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Saturday, June 25, 2016

Pushing for Next SG, Helen Clark Saturday Night Live from UN, Questions UNasked

By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, June 25 -- Helen Clark did a Facebook Live Q&A on Saturday evening from inside the UN compound, emphasizing that it would be 10 am in her native New Zealand. Photo here.

In the interview, which did not ask any questions about for example the John Ashe (RIP) / Ng Lap Seng UN corruption case, or UN sexual abuse in the Central African Republic or cholera in Haiti, Clark said she expects the Security Council to forward only one name to the General Assembly.

So, she said, viewer should lobby their governments to tell Security Council members that the name should be Clark. She was asked what Kiwi food she misses -- marmite -- and favorite book, 100 Years of Solitude. It did not sound like she would make any clear sweep: she lavished praise on one sitting UN official; she did, however, seem to favor the UN beginning to pay its interns, so there's that.

   Clark was asked about Brexit and dodged; we've noted that it may make a UK veto of Susana Malcorra less likely, here.

   Since in retaliation for corruption coverage the UN of Ban Ki-moon and DPI's Cristina Gallach reduced Inner City Press' accreditation and evicted its office, it could not access the UN while Clark was doing this interview -- was Media Accreditation in on it? Will the ten (and perhaps eleven, if Kristalina Georgieva jumps in) other candidates do similar broadcasts? Watch this site.

Back on June 7 when Susana Malcorra and Miroslav Lajcák came to the UN to answer questions on June 7 in their bids to become the next UN Secretary General, Inner City Press asked them both abut the UN sexual abuse and John Ashe / Ng Lap Seng bribery scandal, then asked General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft about the process. Periscope video here and here.

    Lajcák replied on both scandals with the same phrase: zero tolerance. He said that as Foreign Minister of Slovakia he tells his staff there will be no tolerance for corruption, because the acts of one can tarnish all the others. One wonders, then, why even the individuals identified in the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services' Ng Lap Seng audit have not been held accountable.

   Malcorra gave longer answers, perhaps because she was at the UN, as Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff, during the scandals.

On the Ng Lap Seng audit, she argued that it is about “holes” in the PGAs office.

But the audit says that the Secretariat's DGACM modified a document to include the name of Ng Lap Seng's company, and that the Under Secretary General for Public Information failed to do due diligence before putting Ban with Ng's Global Sustainability Foundation in the GA Lobby, and allowing GSF to sponsor the UN's slavery memorial. (The view of Malcorra, who left in November 2015, on the USG of DPI February 19 ouster and April 16 eviction is Inner City Press is one that we will be seeking.)

Inner City Press asked or told Malcorra that Anders Kompass, retaliated against for “moving forward” with the seemingly covered-up charges of sexual abuse from CAR, had quit the UN earlier in the day citing impunity. Malcorra said she hadn't heard that he quit; she gave a long answer culminating in that Kompass had given the report to “a member state unredacted,” and saying her focus is on the victims.

Inside the Trusteeship Council Chamber, when asked about cholera in Haiti, Malcorra seemed to say she would have to wait to be better informed in order to answer. Really? We'll have more on this.

   When Lykketoft spoke, Inner City Press asked about the call that there be no acclamation rubber-stamp in the GA. He spoke of change inthe balance of power between the GA and the Security Council, this when Inner City Press asked what he thought of the Security Council doing its interviews behind closed doors.

On May 26, Inner City Press asked UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft about the Security Council process, on which the Council met late on May 25, agreeing to interview the candidates who so request, video here:

Inner City Press: Are these interviews going to be conducted in the open and what can you say about the discussion of timing and secret ballots?

Amb Rycroft: So the General Assembly did something very useful, in particular which was these public hearings for each of the candidates and I think that in the Security Council we need to do something which adds value to the General Assembly hearings. So I think that those contact between each candidate who wishes they have it in the Security Council need to be private and they need to be informal and they need to be interactive.

They won't be in public and I think that's important. Of course we favor transparency, but this is about confidentiality and it's possible to have both at once. We'll be completely transparent about who is coming in, when those meetings are happening, but the content of those meetings should remain private, informal and interactive. And on the timings, I think we want to go ahead as soon as possible.

Inner City Press asked another Permanent Representative, advocate for transparency and for the General Assembly, who said this is better, "makes the GA the main game." So far, candidates Vesna Pusic and Natalia Gherman have requested to meet the Security Council.

On May 20 Susana Malcorra told Argentine media that President Macri would nominate her later in the day. She herself was in China, after earlier trips to other P5 capitals.

Sources tell Inner City Press of attempts to address in advance the Malvinas / Falkland Islands issues, to "put it in the freezer," as one source put it.

Where does she stand on freedom of the press - generally and in the UN? We'll have more on this, and on the positions of Lajcak, et al.
How should the next UN Secretary General be selected, to improve the Organization?

First, how low has the UN fallen, in terms of corruption, not stopping rapes, and retaliating against the Press that asks the questions? On April 16, the UN evicted Inner City Press from its long time UN office, putting five boxes of its files out on First Avenue, video here. The New York Times of May 14 is here.

On May 3, Inner City Press asked about the UN Development Program's audit into the Ng Lap Seng bribery the UN Secretariat has yet to act on, and asked about UNDP's Helen Clark's campaign and travel. UN transcript:

Inner City Press: Helen Clark has kicked off a campaign trip for next SG, which is obviously within her rights. But I wanted to ask you again, what are the sort of… as the head of the UN system, Ban Ki-moon, what are his thoughts on sitting, you know, full-time UN officials… kicking off a campaign… essentially a political, you know, campaigning for the next SG site. Is she taking days off to do that? Is that…

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric: I think that's… I think the details are questions for UNDP. As far as Secretary-General's concerned, he would expect that any UN official who is in the running for next SG will completely separate those activities from their professional work.

Question: Who's paying for the travel?

Spokesman Dujarric: I think those details you should ask UNDP.

While UNDP which presumably monitors the UN's noon briefing has yet to answer, New Zealand's Mission to the UN did response, on Twitter:

"@innercitypress NZ Govt covering full costs of #Helen4SG campaign. Helen is taking annual leave for campaign activities."

Inner City Press thanked and replied: "Thanks. Can you say what NZ's budget for @Helen4SG is, as Bokova, Kerim & others have done? #NextSG"

But to that, no answer, at least not yet. UNDP has issued a denial that Clark played a role in retaliating against Lena Sinha for her role in Charles Petrie's report on the UN's failures in Sri Lanka.

The underlying report, perversely, makes Ban Ki-moon and his Secretariat, primarily responsible for the failures, into heroes; Ban's "envoy" during 2009, Vijay Nambiar, is not even mentioned. (Inner City Press did mention Sinha, back in 2006, here.)

Could Team Ban and the Malcorra loyalists within be trying to put their thumbs on the scale? On the other hand, Inner City Press having been a target takes UNDP's denials with more than a grain of salt.

But further as to (Clark's) UNDP, where in the promised press conference on the audit? Shouldn't Clark take questions about this audit, under her tenure?

On April 13, Inner City Press asked candidate Vesna Pusic what she would do to avoid corruption; she said keep an eye on everything coming in and going out, and keep the rules simple.

Inner City Press also asked Danilo Turk if journalists in the UN should have due process rights, which they do not now (he said yes) and about the Haiti cholera case. He said he thought Ban Ki-moon is working behind the scene on compensating the victims. But when Inner City Press asked, Ban's spokesman only spoke about trying to improve sanitation going forward.

On April 14, Inner City Press asked Vuk Jeremic what he would do to clean up the ongoing corruption shown in the John Ashe / Ng Lap Seng case and the audit Inner City Press exclusively put online, here.

Jeremic replied he would require UN officials to make public financial disclosure (unlike Ban Ki-moon), would strengthen OIOS (whose Ng Lap Seng audit lets Ban off the hook) and protect whistleblowers.

Inner City Press asked Jeremic, as it has asked the other candidates, to disclosure his campaign's funding. Jeremic said he won't take money from countries, including Serbia which nominated him; he'll "fundraise" and disclose it.

(Luksic told Inner City Press he will disclosure; Danilo Turk disclosed in a tweet his 40,000 Euro limit).

The UN of Ban Ki-moon moved to evict Inner City Press, which is asking the question. It happened on April 16, video here and here (Periscope); the New York Times of May 14 is here.

On May 10, Inner City Press asked UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft, just before his thematic debate on Peace and Security, what the General Assembly is doing about peacekeepers' sexual abuse and exploitation, and about UN Peacekeeping's Herve Ladsous saying it would take 18 months to deploy 3,000 troops to Burundi.

Lykketoft acknowledged that 18 months is too long -- some think Ladsous overstated it, to take the option off the table -- and on sexual abuse he said beyond the GA punishment is up to the Troop Contributing Countries.

Even getting to the stakeout to ask Lykketoft this question was hindered by Ban Ki-moon's and Cristina Gallach's UN. Now Inner City Press can only access the Conference Building's second floor with a Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit minder or escort. But on May 10 there was none available.

Inner City Press, needing to cover the stakeout, asked the UN Spokesperson's office, which had just announced the stakeout over the same public address system it announced the January 29 event in the UN Press Briefing Room for which Inner City Press was thrown out.

But UN Security said only MALU minders can escort Inner City Press. This is called targeting, and is UN censorship.

On February 19, Inner City Press was thrown out of the UN on two hours notice. Audio and petition here. On February 22 Inner City Press was told it was Banned from all UN premises. After three days reporting on the UN from the park in front of it, and stories in BuzzFeed and Business Insider, Inner City Press re-entered the UN on a more limited "non-resident correspondent" pass, under which on March 10 UN Security ordered it to leave the UN as it worked in the UN lobby at 8 pm. Video here; UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric's March 11 justification here.

The underlying UN rule only says that non-resident correspondents can only come into the UN up until 7 pm. But the UN's goal, it seems, is to prevent or hinder coverage of UN corruption, which usually doesn't take place in the UN Press Briefing Room. (January 29, 2016 and September 8, 2011 -- Frank Lorenzo, UNdisclosed -- are notably exceptions.)

Lobbying the deciding UN official, Under Secretary General for Public Information Cristina Gallach, were the honchos of the UN Correspondents Association, including France 24 and, as in 2012, Voice of America. Freedom of Information Act documents here and here. The UN needs a FOIA. But who would actually do it? Watch this site.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

As Microsoft Speaks In UNSC, Crosses Out YouTube & Facebook, Corporate UN

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 11 -- The question of corporate influence and even bribery in the UN is one that has to be asked, as on May 11 Microsoft is given a chair to speak in the UN Security Council. Speech here.

This questioning is needed in light of the unfolding bribery scandal involving not only former President of the General Assembly John Ashe but also the Secretariat of Ban Ki-moon, from the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management selling document changes to the Department of Public Information doing no due diligence of those sponsoring events with Ban and even the UN's slavery memorial, see OIOS audit Paragraphs 37-40 and 20(b). And see DPI's eviction, video here.

Microsoft VP Steven A. Crown in his speech crossed out the names of competitors, Google's YouTube and Facebook, replacing them with "the Internet." How much is a chair in the Security Council worth?

The topic of counter-terrorism is, undoubtedly, a serious one, and we'll cover it in a separate article. Here are two paragraphs, in fairness, of the UNSC President Statement adopted:

“The Security Council notes with concern that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh), Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities, craft distorted narratives that are based on the misinterpretation and misrepresentation of religion to justify violence, which are utilized to recruit supporters and Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs), mobilize resources, and garner support from sympathizers, in particular by exploiting information and communications technologies, including through the Internet and social media...

   “The Security Council, accordingly, requests the Counter-Terrorism Committee, in close consultations with the CTED and other relevant United Nations bodies and international and regional organizations in particular the CTITF office, as well as interested Member States, to present a proposal to the Security Council by 30 April 2017 for a 'comprehensive international framework,' with recommended guidelines and good practices to effectively counter, in compliance with international law, the ways that ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities use their narratives to encourage, motivate, and recruit others to commit terrorist acts, including with a counter narrative campaign...”

Back on March 28, the corporate UN question also arose in connection with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdictions.

   A press conference on the topic was held at the beginning of a round of talks. Inner City Press asked, what will be the role and influence of corporate interests in these talks in the UN?

Currently Macau-based businessman is under house arrest indicted for allegedly paying bribes in the UN, including through South South News, which funded the UN Correspondents Association which then gave Ng a photo op with Ban Ki-moon.

The answer from the podium on March 28 was that business interests, as a "part of civil society," can speak. (The Pew representative seems about to answer, but it didn't happen. We would welcome a Pew response on this.)

The Ng Lap Seng - South South News tale, like that of Sheri Yan and her Global Sustainability Foundation (which until South South News, Ban assigned to OIOS for a self-audit), shows that at the UN, corporate interests can even be behind the NGOs or Association, even purported journalists' organizations.

Tellingly, even on UNCLOS the first question was taken by UNCA, by a representative who was pre-positioned for, filmed and laughed out Inner City Press' physical ouster by UN Security on the orders of DPI's Cristina Gallach on February 19. This is how the UN works, or doesn't. We'll be following this UNCLOS process - including corporate influence.

Note that previously, before so digging into UN corruption, Inner City Press covered similar Pew events, like here, without having to question the corporate capture of Ban's UN, and its descent into censorship.

As Inner City Press was staking out the UN Security Council meeting on March 24 about Western Sahara and Morocco's ordering out of the UN Peacekeeping mission there, a figure rarely seen at the stakeout approached.

Giampaolo Pioli the head of the UN Correspondents Association came over to where Inner City Press was typing and editing audio and video and said, “You're an asshole.”

   Moments later, Inner City Press now with its UN accreditation pass downgraded to Non-Resident Correspondent by UN Department of Public Information chief Cristina Gallach at the behest of Pioli went to ask UN Security not to lock the glass door to the Security Council before the Council's president spoke at the stakeout.

As Inner City Press asked the guard not to lock the door to journalists, UNCA's Pioli again said, “You're an asshole. I'm telling you that you're an asshole. Quote me.” Audio here.

   What's behind this? How did a journalists club turn into a club against a journalist, and why? Beyond Pioli's financial relationship with Palitha Kohona, who as Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN Pioli unilaterally granted a "UN" screening of a war crimes denial film, there is for example the matter of South South News.

South South News is depicted in the October 2015 criminal complaint against John Ashe, Ng Lap Seng, Frank Lorenzo and others as a vehicle for bribery, to the tune of $12 million.

UNCA under Pioli took SSN's money, and gave its funding Ng Lap Sent a photo op with Ban Ki-moon. But Pioli's UNCA also gave South South News a "journalism award," and SSN in term featured videos of Pioli, here - and of Pioli's tenant Kohona, here.

Pioli and his rental of one of his apartments to an accused war criminal, involved in Sri Lanka's notorious White Flag killings, then screening of his tenant's film, played a key role.

But there have been many enablers, among the Gulf and Western media on UNCA's board; there are been others to the very top of the UN who have benefited from and left unchecked this war on investigative journalism.

This as Pioli's UNCA took money from now-indicted Ng Lap Seng's South South News, gave SSN a journalism award and Ng a photo op with Ban Ki-moon. After after the indictments, Pioli was selling half-tables with Ban for $6,000 on Wall Street in December 2015. That Ban's UN tries to shield this from coverage is telling.

To try to oust or wipe out coverage of failure in Sri Lanka and more recently Burundi and Yemen to name but two is, of course, convenient, as well as stopping or hindering aggressive coverage of the expanding UN scandal in this waning year.

Inner City Press spoke and speaks out when Reuters took stories without credit, even claimed "exclusives" for things earlier published by Inner City Press. Reuters bureau chief made an anti-Press filing with the UN's Stephane Dujarric. Then when it was leaked, he wrote as Reuters to Google to get it blocked from Search, ostensibly as copyrighted. "His" reporter has been worse, in ways.

   Margaret Besheer of Voice of America, who after being exposed in 2012 and her bosses saying in writing theirattempt to oust Inner City Press for her was wrong -- is at it again. She was standing pre-positioned at the UN gate on February 19, 2016 when Inner City Press was physically thrown out. These are tax dollars at work, violating the First Amendment.

There are more - former AFP, the current ones hardly better - and others who just follow along. Now their "leader" Pioli has come to the stakeout, not to report anything - he rarely does - but to loudly call a critic, who actually writes stories, an "asshole." And not one of them did anything. At the UN the journalists' club has become a club against a journalist.

Inner City Press replied that it believed and believes Pioli is corrupt, that he took rent money from Palitha Kohona then unilaterally granted Kohona's request as Sri Lanka's Ambassador for an UNCA / “UN” screening of his government's war crimes denial film, “Lies Agreed To.” And that Pioli after demanding censorship of Inner City Press' coverage has used UNCA and now DPI to try to throw Inner City Press out of the UN, just as Pioli first threatened.

Ban with Pioli, who told Inner City Press, "You are an asshole." Credit UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Another UNCA board member -- Inner City Press quit its elected position on that board in 2012, saying openly that Pioli was corrupt, now in taking money from indicted Ng Lap Seng's South South News and granting him a photo op with Ban Ki-moon -- said such language should not be used at the stakeout.

But it was Pioli who approached Inner City Press, which hasn't willingly spoke with Pioli in more than a year.

So it is for this person that Cristina Gallach first ordered Inner City Press out of the UN on two hours notice on February 19 and on whom she has since leaned in trying to defend her February 19 decision, which was reached without once speaking with Inner City Press.

Ban shakes with Cristina Gallach, who threw ICP out of UN on Feb 19, 2016 on 2 hours notice. Credit UN Photo

Her rationale was that Inner City Press secretly filmed a closed meeting, but that doesn't stand up: the meeting was nowhere listed as closed, and Inner City Press openly live-streamed and even live Tweeted it: hardly secret.

So the fallback argument was that since Inner City Press covered the UNCA event in the UN Press Briefing Room from one of the glassed-in interpreters' booths, in order to avoid just such a response as Pioli's “asshole” on March 24, it had violated some as-yet unproduced rule about not being in an interpreters booth.

But on March 23 Inner City Press observed and filmed two non-interpreters in the “other” interpreters booth in the UN Press Briefing Room while UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq read out statements and did NOTHING about the use of the interpreters booth.

On March 24, Inner City Press asked Haq about it, UN Transcript.

On his way out of the UN Press Briefing Room, Haq said to Inner City Press, “Liar.” This is the atmosphere created, when DPI and the Spokesperson's office have allowed a character like Pioli, angry at coverage of his financial dealings with Sri Lanka's ambassador, to essentially run the asylum.

   It seems clear now that there must be a complete reversal of Gallach's February 19 order, based on false facts (closed meeting, “secret” filming), a dubious rule and at the behest of an UNCA boss who barely writes articles, seeks to control UN office space and comes to the UN Security Council stakeout to call a critic an asshole. We'll have more on this.

Friday, January 29, 2016

As UN PGA Lykketoft Speaks on Denmark, Inner City Press Asks His Office about Use of UN Platform, UNanswered

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 29 -- Since Mogens Lykketoft took over as UN President of the General Assembly, Inner City Press has asked him about Denmark: Danish former PM Helle Thorning Schmidt using his office if not him to campaign to head UNHCR, and funds from Denmark and others. Now, Inner City Press has asked Lykketoft's office about his comments about Denmark, so far without answer.
On the morning of January 29, Inner City Press asked Lykketoft's two spokespeople:

“This is a request for quick comment on what PGA Lykketoft has been quoted as saying about Denmark (see below). Among other things, can you explain the use of (UN) background, and how the PGA intends to use his platform at the UN with regard to Denmark's reputation.”

But there has been no answer. Inner City Press' sources have provided this loose summary:

“A tired and sad Lykketoft explains that his choice of words in his private birthday party speech were not for public consumption. He did not plan the leak. He understands that people in Denmark have attacked his choice of words. He spoke with humor and did *not* make any implied allegations of wrongdoing. He did not imagine that some of his guests would forward his speech to the press.

“But he is very sad about the state of Denmark, and he is sad that the former government could not prevent the liberals and Løkke getting into power. He stresses that is not happy at all of what is said abroad about Denmark for the moment. This is much more serious. This has damaged Denmark's reputation.We have a common obligation to minimize the damages. He will do it from his platform in the UN.”

Inner City Press' questions, in part, about about this use of the UN platform. We'll have more on this.

Two weeks after UN President of the General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft said that in the wake of the indictment of his predecessor John Ashe he would be more transparent, on November 17 Inner City Press asked Lykketoft's spokesperson for basic disclosures: of Lykketoft's daily schedule, and of what gratuities he receives, including free tickets to events others are paying for, sometimes substantially paying for.Video here, and embedded below.

Lykketoft's spokesperson said he was not disclosing his daily schedule due to concerns raised by his security detail. But these are from the UN Department of Safety and Security, the same DSS which provides security to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his Deputy Jan Eliasson, for both of whom a daily scheduled is published, in advance.

On gratuities including free tickets, Lykketoft's spokesperson said it was the type of disclosure that Lykketoft had said he would make -- then he added that in some even most of these cases Lykketoft would be attending in his official capacity and therefore not expected to pay.

That's what makes it a gratuity that should be disclosed.

Let's take an example. As Inner City Press has raised, the UN Correspondents Association is soliciting $6,000 or more for tickets to its “ball” on Wall Street, including sitting at the “VIP” table. This seems like selling access to Ban Ki-moon -- a sample Permanent Representative approached Inner City Press and called UNCA's solicitation “disgusting” -- and one wonders what Lykketoft things about it. More pertinently, is he participating in it? Either taking a comped ticket, or worse, sitting at the very VIP table access to which is being sold?

Here is UNCA's recent pitch:

"Dear Ambassador,

The United Nations Correspondents Association is honored to invite you to participate and contribute to the 20th annual UNCA Awards event with guest of honor U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, recipient of the 2015 Global Advocate of the Year Award for climate change. Exclusive raffle prizes include business class airline tickets around the world with hotel accommodations and a grand prize FIAT 500X car. As your esteemed presence will ensure the success of this event, we are pleased to send you the below opportunities to attend the gala dinner:

Mission Table Special Price / $6000 (half-table) 5 seats at VIP table at the gala event

Special Ambassador Contribution / $2,000 -1 VIP ticket for Ambassador with premium seating to dinner + 1 complimentary VIP ticket for spouse or guest -Special acknowledgement of the Ambassador and the Mission in the UNCA Awards Journal of the evening -Additional tickets for UN Diplomats of the Mission can be purchased at the special price of $750 each

Giampaolo Pioli, UNCA President
Please make all checks payable to 'UNCA Awards Committee'
Contributions to the UNCA Awards Committee are tax deductible.
The UNCA Awards Committee is a 501-c(3)"

What - to sell photo ops with Ban Ki-moon to businessness / brothel owners indicted for corruption and out on $50 million bail, the same money used to make contributions and then get UNCA "journalism" awards?

These UNCA prices, though elevated, are less than what UNCA took from Ng Lap Seng's vehicles.

Having been told by the UN Office of the Spokesperson to ask the PGA's office where Ashe's and Sam Kutesa's documents are, Inner City Press asked the PGA Office's spokesperson - who said they don't have them. Round and round, UNreformed.

Inner City Press will, of course, be covering the UN General Assembly session on November 20 about migration and refugees, and the Third Committee, etc. But these are very basic disclosures that are being requested - the information should be disclosed.

Back on November 4, without one mentioning the name of John Ashe, much less his fellow indictees Ng Lap Seng, Frank Lorenzo and Sheri Yan, on November 3 both UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President of the General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft gave speeches about post-indictment reform.

After the two speeches, Inner City Press asked Lykketoft about his proposal still allow financial flows from "host organization[s]" like Ng Lap Seng's Sun Kian Ip Group and if Lykketoft would establish a Freedom of Information procedure so that the Press and public could requested documents. Lykketoft replied, on this, "we have no access whatsoever to documents from earlier PGA offices." Video here.

Then when Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, "Does the Secretariat have any of Mr. Kutesa or Ashe’s documents?" Dujarric replied, "I’m not aware that we do, because those are the documents held by the presidents themselves."

This is a major problem - how can this be? On November 4, Inner City Press asked again, video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask about these documents as well, because it seems, it was pretty extraordinary yesterday that Mr. Lykketoft said he has no records of Ashe or Kutesa and what you said here. So I wanted to ask you a very specific question, for example, in the charge document by the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] there is extensive emailing between Ng Lap Seng and his affiliates and the PGA. There's also reference to the Chief of Staff and people that are actually UN staff members. And I'm… I've looked at this thing called archives.un.org, which instructs staff to, like, retain records, record-retention policy. So I wanted you to know or to say maybe later today, would emails from these outside parties to people working in Mr. Ashe's office, such as the Chief of Staff, have been retained?

Spokesman: I think, the office the President of the General Assembly is run by the President of the General Assembly. So I would encourage you to aim your questions in that direction.

Inner City Press: We asked yesterday and he said he has nothing…

Spokesman: I can't… I can't speak to the details of how either Mr. Ashe or others have run their offices.

Inner City Press: But do you see the problem on this?

Spokesman: I'm not arguing with you about the line of questioning. I just… that's as far as I can go.

Lykketoft on November 3 published some "transparency" material on his Office's website which, upon Inner City Press review, appears largely derived from a previous PGA Handbook by Switzerland and "its" PGA Deiss. That docuemnt states:

... "the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) Executive Office is responsible for all financial, personnel, and general administrative matters concerning DGACM, including the Office of the PGA.. In executing his/her duties, the PGA is supported by the Office of the President of the General Assembly (Office of the PGA, or OPGA). The team supporting the PGA is also called “the Cabinet of the PGA.” Although the Office of the PGA is independent in the execution of its mandate, for administrative purposes it is attached to the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM)."

So doesn't DGACM have these documents? Here's a UN "Frequently Asked Questions" Inner City Press has found: "records, like all assets, are the property of the Organisation...You need to list the most important groups of records and documents required to fulfill your function. You should be familiar with how these key records are protected, who has access to them and how long they need to be kept. What are you and your team members specific responsibilities?"

What, indeed. We will have more on this. Watch this site.

From the PGA's Office's transcript:

Inner City Press: thanks for doing the stakeout. I see in your information note under official travel, it says that other funding sources can be used including host organisation. And since some of the allegations are that, for example, as recently as August 2015, Mr. Ng Lap Seng and his Sun Kian Ip foundation... he's since been indicted... travel for UN staff, ambassadors and others to Macau, how is this going to close that loophole in which a business... in... in... a business executive can offer luxury hotels, first-class tickets to faraway places?

And I also wanted to ask you... I'm going to say this, I guess, diplomatically. The Presidents of the 68th and 69th sessions, both of their spouses took compensated positions with NGOs that have since been... the heads have since been indicted, Global Sustainability Foundation and South-South News, I mean the heads of each. How would you address that?

And, finally, would you consider implementing some sort of a freedom of information policy in your office i.e., rather than just putting things on your website, if the press or public make a request for a document, unless there's some reason to withhold it, to make it available in a certain period of time? Thanks a lot. Sorry for the long question.

President Lykketoft: "I think I'm not able to go much further into the accusations raised. That's not for me to... to comment on. And I can say that we have no access and thus maybe also a procedure that should be changed in the future, but we have no access whatsoever to documents from earlier PGA offices. So I can't give you any details about what was present there and... and... in that connection, I think, it's... it's of interest what the Secretary-General just said about the investigation he has put into force about what is of information in connection with the case in other parts of the UN organisation. But we have no access to any of this now if you look backwards.

If you look forwards, of course, I would be willing to provide any kind of access to information about travelling I do during my tenure as President.

Much of what we have committed ourselves to do has to be generalized during the considerations in the General Assembly over the revitalisation, probably in... in the shape... in the form of resolution. But what I can tell you here is what we will do, how we will proceed with the openness of information during this coming year."

Inner City Press went to the UN's noon briefing and asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric both about seating at Ban's VIP table being sold by the UN Correspondents Association for $6,000 ("as long as it's transparent," Dujarric replied) and how it could be that the UN does not have Ashe's and Kutesa's documents.

Dujarric tried to say that having records about the Trust Fund account that Ashe barely used was enough. But where are the documents? Is there no UN document retention policy applicable here? Dujarric did not answer. We'll have (much) more on this.

   Every workday since the criminal complaint, Inner City Press hasasked Ban's spokespeople for basic information, and has been rebuffed. Most recently, both the UN Development Program and Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric (previously of UNDP) have refused to provide even a copy of the agreement signed by Ng, UNDP's Teresa Liu and Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.

Inner City Press only yesterday reported that UNDP was asking corporations for $100,000 to be seated next to heads of state by UNDP. Closer to Ban, literally, the UN Correspondents Association (which previously took money from Ng's media vehicle, then gave it an UNCA Award and Ng a photo op with Ban) now offers seats at the VIP table, next to Ban, for $6,000 (half table) or $12,000 (full table). By most definitions, this is corruption.

Mogen Lykketoft, meanwhile, couldn't bring himself to say Ashe's name, only referring to the President of the 68th General Assembly session. Lykketoft, who allowed his Office to be used for fellow Dane Helle Thorning-Schmidt to campaign for the top spot in the UN's refugee agency UNHCR, said he will be making reform proposals. We will be there - with questions for Lykketoft.

Ban again mentioned what he told Inner City Press at his last stakeout, a task force under his chef of staff Susana Malcorra. But as Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Dujarric, with all due respect, Malcorra accepted one of Ng's South South Awards, for Ban. We'll have more on this.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

As UN Security Council Meets on Terrorism' Victims, Inner City Press Asks of Wisdom of Banning Coverage, "Twitter Imperialists"

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 21 -- After a UN Security Council closed-door meeting about the victims of terrorism, Inner City Press asked two minister from Spain and victims' representatives from Spain and of Yazidis about media coverage of terrorism, specifically about threats to censor such coverage for example in Turkey.

Pari Ibrahim of the Free Yezidi Foundation said that in fact media coverage was helpful in letting people know about the outrage or genocide that began on August 3, 2014.

   ETA victim Mari Mar Blanco praised the conviction under Spanish law of a person who tweets apologies for terrorism. But how is that defined?

    Spain's Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz said the country's laws, directed at ETA, needed to be updated for Jihadists.

Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo said ISIS is challenging the Sykes Picot Line, is holding territory and using the West's tools to recruit. At least three of the four, maybe more, seems directed at getting Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to censor social media posts deemed helpful to ISIS. But how will that be defined? Are for some states, is that really the motive? We'll have more on this.

   Pari Ibrahim of the Free Yezidi Foundation (pictured above) also spoke of a filing with the International Criminal Court, to go after ISIS members who are nationals of states who have joined the ICC. Spain's Margallo spoke of a second International Criminal Court, just for terrorists. But wouldn't that also require that states join, or a referral from the Security Council? We aim to have more on this too.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Soft Power of Social Media, from Libya-US & UK to UN Where Bloggers Banned

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 23 -- How could the UN and its Security Council be better covered and informed by social media? Inner City Press asked UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft this question on September 23, not in the UN but a dozen blocks away at a Digital Diplomacy / “Soft Power” event by Facebook and Portland Communications.#Periscope video here.

   Rycroft told Inner City Press that the best Security Council meetings he's been in have allowed in outside voices; he noted it is still not the custom to tweet from inside consultations, though perhaps it should be.

Inner City Press asked the US State Department's Moira Whelan about US Ambassador to Libya Deborah Jones quitting Twitter back in March, after one of her tweets about bombing of the Tawerga was attacked. Whelan said the State Department wants to support its diplomats when they come under fire; Rycroft said if a diplomat's intentions were good and well-considered, they should be supported even if things go wrong.

   Facebook's Katie Harbath mentioned that India Prime Minister Modi would be meeting with Mark Zuckerberg; an hour later at the Indian delegation's press conference in the Waldorf Astoria's huge Empire room, there was confirmation of this and other tech meetings for Modi. (Inner City Press asked about UN Peacekeeping, whose chief Herve Ladsous recently linked UN rapes to “R&R” on video, here.)

There was talk of the UN and social media; from Inner City Press' and the new Free UN Coalition for Access' perspective, the UN itself far too infrequently responds and engages, and much of the corporate press corps resents new media coverage of the UN, for example with the old UN Correspondents Association's Valeria Robecco saying multimedia is NOT a photographer to block coverage of the Pope's visit, click here for that. But we will continue: watch this site.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

On Mali, French PR Delattre Refused Question on Press Elements, Video Here, Then MINUSMA Calls It Press Statement

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 5 -- The UN Security Council speaks in at least four different ways: resolutions, Presidential Statements, Press Statements and the weakest form of action, "Elements to the Press."

When French Ambassador Francois Delattre came to the UN Security Council stakeout on March 4 as Council president he read out "Elements to the Press about Mali.

Inner City Press twice asked, Question on Mali? But Delattre for the second time in two days said, "I have to run" and declined to answer.Video here and embedded below.

Now the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, has publicly mis-characterized the Elements to the Press that Delattre read out as a Press Statement or "Declaration a la Presse," including in a tweet at-naming the French Mission to the UN, which offered no correction. It was also e-mailed out (which should be similarly corrected) and put here on the MINUSMA Facebook page.

Perhaps France, and ultimate MINUSMA boss Herve Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row atop UN Peacekeeping, would have preferred the stronger form, Press Statement, to Elements to the Press. But the are different, and it is the job of a Security Council president to make sure the two are not mistaken or mis-represented, particularly not by a UN mission.

Maybe if Delattre has deigned to take the question(s) about Mali, alongside the three hand-picked questions he did take about Libya, it would have been more difficult to mis-describe the Elements to the Press he read out as a formal Press Statement.

So will this be fixed? Or will the running continue? Watch this site.

Here is what Delattre read, and questions he refused to answer.

"We heard a briefing by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali, Mr Mongi Hamdi, who gave us an update on the Algiers peace talks and the Agreement on Peace and Security in Mali initialed on 1 March 2015... We encourage the armed groups of the coordination to initial the agreement."

Inner City Press asked, what about the MNLA not signing? But Delattre said, for the second time in two days, "I have to run" -- then proceeded to stand to the side of the stakeout, decidedly NOT running.

Update: French mission spokesperson Thierry Caboche has replied that the "Press Elements agreed by UNSC on Mali encourage Coordination groups, including MNLA, to initial Algiers agreement."

It's appreciated, and added here in full - but since the Elements to the Press in the first paragraph cites that "Agreement on Peace and Security in Mali initialed on 1 March 2015 by representatives of the Malian Government, one of the coalition of armed groups Platform' and all members of the international mediation team" then never names the MNLA, the Mali question should have been taken and answered, alongside fully three questions on Libya.

Inner City Press also asked about the UN's "independent" report into UN Peacekeepers shooting at protesters (who were angry about the UN using attack helicopters, but that's another story).

Delattre did not answer about this report, which one would think like the report on the Tabit rapes in Darfur also covered by UN Peacekeeping through its UNAMID mission, would go to the Security Council.

On February 26, two days before Delattre took over as Security Council President, the UN announced that "the high-level team mandated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to conduct an inquiry into the violent protests that took place in Gao, Mali, on 27 January is concluding an eight-day visit to Mali.

“During this visit, the team met with the Malian national authorities, the authorities of the region of Gao, the national police and the civil protection service in Gao, representatives of MINUSMA, local leaders from the Cadre de Concertation des Notables de Gao, the associations who organized the protests on 27 January, authorities from the hospitals that received the victims, opposition parties, and several other interlocutors who could help shed light on the events. The team also spoke to the protestors who were injured during these events, and visited the bereaved families, to whom they expressed condolences.

The team was "composed of three independent experts with extensive international experience: Bacre Waly Ndiaye (Senegal), Mark Kroeker (US) and Ralph Zacklin (UK)."

Back on January 29, the UN said that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “deplores the incidents that took place on 27 January during a demonstration in front of the MINUSMA base in Gao town in the north of Mali. He is saddened by the violence that surrounded the demonstration and the reported death of at least 3 protesters and the injury of several others.”

“The inquiry team will now travel to New York to present its preliminary report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. It will present its final report by the end of March 2015,” the UN on Thursday said.

What is the Security Council's role? Shouldn't the Security Council president for March, M. Delattre of France, answer this question?

Back on January 6 when the UN Security Council met about Mali, Inner City Press waited and then asked UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous what he has been doing to protect the peacekeepers he is responsible for. As is his pattern -- actually, his stated policy -- he refused to answer.

It was Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, and not Ladsous, who on January 6 distributed his speech and came to take Press questions.

Inner City Press asked Diop about the Mali talks in Algiers, and about the impact of Libya. On the latter, Diop said that “in 2012 the Mali crisis started when the war started in Libya and many Malian elements who were part of the Libyan army decided to come back home with the arms and ammunition. This started the destabilization of Mali.”

Diop added, "In the southern part of Libya there is a group that has declared allegiance to the Islamic State.” (When asked to name the group he could not or would not.)

The Libya talks have been indefinitely postponed. A Greek ship near Derna was bombed -- Inner City Press on January 5 asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric by whom; he said the UN does not know. The Free UN Coalition for Access has asked UN Peacekeepingwhy the speeches of Ladsous, unlike other UN officials, are not made available.

Jump-cut forward to March 4, when after Elements to the Press on Mali and a read out on Libya, all three of the French Mission or #FrPrez handpicked questions -- France 24, Agence France Presse then Voice of America -- were about Libya. Inner City Press said twice, "Question on Mali?"

Delattre smiled and said, I have to run, I know it is the second time.

On March 3 Delattre used the same "I have to run" line to not answer a question about Burundi, where France is set to lead a Council trip on March 13, the draft Terms of Reference for which (which Inner City Press published here) do no mention the Cibitoke massacre nor opine if a third Presidential term would violate the Arusha agreement, which is cited.

Later, the French mission put up the Mali "Elements to the Press," with no mention that a question about them had been asked, on microphone, and that Delattre had again said, "I have to run."

We are compelled to note that UN Peacekeeping, run by France four times in a row most recently by Ladsous who also does not answer Press questions, needs to answer when its personnel shoot at demonstrators, as recently happened in Haiti too.

But there are no answers. Nor on the sale of UN posts in the DR Congo and Haiti by Deputy Permanent Representative Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire, here. We'll have more on this.

Inner City Press