UN GATE, August 26 -- After reporting on the United Nations as a resident correspondent for a decade, exposing war crimes and UN scandals from Sri Lanka to Yemen to Cameroon, Inner City Press was roughly ousted and banned from the UN since 3 July 2018.
On 24 August 2019 it applied to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and his new Communications and media accreditation chief Melissa Fleming to be admitted like hundreds of others to cover the upcoming UN General Assembly, then formally asked UN member states in the Security Council and General Assembly to ensure this happens:
"I am writing to you a month before the UN General Assembly high level week as a journalist who after covering the United Nations for Inner City Press for ten years was roughed up and thrown out of the UN as I covered its Fifth (Budget) Committee on 3 July 2018 and have been denied all access since. There was no due process, no right to appeal, nothing. The Department's and MALU's lack of any content neutral accreditation rules, rule process including appeal rights for jouranlists, must also be addressed. I should now be granted accreditation like hundreds of correspondents who publish far fewer stories about the UN and international affairs than I do. I ask for your immediate response. I have a right to cover the UN, the Security Council, ECOSOC and General Assembly including next month's High Level week. For your information despite now ending USG Smale having assured the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression that during my exclusion my written questions would be answered, the questions have not been."
Receipt was confirmed from many, including "From: malu Date: Sat, Aug 24, 2019 at 7:28 PM Subject: Your U.N. eAccreditation Request has been RECEIVED To: Inner City Press Greetings Matthew Lee, This is to confirm the United Nations Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit (M.A.L.U.) at New York Headquarters has received your request for accreditation. Please be assured every effort will be made to review the request as soon as possible. Upon processing, a notification email (to the email address registered with the request) will provide the status update, to confirm an approval or rejection, and any additional information which may be required." Watch this site - we will report in detail going forward.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says he has a "zero tolerance" policy for sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment, and for retaliation.
But it has become clear what Guterres has a zero tolerance for is criticism, or even questions. Guterres had Inner City Press roughed up twice a year ago and banned since;now he and his spokespeople refuse to answer written questions about UN peacekeepers' child rapes, see below.
But it has become clear what Guterres has a zero tolerance for is criticism, or even questions. Guterres had Inner City Press roughed up twice a year ago and banned since;now he and his spokespeople refuse to answer written questions about UN peacekeepers' child rapes, see below.
A senior UN official who, like many lower down in the UN appreciates Inner City Press' accountability reporting about an Organization killing itself with corruption and arrogance,tried to raise the issue but wrote back: " I am sorry to hear that you are still banned from the UN. I was with the SG for a short meeting , we barely managed to cover some of the most important topics and he rushed to another meeting. But I enquired around and I was told that even my continuous efforts would not help. There are apparently also some others that are unhappy with your reporting."
Who might those "some others" be? Watch this site.
