts of interest and failure to disclose emerge, and a newest low. No answers on January 30 nor 31 nor February 1 nor 4 nor 5 nor 6 nor 7 nor 11 nor 12 nor 13 nor 14 nor 15 nor 18 nor 19 nor 20 nor 21 nor 22 nor 25 nor 26 nor 27 nor March 1 - 27 (!) And nowApril 1, 3-30 (one answer in the entire month - corrupt), and now May 1-13, 15-17, 21-31,June 3-28, and July 1, many questions. No answers at all during those four days of the US v Ho trial showing corruption in the UN says it all. This ban is just censorship - and Inner City Press must be allowed back into the noon briefing to ask its questions in person and follow up on them.
July 2-1: On Cameroon (and Switzerland), what is Guterres' comment and action if any on the use of tear gas on opponents of Paul Biya, right next to the UN Palais? Is this approach consistent with the mediation the SG applauded? What is his response to this Geneva question: Was the use of tear gas by police against Cameroonian demonstrators justified?
July 2-2: On DRC, what is the SG's comment and action if any on that police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators who tried to defy the ban on demonstrations in Kinshasa? Opponent Martin Fayulu, escorted by the police to his home, denounces a "lawless" state. In Goma, a demonstrator died of his injuries, according to police.
July 2-3: On the corporatization of the UN under Guterres, what is his comment and response to "new corporate and government marriage quietly took place last week when the leadership of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the United Nations (UN) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to partner with each other. While this MOU is proudly displayed on the WEF website, it is nowhere to be found on the UN website. The only indication on the UN website of this important new development is a picture of the pen used to sign the agreement, and two pictures of the signing ceremony. One reason for this difference is that the UN’s corporate-centered Global Compact has received a good deal of bad press. Now the new WEF-UN agreement creates a second special place for multinational corporations inside the UN. There is no similar institutional homes in the UN system for civil society, for academics, for religious leaders, or for youth. It is hard to imagine a national government signing a similar formal partnership with one of its business organizations."
July 2-4: On Togo and the dubious June 30 elections, what is the SG's comment and action if any on that the main civil society associations did not have their accreditation to observe these elections and the participation rate remained very low?
July 2-5: On UN bribery, again, please immediately state what if anything the UN has bothered to find about how Cheikh Gadio, who was arrested for arranging bribes inside the UN, got into the building, including if any resident representative or coordinator was involved, and why Guterres has not audited CEFC China Energy's activities in the UN (while he failed to disclose in his online public financial disclosure covering 2016 the payments he received from Gulbenkian Foundation which tried to sell its oil company Partext to CEFC China Energy).
July 2-6: On China and Taiwan and Czech Republic, what is the SG's comment and action if any on that following a Czech High Court verdict in favor of deporting eight Taiwanese telecom fraud suspects to China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Tuesday (July 2) expressed concern about their human rights. In the latest case, the Chinese authorities asked Interpol...
July 2-7: On China and Tibet, what is the SG's comment and action if any on that The Tibetan community in Switzerland and Liechtenstein organized a demonstration paralleling the ongoing 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council in front of Palais des Nations, on Friday, 28 June... “The human rights situation inside Tibet continued to be concerning, however, UN member states under the influence of China’s distorted facts and its economic ties, they are silent on Tibet”
July 2-8: On press freedom, what is the SG's comment and action if any on the attack in Seattle on Andy Ngo by masked men that resulted in an alleged brain bleed.“Through the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker—a joint collaboration with Freedom of the Press Foundation—we’ve covered more than 97 cases of journalists being physically assaulted" - What is SG Guterres' response / reaction to UN DSS and Guterres' actions on Inner City Press being listed in the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-matt-lee-forcibly-removed-un-stripped-press-credentials/ In the UN, what has the accountability been for Lt Ronald E. Dobbins and those those refused on camera to give their names? What is each of yours - particularly the SG's - response to the letter written and sent by Burundi activist Manisha Lievin? To the April 15 letter to the SG, DSG and USG Smale for which receipt has not even been acknowledged, other than a single lawless line from MALU: "Your media accreditation request, with reference no: M66561081, has been declined"? This is a formal request for the UN's explanation of grounds for this denied, and since SGcentral, the SG's chief of staff and Deputy SG and USG Smale haven't even confirmed receipt of the April 15 letter much less responded, for reconsideration. AGAIN, immediately explain how it is legitimate to ban from enter into the UN the media that has been asking about these and other questions, with no hearing or appeal.
June 14-5: Since the SG claimed publicly that the mansion he lives in "cannot" be sold, please immediately provide any and all documents with such a restriction, and separately explain why the concept of cy pres or reformation of donor intent has not been explored. Separately, Boutros Boutros Galli wrote in his book that the building was given by Arthur Houghton through the United Nations Association of the USA. What actual inquires, with UNA-USA or any successor to Houghton or Corning Glass, has Guterres made?
June 11-1: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action if any on this report from Chinese state media: "YAOUNDE, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon's House Speaker of National Assembly Cavaye Yeguie Djibril on Monday denounced foreign interference in the country's internal affairs which he referred to as "conspiracy." "Cameroon has become an object of conspiracy intended to destabilize the country. To justify their interference in internal affairs, the conspirators pretend to denounce it." Again, how many offices / desk does the Secretariat give to Chinese state media inside the UN?
June 4-3: On UN sexual abuse and exploitation, AGAIN as requested on the morning of June 3 immediately disclose what IS the new "allegation of SEA" which the UN on the morning of June 3 announced by e-mail. Clicking through to the UN website, the previously announced case against South Africa peacekeeper is no longer at the top of the page, and it is unclear what the new allegation is. This lack of clarity is unacceptable.
May 15-3: On the Public Financial Disclosures for 2017 belatedly published over the weekend of April 27-28, please state why Mohammed Ibn Chambas, like the Executive Secretary of the UN Biodiversity Convention, Cristiana Paşca-Palmer, UNICEF's Henriette Fore, with documented links to ExxonMobil and others, USG Mark Lowcock (undisclosed while the Secretariat's speaker at the UNSC Arria on Cameroon), UNCTAD's Mukhisa Kituyi, UN Women's Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UNOG chief Michael Moller, UNDP chief Achim Steiner, Heidi Mendoza, Adama Dieng, UN Security chief Peter Drennan, Rosemary DiCarlo and Nicholas Haysum, is not even on the list. OIOS chief Inga-Britt Ahlenius reported - why not Mendoza? Where IS Mendoza? Isn't it a bad practice for the UN's head (anti) genocide definition official to conceal from the public even cursory financial disclosure? Did DiCarlo decline to make any public disclosure despite being the UN's top political officer? What is the even plausible applicability of this line from SG Guterres' web page: "Please note that given the multi-cultural environment of the UN and the often security sensitive locations where UN staff are either working or come from, full public disclosure may not always be a viable or sensible option for certain staff members"? Why has Guterres changed the previous system in a which a "choosing not to disclose" statement was upload and listed, to one which helps conceal who reports and who does not? Again, state why considering the UN bribery conviction of Patrick Ho of CEFC, and CEFC's attempt to purchase the oil company of Gulbenkian Foundation which paid Mr. Guterres in 2016 was omitted from his online public financial disclosure covering 2016, and why Guterres has not even started an audit of CEFC in the UN.
