As UNSC Admits Norway Kenya India Ireland & Mexico Questions of Genocide & Censorship

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN

UN GATE, Jan 2 – The United Nations is supposedly run by its Security Council. But with Secretary General Antonio Guterres, currently violation New York COVID-19 quarantine guidance on a Lisbon vacation, having banned Inner City Press from the UNSC stakeout and all UN press briefings, what will the incoming Security Council members do? This is a test. 

On January 1, five countries entered the UN Security Council for two years.

There is Norway, which while claiming to be positive on press freedom has refused to answer or acknowledge written questions from Inner City Press about Mona Juul's and Terje Roed Larsen's connections and funding from notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.  

  Inner City Press has been asking about the targeted slaughter of civilians in Cameroon - genocide - the impunity of the UN on bringing cholera to Haiti, Western Sahara and sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers.

  Guterres' spokespeople Stephane Dujarric and Melissa Fleming have been refusing to answer questions even in writing, and refusing to provide any avenue to appeal the ban.

   The UN Dispute Tribunal purported to order Inner City Press to destroy leaked evidence of UN sexual abuse, so Inner City Press has appealed to the UN Appeals Tribunal. But that is not a real hearing on UN censorship. It's up to these member states.

  There are four other entrants - Kenya, India, Mexico and Ireland - which Inner City Press will be writing to and reviewing in the days to come. What do they stand for? Watch this site.

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In UN Scandal, David Ng's Dominica Passport Is Echoed by FAO, Italy & Interpol, A Fax to Qatar, Neo-Nazi in Ireland

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, October 30 -- At his bail hearing on charges of paying bribes at the UN, through President of the General Assembly John Ashe, Dominican Republic Deputy Permanent Representative Frank Lorenzo and others, Macau businessman Ng Lap Seng was said to have five (5) passports.

   That is a lot of passports for a single individual, but four of them made near immediate sense: China, Portugal (Macao was a former Portuguese colony), Lorenzo's Dominican Republic and Ashe's Antigua and Barbuda.

   But what about the fifth one, Dominica?

  This is part of a wider story. Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit was photographed at Ng's and UNDP's “South South” conference in Macau in late August 2015, ostensibly signing an agreement including Ng and UNDP's Teresa Liu for “Technology Transfer" center in Dominica. Earlier, Skerrit reportedly negotiated with Ng about investing in a hotel and even casino project and had other financial dealings.

   As Inner City Press reported earlier this week, Dominica under Skerrit has a history of giving out diplomatic passports and positions to non-nationals; the first example Inner City Press gave was one Paulo Zampolli. Inner City Press reported on his real estate and modeling businesses in New York; he is still listed in the UN's Blue Book at Dominica's (lone) Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN.

 Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric what scrutiny the UN gives before accrediting non-nationals as a country's Permanent or Deputy Permanent Representative. Dujarric replied that it entirely up to member states, similar to his responses on Ban's Secretariat's responsibility for changing documents for Ng, and accepting funds and invitations and giving photo ops, including through the UN Correspondents Association, to Ng and Sheri Yan, also indicted.

   But there are more, not without controversy - and while the UN gives a blind eye, some others don't. Under Skerrit, Dominica tried to name as its ambassador to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization one Francesco “Corallo, a gaming magnate on Interpol’s most wanted list on suspicion of “organized crime, transnational crime and fraud.”  (It seems the publications of UNCA's president, who gave Ng the photo op with Ban Ki-moon, have not reported on this assignment to a UN agency.UNCA's Vice President was present at Ng's Macau conference where Skerrit signed with UNDP's Liu.)

  Then there was the neo-Nazi. 

  In 2004 Dominica's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Marketing wrote to Ireland, requesting “agrément” for the appointment of one Serge Roger De Thibault De Boesinghe as Dominica's Ambassador to Ireland. UNcovered: “It turns out that in the 70s, De Boesinghe became a member of an international neo-Nazi organization, the new European order, and was active in the Belgian branch of the movement. De Boesinghe was also a close friend and confidant of Leone Degrelle the former head of the Walloon Division of Hitler’s dreaded Waffen SS, which were front-line troops in the fight against the Soviet Union.”

   According to the same account in or around 2006, “the United Arab Emirates also refused a request to have Dominica open a consulate in that country.” Inner City Press has obtained, and is today publishing here a fax to Qatar's Mohammed Abdullah Mutib Al Rumaihi at Qatar's Mission to the UN in New York, wit the support of Roosevelt Skerrit, from a Dominica official name Timothy Cornwall. We'll have more on this.

Dominica Letter to Qatar Mission to the UN, Part of Inner City Press Investigation byMatthew Russell Lee

   For now, the question arises: where is the UN's host country, the US, on all of this? In the past, it is reported that “the US ignored the diplomatic status of ambassador Rudolph King after he was arrested on fraud charges. Two years earlier, in 2007, the US denied a visa to Barbadian Leroy Paris, after questioning why a non-national was named Dominica’s goodwill ambassador.” Now what will the US State Department and Mission, so far quiet on l'affaires Ashe, Lorenzo and Skerrit, do as the scandal UNfolds? Watch this site.

Background: While the UN has been extensively corrupted by Ng Lap Seng and his Sun Kian Ip Foundation and South South News and South South Awards, his proposed Macau convention center and the South South event held in Macau in late August 2015 provide a snapshot which the UN still has yet to explain.

  On October 26 we began to focus on an actual snapshot from the Macau event, included John Ashe, Frank Lorenzo and the Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, on UNDP's website. After putting questions in writing to UNDP, on October 29 Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric more about it, video here,transcript here:

Inner City Press: you may again say this is subject to an inquiry, but I think it's a... various documents were signed at that Macau South-South event in August, and at least as to Dominica, the document was signed by a UN official as well.  It was a tripartite signing for some technology centre.  So the question is, are these documents that the UN signed with a Government, a now-indicted essentially Foundation and the UN, can those... are those documents available?

Spokesman:  You know what?  I can't answer that, because I don't know exactly what documents you're talking about.

Inner City Press:  It's called a tripartite agreement for technology transfer center in Dominica.

[Cross talk]

Spokesman:  Let me take a look at it.

Inner City Press:  And did the UN staff... UNDP still hasn't given a list of its people that were there, but since there were Secretariat staff there, I wanted... I've asked you this before...

Spokesman:  I think the list has... I mean, I'll check...

Inner City Press:  There is a list, but it has no UNDP people on it...

[Cross talk]

... if you see what I'm saying.

Spokesman:  I'll see what...

Inner City Press:  I've seen that list.  I've seen that list, and as to the people from the Global Compact and DFS, I've asked you before, who paid for their travel?  Were their hotel or local expenses paid by Mr. Ng?  And did they get DSA at the same time?

Spokesman:  As I said, I think all of these things are being looked at at the audit.

It is reported that

"Skerrit showed up in Macau and on August 26, 2015 signed a Letter of Commitment with Lap Seng under which the Sun Kian IP Group Foundation would fund the establishment of a Technology Transfer Facility on Dominica to serve the Caribbean and Latin America. The Letter of Commitment was also signed by Ms. Teresa Liu, Division Chief at the UN Office on South-South Cooperation."

  That office, in UNDP, has refused multiple Inner City Press requests publicly answer questions. What is the document that UNDP co-signed? Who paid UNDP (and UN) staff members costs in Macau?

As to Dominica: Why didn't Skerrit say he was going to Macau? Does he have an armored Mercedes Benz and if so, who paid for it? Have the prosecutors in the US asked to speak with him? Yet? We'll have more on this - and on Dominica's granting of diplomatic passports, and immunity, to non-nationals - includign Ng Lap Seng, as emerged in his bail hearing.

  Last week deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told Inner City Press UNDP would answer about UN Secretariat staff's travel to Macau, but that hasn't happened.

  Inner City Press has reported some on the UN Correspondents Association's vice president's presence at Ng's Macau event, and that this UNCA took money from Ng's South South News then gave it an UNCA award and got Ng photos with Ban Ki-moon at Cipriani 42 Street, perhaps to be repeated this year tellingly at Cipriani Wall Street. Should Ban Ki-moon go to this?

  Murky dealing in Ban's UN have stretch back some time. Beyond Frank Liu and his sponsorship of UN Peacekeeping day, for example, there was Paulo Zampolli, reported on here by Inner City Press using a UN-like logo. Tying these together, Zampolli went out to receive a diplomatic position, and immunity, from Dominica. Yet Ban's UN says it knows nothing of this, that the only problem is with the Office of the President of the General Assembly. We'll have more on this.

On October 23, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon about it and he said he has set up a "small task force" under his chief of staff Susana Malcorra. Video here; transcript below.

  But the most cursory research finds that Malcorra accepted one of Ng's South South Awards in 2014 for Ban Ki-moon. Video here.


With all due respect, how can she be in charge of reviewing how Ng penetrated the UN?  Inner City Press put this question to Ban's spokesman Stephen Dujarric on October 26. Transcript here.

Where are Ng's iPads? We'll have more on this.

From the UN's October 23 transcript:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask about what has been called the John Ashe case -- what do you conclude from what has come out so far on how it penetrated the UN and what type of reforms do you think are needed?  Thank you.

SG Ban Ki-moon: "About this former PGA (President of the General Assembly) John Ashe's case, I was really shocked and very concerned to learn of this serious allegation against John Ashe, which goes to the heart of the work of the United Nations and its Member States.  I have made it quite clear all the times that the United Nation's staff or leadership should work with the highest level of integrity and ethical standard.  That is why I have made this one of the top priorities, and I have asked OIOS (Office of Internal Oversight Services) to have a thorough investigation and I have established a small task force led by my Chief of Staff, Susana Malcorra, to draw out some means and measures -- how we can make more transparent and accountable measures, particularly on the case of President of General Assembly, Office of the President of General Assembly.  We have all of the discussion of this matter with President [Mogens] Lykketoft, the current PGA.  He fully supports what I'm going to do, with all this investigation by OIOS and with our own internal discussions to draw up some measures to improve the conduct of the Office of the PGA.  And if necessary, I'm going to recommend to the General Assembly to take some legislation, so that the United Nations, whether it is the Member States’ side or the staff, Secretariat side, we all have a responsibility and duty to conduct our duties [in] a transparent and accountable [way], with the highest integrity and ethics."

Alongside this, Ban Ki-moon's UN Secretariat is again referring questions about itself to UNDP.

  On October 22 Inner City Press published the invitation letter to the Macau conference, here, which notably said that “all local expenses will be covered by the host.” Attendees tell Inner City Press that those present were given iPads with the name of Ng's company emblazoned on them: where have these gone?

   While there were many attendees, over 170, those from Ban Ki-moon's Secretariat, some of them mis-described, standout. So too does the UN Correspondents Association's Vice President, the same correspondent who took the first set-aside question to Hillary Clintonduring her “email-gate” stakeout in front of the UN Security Council, and asks if questions about the private server were only being pursued because she's a woman. (Ng's previous interaction with the Clintons is well-documented.)

  Given that UNCA's Presideng Giampaolo Pioli accepted funds from Ng's South South News, which was then given an UNCA award while Ng got a photo op with Ban Ki-moon at UNCA's Award Dinner at Cipiani on 42nd Street, the question arises: what was UNCA's Vice President doing on the attendee list at Ng's Macau confab in August 2015? We'll have more on this.

 On October 22, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq about the UN Secretariat staff who traveled to Macau - and was told, paradoxically, that (only) UNDP could or would answer. UN transcript here.

UN Corruption: Invitation to Ng's Macau Conference, "Local Costs Covered by Host" byMatthew Russell Lee

As the scandal unveiled in the corruption charges against former UN General Assembly President John Ashe, Ng Lap Seng, Francis Lorenzo of South South News and others continues to expand, the compromised position of the UN Correspondents Association has come to the fore.

 In 2011 until now, Inner City Press has exposed UNCA for taking funds from Ng Lap Seng vehicles, to which it gave awards, and arranging Ng Lap Seng photo op(s) with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. UNCA has not provided any explanation; the UN through Ban's spokesman has said for example that many people get photographs with Ban. But people like Ng previously found in US Senate reports to have made irregular campaign contributions, and co-owning hotels links to prostitution?

 On October 20, Inner City Press asked UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq about Ng, and about how much money the Global Sustainability Foundation gave for the UN's “Ark of Return” (anti) slavery memorial. Haq wouldn't give the dollar figure - it's at least $60,000 -- and seemed to says it doesn't matter where the UN takes money from, only how the UN uses it. Video here.

Inner City Press:  Okay.  I want to ask you another question.  Mr. Ng Lap Seng, who's now out on $50 million bail, it seemed he sort of penetrated the UN system, including several photo ops with Ban Ki-moon against a blue background in Cipriani's, I wanted to ask you, a major financial newspaper, just on cursory research, said he's a co-owner of the Fortuna Hotel, which has… quote, this is all from their promotional material, table dancing by strippers, boasted attractive and attentive hostesses from China, Singapore and Korea, and erotic girls from Europe and Russia.  And I wanted to know, given, given everything that's said from this podium about UN Women and the need to take these issues seriously, how is it possible… how is it possible that this, an individual engaged in these activities, came… came to such a position of prominence and, and, and closeness to the Secretary-General?

Deputy Spokesman:  Matthew, we do not speak for David Ng Lap Seng or his group or his business holdings.  Any questions on that have to go to his organizations.  The United Nations does not deal with any of the, of the entities, with entities like the ones that you've described.

Inner City Press:  The money from it was donated to various UN causes.  That’s why I'm asking you to respond to this pending, this unending audit, what do you think of this?

Deputy Spokesman:  The nature of corporations is that any corporation can have many, many different holdings.  I'm not going to comment on all of the holdings of different groups, depending upon what they do with the UN.  What we're trying to monitor is how the funds from these groups affected the UN and the dealings with the two entities that we've been talking about.  That's being audited, and we'll follow up on that.  But the group's activities as a whole, that's an issue for other authorities.  It's not…

It's not an issue for the United Nations…

Inner City Press:  I understand what the audit is…

Deputy Spokesman:  It has nothing, it actually has no actual relevance to the work we've done.

Question:  It's just how the money is spent by the UN, not where the money came from?

Deputy Spokesman:  The audit is designed to follow up on what effect, what impact, the activities the groups and of the monies that they spent have and that's what we're following up on... 

Inner City Press: Is it, are you, is the Secretariat yet viewing the… Secretariat viewing the charges of the Southern District of New York as mostly or entirely related to the PGA [President of the General Assembly]?  I guess I'm asking this because things like South-South News...  Yesterday, I'd asked Stéphane at the founding of the Global Sustainability Foundation, there was Mr. Nambiar.  There was the spouse of the Secretary-General.  There was not Mr. Ashe anywhere to be seen.  So I just want to be clear.  Is this an audit about two… merely two entities, but as relates to the UN Secretariat or just to the PGA's office?

Deputy Spokesman:  No, no, it's as we have, it's as we described in the statement before.  It's about the UN as a whole.

Background: Ng Lap Seng was found to have brought the same bags of cash later deployed at the UN into the US earlier, in the late 90s, when his Fortuna hotel was linked to organized crime and even human trafficking.  From the WSJ:

“Who is Ng Lap Seng, and what did he want? According to several well-informed sources in Hong Kong and Macau, Mr. Ng is a mysterious figure with extensive business in China, where he also held a minor post as a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in his hometown of Nan Hai in Guangdong province. In Macau, his most visible interest is his ownership of the Fortuna Hotel, a garish high-rise in the gambling district, featuring a 20,000-square-foot nightclub with 'table dancing' by strippers, as well as a massage parlor and, according to its brochure, 'over 30 independent karaoke rooms, all luxuriously decorated with the most advanced sound system for any one interested in performing his favorite songs.' The brochure also boasts 'attractive and attentive hostesses from China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Burma together with erotic girls from Europe and Russia, certainly offer you an exciting and unforgettable evening with friends or business associates.'”

So what does UN Women, which has still to comment on UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous linking rapes to “R&R,” same about Ban's UN (through UNCA) accepting “pimp and trafficker” Ng Lap Seng into the UN, and into UNCA's Cipriani ball for photos with Ban and his spouse? We'll have more on this.

 Just as UNCA "leaders" from Voice of America and Reuters(censorship bid here) tried to use the UN to get the investigative Press out, now the UN responds to questions about UNCA selling Secretary General Ban Ki-moon photo ops to Ng Lap Seng by suggesting that the questioner, because present, "condoned" the sale.

  Now, with UNCA still silent on its links with South South News and other Ng Lap Seng vehicles, here is video Inner City Press published in December 2011 of UNCA's murky photo ops for Ban at Cipriani, which UNCA seeks to reproduce this coming December.

  
  Even then in December 2011, Inner City Press' accompanying story reported that it

"filmed what it could of the photo op -- those arranging it kept telling the Press it had to leave -- and afterward several in Ban's circle said they had no idea who the businessmen had been. There was dark talk about one David Ng, a businessman who has bankrolled 'vanity' media projects given awards that night -- people funded by Ng used the word "vanity," so we use it here."

 Inner City Press published that in December 2011 about Ng and South South News; it quit UNCA and with another Executive Committee member who quit in disgust co-founded FUNCA, the Free UN Coalition for Access. UNCA continued taking funds from South South News. We'll have more on this.

While UNCA does not represent all journalists accredited to cover the UN -- Inner City Press for example quit the group in 2012 with another Executive Committee member and co-founded the new Free UN Coalition for Access -- the UN gives it a privileged position, a large clubhouse on the third floor of the UN and, automatically, the first question at press conferences.

  But is that appropriate, given that UNCA received money from South South News, “NGO 1” in the filing against Ashe? Not only did UNCA receive money from South South News: it gave the group an “UNCA award” at a ceremony at the high-ceilinged Cipriani's restaurant on December 15, 2011.

  Inner City Press, which did not quit UNCA in fully ripened disgust in 2012, was present in December 2011 and witnessed, when Secretary General Ban Ki-moon came into Cipriani's, him being shepherded into a side room for photographs with Asian men in business suits who Inner City Press did not then recognize -- but now does.

 UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, when Inner City Press asked on October 13 about what it had seen, said perhaps Inner City Press had "condoned" it. Video here. But Inner City Press quit UNCA afterfinding conflicts of interest in it, and being "ordered" to not report on this.  From the October 13 transcript:

Inner City Press: I want to ask inevitably about the revelations about Mr. [John] Ashe and Frank Lorenzo and others.  And just as you… as the lead Spokesman, a person that travels around with the Secretary-General, how… what would you say to the photos that exist of the Secretary-General with David Ng, who was since indicted, and Frank Lorenzo and, particularly, in instances where it appears that groups that receive contributions from the two and then put them in a room to have photographs with the Secretary-General?  Is this something that… how does the Secretary-General view this in retrospect, and what's going to be done in the future?

Spokesman:  First of all, a photo of the Secretary-General with any individual should in no way be interpreted as a sponsorship or agreement.  It's just a photo.  The Secretary-General is very much a public figure, attends a lot of public events where there are a lot of people.  Sometimes people come up to him and ask to have their photo taken.  And it's done within the… within, obviously, the security constraints that need to be had.  I think whether it's the Secretary-General of the United Nations or anyone in leadership position, you will find when you travel with them that a lot of people want to have their photo taken with them.  Inasmuch as that is… we try to control that, sometimes it's difficult to do so.  I think the Secretary-General is as shocked as anyone in this building at the charges that were levelled at these two individuals.  And he's very disappointed at the accusations towards the United Nations.

Inner City Press:  obviously, to business interests having an actual kind of formal handshaking one, I guess I'll just say that that is worth something to them.  That's why they…

Spokesman:  I'm not… I'm not debating that point… [cross talk]  I'm just saying that having a picture of the Secretary-General with any individual should in no way be seen as a sponsorship, approval, making them BFF's or anything.

Inner City Press:  I guess I just want to be more specific.  If an event… and there's one that actually, as it turns out, I witnessed in Cipriani.  If the Secretary-General enters a large space and is then taken to a smaller space for such photographs, what's the basis for that, as opposed to people with selfies?  I mean, I understand what you're saying…

Spokesman:  I think, you know, if you were there, then maybe you condoned the event as well.  The issue is the Secretary-General attends a lot of events.  Sometimes there is a VIP reception.  None of it should be construed as anything as the Secretary-General having his picture taken with anyone.

Inner City Press: it's been a number of days now; I'm assuming that, if not you, OLA [Office of Legal Affairs], someone has read through this long FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] affidavit.  And I want to just ask you again, because in it, it says that, after the… the… the official UN document about the Macau centre was procured, there was a separate payment to Mr. Ashe, separate communications with a UN official number one, who reissued the document as a… amended… revised for technical reasons, with the name of the company in it.  And it seems to me, even before you waiting for an OIOS [Office of Internal Oversight Services] investigation, the scope of which wouldn't touch that, who in the UN is actually… how does it work, first of all?  Who… which part of the UN amends documents after they're released?  Is it DGACM [Department for General Assembly and Conference Management]…?

Spokesman:  Listen, I'm not going to talk about the specifics of the case.  But it is clear that if the President of one of the legislative bodies in this Organization which controls the agenda, or a sponsoring country for resolution, asks the Secretary-General to amend a text, we serve as the Secretariat.  It's not… it's… it doesn't entail sponsoring of what's inside that text. 

  While Inner City Press' answer to the spokesman's "if you were there, then maybe you condoned the event as well," is that Inner City Press quit UNCA
 after finding conflicts of interest in it, and being "ordered" to not report on this, we'll have more on this.


On October 13, Inner City Press asked this follow up:

Inner City Press: I just want to directly ask you about the idea that it's sort of people struggling to get photos with the UN officials.  There was a… there was a peacekeeping day concert that was… for which solicitation of… you know, sponsorship was sought by a group called World Harmony Alliance, and it had nothing… the group has nothing to do with peacekeeping, but they paid for day.  They… they… in fact, the funder complained that he didn't get the promised photograph with Ban Ki-moon, but I wonder, what was… what's the UN's understanding when they take outside financial sponsorship for such a day?  I mean, former UN official [Ibrahim] Gambari was seen with the same group taking photographs on the fourth floor in the Millennium Hotel.  What's it all about?  What’s happening?

Spokesman:  What former officials do in hotels is really not of my purview.

Inner City Press:  Sure.  What about UN peacekeeping?

Spokesman:  I would take a look at that actual programme, but I would expect every part of the UN to do due diligence when it partners with an outside organization.  And just…  I'll leave it at that.

   On October 12, Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, video here, transcript here:

Inner City Press: in light of these charges against John Ashe, Frank Lorenzo, and others, it's emerging that the Secretary-General, if not met, had staged photo opportunities with a number of the individuals charged.  And I wanted to know, in looking at this, do you have some kind of a comment on how these occurred, particularly in instances where they may have been arranged by a third party, been arranged by an organization that invited Ban Ki-moon and then received funds from South-South News or others and then put the two together on photograph?  Was that appropriate?  And what would be your response to… to OIOS [Office of Internal Oversight Services] looking at that or otherwise?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, regarding that, as you're aware, the Office of Internal Oversight Services will do an audit.  They've been requested to do that, and so we'll be able to see whether there was any effect from either the relationship with these various groups, these two groups, the Sun Kian Ip Group and the Global Sustainability Foundation, and any of the monies received.  So, we'll await what they have to say about any of this.

Inner City Press:  But, given that Mr. Frank Lorenzo has been charged and he's now out on $2 million bail, he was head of South-South News, which spread $12 million, according to the documents, throughout the UN system.  So, what was, how, what was the criteria used to choose these two NGOs and not either South-South News or International Organization for South-South Cooperation or South South Steering Committee on Sustainable Development?  It seems like it's a very limited inquiry and…

Deputy Spokesman:  It's not really an inquiry.  It's an audit, and this is initial step.  If OIOS feels like there is something… there's a direction which they need to go as a result of these initial results, they're certainly free to do that, but we needed to get the ball rolling and have an initial step forward so that we can look into what exactly is the impact of the monies and the relationship with these groups.


John Ashe at UNCA with former president, after and before Pioli
click photo for source / credit

  Back in December 2011, shepherding Ban for this (compensated) photo op with dubious businessmen was Giampaolo Pioli, then as now the president of UNCA. South South News interviewed Pioli that night, bragging of the UNCA award it got / paid for, screenshot from video here.

    (For context it must be noted too that Pioli rented one of his Manhattan apartments to Palitha Kohona then granted Kohona's request as Sri Lanka's Ambassador to screen his government's war crimes denial film “Lies Agreed To” in the UN's Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium: this precipitated Inner City Press quitting UNCA, in full disclosure.)

   How can UNCA be given first questions to ask about a scandal involving South South News, from which UNCA took more then to which it gave an award? And what are the other implications?

  (In terms of Mr. Ng's desire for photo ops, Inner City Press is informed that he separately wanted a photo with US President Obama, and paid six figures to a middleman - who disappeared with the money. UNCA on the other hand, one wag noted, delivered Ban Ki-moon for photos at Cipriani's.)

  UNCA, it should be noted, has been and is open to business interested beyond Mr. Ng and South South News. Another UNCA awards ceremony was sponsored by a company called “Acoona;” the Italian oil company ENI pays the group money.

But UNCA's South South News connection, given what has been disclosed and charged this week, should at a minimum and as a first step disqualify UNCA from first questions from the UN, and from the continuation of its role.

 Consider: if it gave rise to criminal charges that South South News paid Ashe to get a GA document for Ng to show off in Macau, who about South South News paying UNCA, and UNCA delivering Ban for a photo op with Ng, that Ng could use for related purposes? We'll have more on this.

Wider, and going forward in this series, limiting UN investigation to OIOS - whose director of investigations Stefanovic has resigned, Inner City Press hereby exclusively reported on October 9 - looking at only two NGOs is laughable. The scandal is expanding: there is a pattern here, pattern and practice. Watch this site.

At UN, Iran on Netanyahu, Burundi on Radio, Ban Ki-moon's Spox Office Called "Lid" During North Korea Speech

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 1 -- In this UN General Assembly debate, in the fire hydrant spray of words and catch-phrase, some stand out and well as some omissions. Inner City Press will note some of them here, in reverse chronological order.

On October 1, the UN General Assembly shifted from high security to what some here call “garbage time.” The metal detectors were removed; the GA Hall became noticeably more empty. Isn't the UN founded on “sovereign equality”? If that were true, would an official like Herve Ladsous be allowed to remain atop UN Peacekeeping?

  The longest speech of the day, right up with Obama, was Israel's Netanyahu. But unlike in previous years, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric did NOT this time defer to Netanyahu and postpone his briefing. He went right ahead. It was after that that Ireland's Charles Flanagan quoted Seamus Heaney, and South Sudan's James Wani Igga urged there be no sanctions against his young nations.

  Inner City Press put the speech of Burundi's Joseph Butare online, here - he said “only” three radio stations and one television were targeted, and criticized “a neighboring state” (some say it is against this neighbor that France has done so little as penholder on Burundi in the Security Council.)

  John Key of New Zealand explained how the Security Council should be improved; the foreign minister of North Korea went further, blasting the Security Council for being a tool of the United States and mocking the so-called “UN Command.”

  In the middle of North Korea's speech, Ban Ki-moon's spokesman's office squawked that “the lid is on” - they were closing down. Yet even after that, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir began his (white wash) speech with a shout out to Ban. Has Ban become invisible?

  Kyrgyzstan called for a better fight against terrorism; the DR Congo's Tshibanda said that now that the M23 was eliminated, it was time for the UN mission MONUSCO to shrink down. What about the FDLR? What about Ladsous?

  The Bahamas quoted a singer (“pay me what you owe me”) and the hurricane to come. In right of reply, Pakistan trashed back at India; Iran slammed Netanyahu's speech but did not draw a reply. There's always tomorrow.

  On September 30, at night, the speaker for Morocco slipped in a reference to the "Moroccan Sahara," criticizing "plans made in offices." Of course, Morocco has tried to Ban Western Sahara speakers even from the UNTV microphone.

  Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif said, "I want to use the opportunity today to propose a new peace initiative with India, starting with measures that are the simplest to implement: One, we propose that Pakistan and India formalize and respect the 2003 understanding for a complete eeasefire on the Line of Control in Kashmir. For this purpose, we call for UNMOGIP's expansion to monitor the observance of the ceasefire. Two, we propose, that Pakistan and India reaffirm that they will not resort to the use or the threat of use of force under any circumstances. This is a central element of the UN Charter. Three, steps be taken to demilitarize Kashmir. Four, agree to an unconditional mutual withdrawal from Siachen Glacier, the world's highest battleground."

  Libya's "Acting Head of State" Agila Saleh Essa Gwaider used the speech to trash the GNC:

"The House of Representatives, as the legitimate authority elected by all Libyans, has been and still is supportive of dialogue as a strategic option to resolve the political and security crisis in Libya. The House of Representatives made all possible concessions to encourage the extra legitimate authority to disassociate itself from terrorism and join the dialogue table in order to spare Libyans more bloodshed and put an end to the destruction of Libyan cities. However, we notice more intransigence in positions and more misinterpretations of the flexibility shown by the house of representatives. It seems flexibility has been misunderstood, even by Mr Bernardino Leon, the Special Representative of the Secretary General, who tried to bring us back to square one and unravel all that has been achieved in the last months..

  “In case of continued intransigence of the General National Congress by rejecting the agreement, the House calls on its boycotting members to advance its interest and the interest of its constituents on any other measures. They are called upon to participate in the election of an inclusive government of national accord, apart from the terrorist groups"

  On September 29, St Vincent and the Grenadines slammed the Dominican Republic for its ousters to Haiti, and criticized the UN for not taking responsibility for bringing cholera to Haiti, and for its peacekeepers' rapes in the Central African Republic (which UN Peacekeeping boss Herve Ladsous had linked to a lack of "R&R," here.)

 Yemen's Hadi said Yemenis "thanks" the Saudi airstrikes on them.

 For the UK, UN Security Council "pen-holder" on Yemen, it was Phillip Hammond who spoke. At first, UNlike most other countries other than, for example, Yemen and the US, the UK's speech was NOT sent out by the UN.  After some inquiries, a UK spokesperson said it would come out soon. But should one have to ask so much? We'll have more on this.

 Here's from the UK speech; Australia's is below that:

UK: "as the Prime Minister pledged yesterday, the UK will resume a significant role in enabling peacekeeping operations, particularly in Africa where the UK will support efforts by the United Nations and the African Union to end some of the world’s most destabilising conflicts - conflicts that are prompting mass migration from South Sudan and sustaining terrorist groups in Somalia.

"The UN must strive to represent the new realities of our age, with a reformed Security Council. It must have the best possible leadership, with a transparent system for selecting the next Secretary General, and he (or dare I suggest, perhaps, she?) will have to head a more efficient organization, ensuring that every cent it receives from its members states is used to maximum effect.As a founding member of the UN, and as a permanent member of the Security Council, the UK will champion that reform agenda. And we will continue to promote the ideals that the United Nations represents."

 But is it "rule of law," when none of the French soldiers accuse of rape a year ago in the Central African Republic have had a judicial decision?

Australia's Julie Bishop:

 “All states must uphold their responsibility to protect civilians from the most serious international crimes. Security Council members have a particular responsibility to do so. In that context, we welcome proposals to restrain use of the veto where mass atrocity crimes are being committed. Australia's term on the Security Council in 2013-14 demonstrated that elected members can play an active and constructive role. I am therefore pleased to announce that Australia is nominating to serve again on the Council for the 2029-30 term

  “As a non-permanent member of the Security Council, we experienced first-hand the difficulties the Council faces in responding to the crises and conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Mali. Nowhere is the devastation greater than in Iraq and Syria. Daesh is wreaking devastating harm on individuals, families and communities and destroying the world's heritage, in gross violation of international law and basic concepts of morality. It cannot be allowed to prevail.

  “Australia is participating in coalition military action to combat Daesh in Iraq and Syria. We are doing so within the framework of the Charter, and in a manner consistent with international law. Defeating Daesh requires both military and political action. Reconciliation and inclusive governance in Iraq are key to reducing Daesh's appeal and support. We continue to advocate for a political solution that can bring an end to the conflict in Syria, and we support UN envoy de Mistura's efforts towards this end.

  “We do not believe any transition option should be rejected, all permutations of a political solution should be assessed with clear-eyed realism," Bishop said.

  The last speech of September 28 was Abdullah Abdullah of Afghanistan, who cited the day's attacks and the only belatedly disclosed death of Mullah Omar. Before him, Bolivia's Evo Morales when off script, sub-tweeting Donald Trump, directly asking why and how the UK claims to own an island, Malvinas, “so close to our continent.' Ecuador's Correa trashed Chevron both for pollution and legal chicanery.

  South Africa's Zuma said, “We reiterate our support of the people of Western Sahara and urge the international community to support their struggle for self-determination, freedom, human rights and dignity.”

 Nigeria's Buhari said, “Friends of Nigeria and foreign investor partners will be encouraged to know that the new Government is attacking the problems we inherited head-on.” Apparenlty Bring Back Our Girls (also) means Bring Back Our Investment.

   Earlier, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said “Democratic backsliding is a threat in too many places, as leaders seek to stay in office beyond their mandated limits” - but didn't say the word, Burundi, while he did shout out The Gambia.

  Ban also said, “I am deeply troubled by growing restrictions on media freedoms and civil society” - although when his chief of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous had Inner City Press ejected from an “open” meeting, Ban did nothing.

  New General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft said, “As President of the General Assembly I will support member states in their ambitions for revitalization and reform – including a new, more transparent process for selection of the next Secretary General.”

 But when Inner City Press has asked him about the process for selection the next head of the UN's refugee agency UNHCR, he has said that he favors his fellow Dane Helle Thorning Schmidt but that it is entirely up to current Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
   Before US President Barack Obama's 42 minute long speech, which Inner City Press separately reviewed here, Brazil's Dilma Rousseff spoke of a Palestinian state, low-carbon agriculture, and this:

“The Brazilian government and society do not tolerate corruption. The Brazilian democracy becomes stronger when the authorities recognize the limits imposed by the law as their own limits. We Brazilians want a country where the law is the limit. Many of us fought for this, precisely when laws and rights were violated during the military dictatorship. We want a country where rulers behave strictly according to their duties, without giving way to excesses. The sanctions of the law must apply to all those who committed illicit acts bearing in mind the need to uphold the principle of due process.”

  As Inner City Press asked midday on HuffPostLive, here, for what audience was this meant? Watch this site.
   

With IMF Reform Not in CRomnibus, Lagarde Fights Back -- in January

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 11 -- With IMF quota reform not included in the more than 1000 pages of the US Continuing Resolution / Omnibus known as CRomnibus, what now will IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde do?

  At the first IMF embargoed press briefing in four weeks, Deputy Spokesperson William Murray was asked (Inner City Press submitted this and five other questions before the briefing, see below.)

  Murray referred to Lagarde's Work Plan for 2015, also under embargo until 10:30 am. Now, at that time, here it is, Paragraph 12:

"12. Governance and resources. Prompt entry into force of the 2010 Quota and Governance reforms is of utmost importance to preserve the quota-based nature of the IMF, and strengthen its legitimacy, effectiveness and relevance. In line with the IMFC’s commitment to maintaining a strong and adequately-resourced IMF, steps will also be taken to ensure the availability of sufficient Fund resources for crisis prevention and resolution. As flagged in the Spring WP, in the event that the 2010 Board Reform Amendment and the 14th General Review of Quotas have not become effective by the end of 2014, a Board meeting on alternative options for rebalancing quotas and increasing Fund resources will be scheduled for January 2015. The Board will discuss a draft report to the Board of Governors on the
15th General Review of Quotas before the end-January deadline for the completion of the 9 Review. The timing of Board meetings on the 15th General Review and on revisions to the quota formula will be determined, taking into account progress made in ratifying the 2010 reforms."

 So there will be an IMF Board meeting in January on the topic. Murray said the date of the next briefing, in January, is not yet set, pending the date of Lagarde's cusp of the year speech then travel to Davos. Watch this site.

  Inner City Press on December 11 - actually, submitted December 10 -- asked:

If not asked “in the room,” what if the IMF's response to IMF quota not being included in the US Congress' end of year Continuing Resolution / Omnibus?

On Yemen, does Saudi Arabia withholding budget support due to advances by the Houthis impact the IMF's program or predictions? Relatedly, what is the IMF's response to the Yemeni central bank's Mohammed Bin Humam being quoted that “our current level of foreign reserves is still sufficient and in line with our program with the IMF”?

On Ireland, what is the IMF's response to protests against its role in the raised water charges for consumers in that country?

What is the IMF's response to UNASUR Secretary-General Ernesto Samper being quoted, Dec 8 in Quito, opposing Managing Director Lagarde's comments on Latin America and that “the IMF does not have the moral authority to give any recommendations to us after we were subject to their constraints for many years, negating any possibility for progress”?

On Dec 10, the UN's Department of Economic and Social Affairs' World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015 report addressed Ebola imposing “major economic costs in the affected countries through disruptions to travel and trade.” What are the IMF's estimates now of Ebola's impact?

  Watch this site.

  Who to believe on when Ebola will be under control: the UN or the International Monetary Fund? Or are the two using different definitions? Inner City Press on November 13 asked the IMF and then the UN.

  When the IMF held its biweekly embargoed media briefing on Thursday, November 13, Inner City Press again asked about Ebola, including new World Bank estimates of budget shortfalls in Liberia.

 Inner City Press on November 13 asked, "On Ebola, what is the IMF's response to the US call for debt forgiveness for three countries? The World Bank has indicated that Liberia's revised 2014-15 budget has an unmet financing gap of more than half of the budget deficit projected at over $300 million. What can or will the IMF do about this?"

  IMF Deputy Spokesperson William Murray replied that given the flare up of Ebola cases in unexpected areas. "The IMF staff's previously projections were assuming the epidemic would be brought under control in the first quarter of 2015. However it now appears that it could be well into the second half of 2015 before the Ebola epidemic is brought under control in these three countries."

   Three hours later at the end of a UN General Assembly session on Ebola, Inner City Press asked a panel of UNGA President Sam Kutesa and UN Ebola envoys Anthony Banbury and David Navarro about the IMF's new projection: is it consonant with the UN's?

  It was Tony Banbury who answered, saying that the UN is aiming at 70% safe burials for example by December 1 and to turn the Ebola epidemic around.

  Is that the same thing as getting the epidemic "under control," the definition under which the IMF now projects the second half of 2015?  The work goes on. Watch this site.

  The day before at the UN on November 12 when the UN Security Council met, Liberia's Ambassador Marjon Kamara spoke not of the IMF but of the World Bank, saying "the World Bank recently gave a gloomy depiction of the economic effects of the disease on the three most affected countries - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone."

     Per Thoresson, Deputy Ambassador of Sweden which chairs the UN Peacebuilding configuration on Liberia, specified that “according to the World Bank, the two-year regional financial impact could reach $32.6 billion by the end of 2015. The World Bank also indicated that Liberia's revised 2014-15 budget has an unmet financing gap of more than half of the budget deficit projected at over $300 million.”

  So where's the money going to come from? Back on October 30, Inner City Press asked the International Monetary Fund about its stated $130 million commitment to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

   Inner City Press asked IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice for an update at the IMF's embargoed briefing on October 30.

  Rice said the outlook has worsened, with region-wide fall offs in travel and tourism. As to the three countries most impacted, there are "large financing needs likely for 2015."

  At the Annual Meetings earlier this month, the IMF met with the three countries' authorities, Rice said. "2015 is going to be a challenging year." If the outbreak spreads, it would have larger spillovers. The IMF, Rice said, is ready. We'll see.

  In the UN Security Council on November 12, the head of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous recited that Justice Minister Christiana Tah resigned and five soldiers have been demoted for disciplinary offenses while enforcing a quarantine of an Ebola-affected community in Monrovia.

  Under Ladsous, it must be noted, UN Peackeeping has covered up attacks on civilians in Darfur and the Central African Republic. Ladsous himself refused repeatedly to answer Press questions about rapes by his partners in the DR Congo Army. Video compilation here. Most recently, Ladsous tried to block the Press' camera, Vine here. Thus is the UN UNdercut.

  Also during the October 30 embargoed IMF briefing, Inner City Press submitted this question: "On Ghana, does the IMF have any comment on the October 28 launch of the “Civil Society Organization Platform on the IMF Bailout to Ghana”? Will the IMF meet with the group?")

 On Ebola back on August 28 Rice told Inner City Press that the IMF was working on the ebola crisis with the government of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.  Later came the $130 million commitment.

  While most questions on August 28 concerned IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde being under investigation -- she will brief the IMF Board “very soon,” Rice said, calling it “highly unlikely” it would be on August 29 along with the Board's meeting on Ukraine -- Inner City Press also asked about Yemen, Ghana, Pakistan -- and ebola, IMF transcript here:

“Has the IMF produced any estimates of the impact of the ebola crisis? Any IMF responses to it?”

  Rice read out the question, then said that ebola's "acute impacts" are “macro-economic” and social, hitting three “already fragile” countries (Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone). He said "growth is likely to slow sharply in all three cases" and significant financial needs will rise: "increased poverty and food insecurity" and impacts on employment in the key agricultural sector.

  Rice concluded, "We are actively working with all three countries to prepare... additional financing that may be required."

Watch this site.
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