By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN
UN GATE, March 9, Follow up to Exclusive – With the UN failing on Ukraine, with two resolution rejected in the UN Security Council now presided over by the UAE which abstained on both, and Secretary General Antonio Guterres who only got his two terms with the approval of Vladimir Putin and now sends as humanitarian envoy to Ukraine a crony Amin Awad who previously sold out the Tamils in Sri Lanka, now Guterres has moved to censoring UN staff.
Inner City Press, banned from the UN by Guterres, was exclusively leaked and on March 4 published this, also from March 4, photo here:
Fri 3/4/2022 To: ALL UN Secretariat; Agencies, Funds and Programmes
Guidance to staff on personal communications about the situation in Ukraine
The crisis in Ukraine is deeply upsetting and a matter of grave concern to United Nations staff. The Secretary-General has also made the position of the Organization regarding the hostilities very clear. While it is understandable that many of us feel compelled to share views about the events that are unfolding, including in personal fora such as social media, staff are reminded of their rights and duties as international civil servants, which require us to act independently and impartially. Please take a moment to familiarize yourselves anew with the policies on the Status, basic rights and duties of United Nations staff members; outside activities; and the guidelines for the personal use of social media. Attention is also drawn to the “2022 Guidance on Political Activities” recently issued on iSeek by the UN Ethics Office.
"Accordingly, staff are asked to frame any communications on Ukraine as well as other political matters in a manner that is consistent with the position of the Organization and the statements of the Secretary-General."
But Guterres' Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric refused all questions about Ukraine from Inner City Press. Guterres' head of media accreditation Melissa Fleming has refused to even answer a letter from pro bono law firm Quinn Emanuel seeking a dialog on the re-entry of Inner City Press, which remained a resident correspondent even while critiquing Ban Ki-moon for failure in Sri Lanka.
On March 9, Dujarric, Fleming and Guterres refused to answer this written question: " Confirm or deny that the email obfuscated at the March 8 noon briefing Inner City Press is banned from, beyond the email each of you were asked about in writing on March 7, was by UNRIC's Sherri Aldis, and if not, by whom."
And yet, with no answers, Dujarric favorite, Qatar state media Al Jazeera's "diplomatic editor" James Bays, as simply one example, later on March 9 snarked online that "this story has been proved to be untrue - over 24 hrs ago." How?
Inner City Press has asked: "You say UN's orders to its staff on what to say on Ukraine has "proved to be untrue" - what do you say to your pal UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric refusing to answer Inner City Press written questions about this leaked email?"
Journalism is not a crime indeed. Bays / Al Jazeera worked with Team Guterres to get Inner City Press roughed up and banned. Inner City Press has raised this to a number of Al Jazeera-ites. For now, see their appearance in CJR here. We'll have more on this.
Guterres is a censor who cannot even dialogue with his own critics. He surrounds himself with state media yes-men. His UN is failing on Ukraine, and Inner City Press will continue to apply and cover it. Watch this site.
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