UNGATE / SDNY, Nov 3 – As Latvia assumes
the Presidency of the UN Security Council for November,
Inner City Press has written to Permanent Representative
Sanita Pavļuta-Deslandes with two requests: access, in
person or by WebEx, to Latvia's press briefing, and
Latvian intervention with the UN's Media Accreditation and
Liaison Unit and the Office of the Secretary-General on
Inner City Press's application
for restored access to UN Headquarters.
The letter is not the first sent to
Latvia's Mission on this question. Almost identical facts
were laid out nearly a year ago, in September 2025, ahead
of UNGA80's High-Level Week: physically removed from
Headquarters on July 3, 2018 while covering the UN's Fifth
Committee, barred from re-entry two days later, and, eight
years on, still no hearing, no written findings, and no
appeal from any part of the Organization.
Latvia has not answered this August
2026 written request from Inner City Press, under its own
laws:
Re: Request Pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Law (InformÄcijas atklÄtÄ«bas likums)
Dear Ambassador Sanita
Pavļuta-Deslandes:
Pursuant to Latvia's Freedom of Information
Law, Matthew Russell Lee, a journalist for Inner City
Press and founder of the Free UN Coalition for Access,
requests access to all documents held by the Mission, from
January 1, 2026 to the present, reflecting: Latvia's
internal deliberations, positions, or communications
regarding the selection of the tenth UN Secretary-General,
including assessment of declared candidates and any
position on the transparency of the selection process; Any
correspondence received from Inner City Press back to June
23, 2020 (see below) and since, and any internal or
external communications generated in response, including
with the UN Secretariat, MALU, or other member states
regarding Inner City Press's accreditation application or
its exclusion from UN Headquarters since July 2018; Any
documents reflecting Latvia's knowledge of, response to,
or position on abuse or exploitation by UN peacekeeping
personnel; and Any documents reflecting Latvia's knowledge
of, response to, or position on retaliation against UN
staff who have reported misconduct, corruption, or waste.
The records, and action, are requested forthwith given the
upcoming straw poll stakeouts - Inner City Press has
applied for access and should be granted it. But the
record, they are required - no immunity / impunity.
From Latvia, nothing. On November 2
outgoing Guterres' seemingly permanent spokesman (Kofi
Annon, Ban Ki-moon, Guterres: almost THIRTY years)
Stephane Dujarric said "As soon as you’re done with me,
you will hear from Ambassador Sanita Pavļuta-Deslandes,
Permanent Representative of Latvia to the United Nations,
and she’s here because she is the President of the
Security Council for this month. She will speak to
you about the programme of work. For those of you who are
connected via Zoom, they will only take questions in the
room."
But them, from UNTV's own transcript:
"And then there is Latvian journalist joining us today
from DC. Ina. Uh, no, we need Macron. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much. Uh, Latvian television, uh, based in
Washington, DC. Concrete. Yes. Speak louder. Louder. Yeah,
yeah. Louder. Thank you so much. Latvian Television based
in DC, Washington DC. Uh, congratulations to Latvia, to my
country for this, uh, big, big, um, month task. My
question is, uh, also colleague asked what specific
actions can Ukraine expect from Latvia in this
month?" How did they get in? Today's UN is corrupt
and self-serving. More from the transcript:
I'm very happy to take questions. Uh,
nice ones please. Okay.
Thank you ambassador. So I give first floor
to Unca president. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Ambassador, on behalf of the UN Correspondents
Association, uh, and congratulations on Latvia. First
presidency of the Security Council. It's Valeria Robecco
for Ansa and La Stampa, USA. Uh, on the race. Uh, do you
expect the council to recommend the candidate during your
presidency? And if you can give us like a little bit more
details when you expect the next poll, uh, colored coded
or not, do you expect other candidates to jump into the
race?
Softball questions, evasive
answers, Press banned, UNCA complicit.
What is new this year: Inner City Press's
July 26 accreditation application, filed with the current
MALU office, is now a matter of public record, posted to
DocumentCloud here
and linked directly in the letter to Latvia's Mission,
alongside MALU's own auto-generated initial confirmation
of receipt, "This is not a confirmation of approval.
Please wait for further updates by email." Then, a
one-line denial.
The letter asks Latvia to follow up on Inner City Press's behalf, while the Presidency gavel is in Latvian hands. The larger backdrop is the Secretary-General transition itself. Guterres's term ends December 31; a new Secretary-General is being chosen now, following inconclusive straw polls and a candidates' town hall Inner City Press covered this month, at which press freedom and institutional trust were repeatedly invoked and never once tested against a case sitting in the UN's own building. Whether Latvia's Presidency answers, and whether the current administration resolves this before handing it to the next one, remains to be seen.
