By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive CJR Video
UN GATE, May 20 – How corrupt and hypocritical is the United Nations of Secretary General Antonio Guterres? He covered up for two years on seuxal harassment by his friend Fabrizio Hochschild, as banned Inner City Press asked him about it in writing. Then on January 28 Guterres lied and said he'd only found out days before. Video here.
This lie came in a Press-less press conference. State media of Turkey, Qatar, as well as Reuters and the NYT, helped Guterres by not asking about the belated suspension of Hochschild.
Now 17 weeks later, POLITICO's Melissa Heikkila and contributor Ryan Heath have reported on the Hochschild case - good - while focusing on Guterres' chef de cabinet having known, and not what leaked audio published by Inner City Press already showed. Guterres himself was informed, and told the Office of Internal Oversight Services, Back off. Shared audio here
With the Administration in DC poised to let Guterres grab another five year term, blocking all opponents like Inner City Press, will POLITICO push further, including on Guterres' censorship? Watch this site - and this question:
how does the UN allow into its briefing Heikkila from Europe while banning in New York Inner City Press, on the same day it put questions to the Wilson Center and IMF in DC? Guterres is a censor.
Back on February 1, equally duplicitous spokesman Stephane Dujarric while refusing all written questions by Inner City Press said this: "There are procedures that are in place. My understanding is that OIOS (Office of Internal Oversight Services) then flags it once they have a certain level of confidence on the charges and that they have... on the ‑‑ excuse me ‑‑ confidence on the allegations and that they've interviewed a number of people, and so they were following their procedures. I can share with you, a bit later today, sort of the... nothing on the individuality of the case, obviously, but just what we... the kind of procedures that are followed." Share what? When? With whom? We'll have more on this.
So much so that while Guterres claims zero tolerance and to be a feminist, he twice rewarded and covered up sexual misconduct in his own office. Inner City Press before May 2019 reported the #MeToo abuses of Fabrizio Hochschild, and asked Guterres in writing about them, with no answer. It published audio leaked to it; its exclusive was picked up here for example.
Now on January 28, this: "UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the head of the Organization, Antonio Guterres, took " very seriously any allegation of harassment, abuse of power, discrimination or sexual harassment ”. After " allegations of possible prohibited conduct against Fabrizio Hochschild were brought to his attention ", a suspension of functions was decided during an internal investigation. Once achieved, " the secretary general will act quickly and take appropriate action on the basis of the findings, " added the spokesperson."
But AFP sources it to a pro-Guterres in-house publication which said Guterres gets a "B" from feminists. What a joke - it is Guterres who should be ousted, for censorship to cover up rapes, by Karim Elkorany (UN staff in Iraq) and Peacekeepers in DRC and CAR. We'll have more on this.
In a musical chairs personnel move on April 18, 2019, a day after he continued his now 935 day censorship of the Press, Guterres named as his new Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination one Volker Türk, who when Inner City Press asked him about refugees chased by Paul Biya's Cameroon army into Nigeria seemed not to know about it. Guterres, as we have reported, not only took a golden statue from Biya, but went silent on the killings since Cameroon was chair of the UN Budget Committee.
But it's worse: Turk took the position from Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond of Chile "who was appointed as Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Preparations for the Commemoration of the United Nations’ 75th Anniversary." This promotion was, ghoulishly, Guterres rewarding what multiple staff say was Hochschild's relationship with another junior staff member.
On January 22 with the failed 75th anniversary complete with the censorship of critical views, Guterres recycled this abuser as his chief of technology, while still refusing all questions from Inner City Press - which was answered on Jan 22 by Andrew Yang, and by the IMF and others.
And on January 23, from UN staff who know, this came to Inner City Press: "What is actually most astonishing about this appointment is that a Secretary-General who claims that the UN under his leadership is making the impact of technology on human rights a priority has chosen as his "Tech Envoy" someone who profoundly ignorant of technology. Without his talking points prepared by others, he is instantly lost on any technical topic. He has no clue what a blockchain is, what machine learning is, etc. How can you be an "envoy" to a community that you neither understand nor respect?"
Guterres and those around him are corrupt.
One of the staff members tells Inner City Press it in these words: Hochschild's "promotion to USG was because the SG wanted him out of his office after he was caught having an affair with a junior staff member. In terms of power play this is a reward for sexual harassment." Talk about MeToo - the faux feminist Guterres covers up and rewards such behavior. And later on April 18 Ms. Nahla Valji, Senior Gender Adviser, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, was bragging about Guterres and feminism. What hypocrisy. We'll have more on this - while Guterres and his spokespeople refuse to answer any of Inner City Press' written questions, we still have sources, many sources.
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