US Says Got 13 Defendants Back from Thailand In Past Year While Rhino Horn Suspects Still Free

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, June 24 – While many even most cases in the Magistrates Court of the 
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York are sealed, on June 13 SDNY US Attorney Geoffrey L. Berman announced the indictment of four citizens of African nationsfor trafficking in rhino horn, elephant ivory and heroin into New York and that one of them, aLiberian named "Kampala Man," had earlier in the day been arraigned in the Magistrates Court. But even an hour later, the case file or docket for 19-cr-338 said "This case is under seal." Why?

  Now on June 24, this from U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus: "Within a twelve-month span, from June 2018 to June 2019, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, worked with local authorities to support the apprehension and return of 13 fugitives wanted for crimes ranging from drug trafficking, rape of minors, sexual assault, cybercrime, money laundering, passport fraud, identity theft, tax evasion, and wire fraud. DSS worked with U.S. and Thai law enforcement and immigration authorities to return these fugitives to face justice in the United States.   DSS is located at more than 270 diplomatic posts in more than 170 countries, and helps return more than 300 fugitives annually. This is one example of DSS’ global investigative reach, and demonstrates the strong relationships the department has forged with U.S., international, and foreign law enforcement partners."

   The June 13 announcement said, "Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, David Bernhardt, the United States Secretary of the Interior, and Christopher T. Tersigni, the Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced today that MOAZU KROMAH, a/k/a “Ayoub,” a/k/a “Ayuba,” a/k/a “Kampala Man,” AMARA CHERIF, a/k/a “Bamba Issiaka,” MANSUR MOHAMED SURUR, a/k/a “Mansour,” and ABDI HUSSEIN AHMED, a/k/a “Abu Khadi,” were charged in an indictment for participating in a conspiracy to traffic in rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory, both protected wildlife species, valued at more than $7 million that involved the illegal poaching of more than approximately 35 rhinoceros and more than approximately 100 elephants.  In addition, KROMAH, CHERIF, and SURUR were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, and SURUR and AHMED were charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 10 kilograms of heroin.  KROMAH, a citizen of Liberia, was arrested in Uganda on June 12, 2019, and expelled to the United States.  He was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker earlier today and detained.  CHERIF, a citizen of Guinea, was arrested in Senegal on June 7, 2019, and remains in custody in Senegal pending a process through which his extradition, deportation or other lawful removal to the United States is being considered by Senegalese authorities.  SURUR and AHMED, both citizens of Kenya, remain fugitives.  The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods.                 

According to allegations in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:     KROMAH, CHERIF, SURUR, and AHMED were members of a transnational criminal enterprise (the “Enterprise”) based in Uganda and surrounding countries that was engaged in the large-scale trafficking and smuggling of rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory, both protected wildlife species.  Trade involving endangered or threatened species violates several U.S. laws, as well as international treaties implemented by certain U.S. laws.                 

From at least in or about December 2012 through at least in or about May 2019, KROMAH, CHERIF, SURUR, and AHMED conspired to transport, distribute, sell, and smuggle at least approximately 190 kilograms of rhinoceros horns and at least approximately 10 tons of elephant ivory from or involving various countries in East Africa, including Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, and Tanzania, to buyers located in the United States and countries in Southeast Asia.  Such weights of rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory are estimated to have involved the illegal poaching of more than approximately 35 rhinoceros and more than approximately 100 elephants.  In total, the estimated average retail value of the rhinoceros horn involved in the conspiracy was at least approximately $3.4 million, and the estimated average retail value of the elephant ivory involved in the conspiracy was at least approximately $4 million.                 Typically, the defendants exported and agreed to export the rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory for delivery to foreign buyers, including those represented to be in Manhattan, in packaging that concealed the rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory in, among other things, pieces of art such as African masks and statues.  The defendants received and deposited payments from foreign customers that were sent in the form of international wire transfers, some which were sent through U.S. financial institutions, and paid in cash.                 On a number of occasions, KROMAH, SURUR, and AHMED met with a confidential source (“CS-1”), both together and separately, concerning potential purchases of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn.  During these meetings and at other times via phone calls and an electronic messaging application, CS-1 discussed with KROMAH, SURUR, and AHMED, in substance and in part, the terms of the sale, including the price, weight, or size of the rhinoceros horns, payment, destination, and delivery options.  CS-1 also discussed with CHERIF via phone calls and electronic messages, in substance and in part, the terms of the sales, as well as how to send payment for the rhinoceros horns from a United States bank account located in Manhattan." Inner City Press will follow this.

 On June 12 Alberto Carrasco a/k/a Moreno came through, charged with agreeing to sell a kilo of heroin in The Bronx.

   The Complaint, 19-MAG-5567, has the DEA's Mark Hadzewycz recounting that on June 3 Confidential Source-1 spoke with Carrasco or Moreno then met him on June 5 on Washington Avenue in The Bronx. CS-1 was showing a "six pack" photo array afterward and picked up Moreno. On June 11 on Lorillard Place they met again, agreeing to the sale of heroin in what the complaint calls a Bronx Shopping Center.

 Carrasco or Moreno in fact brought the drugs, or a weighed bag, from a "particular multifamily home in Mamaroneck, NY."  It was 1.17 kilograms of heroin. He has been detained, with Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker writing on the order additional reason: pending order of protection, strength of evidence including results of search of D's premises." His lawyer is CJA Kelly Sharkey; this; his preliminary hearing is set for June 26. Inner City Press,occupied at that time with a rogue cop's sentencing, aims to be there.

At UN, Kazakhstan Festival in Race with Thailand for UNSC, Censorship by UN DPI

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 7 -- At the UN the races for UN Security Council seats in 2017-18 are shaping up. On March 7 Kazakhstan hosted a Food Festival in the UN Delegates Dining Room, complete with string quartet and singers crooning in Kazakh and covering Whitney Houston (in English).  Periscope video here; tweeted photo here and below.

   Kazakhstan's Permanent Representative, a genial host, mourned for his country's Davis Cup tennis loss to Serbia, and explained to Inner City Press the range of people who settled in Kazakhstan, leading to its diversity. It is not, however, a clean slate: they will complete against Thailand, just as Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands will compete for two seats of the Western European and Other Group (WEOG).

  Kazakhstan's Permanent Representative emphasized the the World Expo, after Italy's Milan, will be in Astana, before Dubai.

  Inevitably, at least these days, the talk turned to press freedom at the UN, or why Inner City Press was physically thrown out of the UN on February 19. The UN official who ordered the ouster, and has yet to reverse it despite calls that began with Nobel Peace Prize laurent Jose Ramos-Horta on February 19 itself, and many since, was present the the Kazakhstan Food Festival.

But just as in the three weeks before her February 19 order (and the months preceding), she did not speak with Inner City Press or seek its side of the story. Many marveled at it. But this is how the UN for now works - or doesn't.

After Inner City Press was summarily ejected from the UN, which it has covered for 10 years, on February 19 (audio here), the ostensibly deciding official Cristina Gallach told no less than Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos Horta that Inner City Press would still be able to cover the UN.

What she didn't say was that Inner City Press' ability to cover the unfolding UN corruption scandal in which she has played a role would be curtailed under the proposed arrangement - by design.

 Inner City Press is as of March 7 not allowed to cover anything on the second floor of the UN conference building (ECOSOC, Trusteeship Council), cannot effectively edit videos of UN Q&A, and must leave the building by 7 pm. These are restrictions.

  All this, without any due process, for having sought as a journalist to cover an event in the UN Press Briefing Room on January 29. Petition here.



  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, whose office has confirmed receipt of at least three petitions to reverse Gallach's order, and seen protests of the UN in for example Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka for ousting Inner City Press, said these words in Baden-Baden, Germany on March 7:

"journalists face growing efforts to silence their voices – through harassment, censorship and attacks.  Journalists are not criminals.  But they are often mistreated."

Note: on February 19, Inner City Press was physically ousted from the UN Security Council stakeout where it was writing up the evening's Syria meeting and was told "you are a trespasser" in the UN and that it would be handed over to NYPD. Audio here.

 "During the past nine years as Secretary-General, I have been working hard to defend the press."

  Well, the above happened on February 19, and restrictions remain in place with no right to appeal, and no due process. Ban and his senior advisers have been informed of it.

  On February 26 the Government Accountability Project, which defends whistleblowers, wrote to the US Mission to the UN, Ambassador of Management and Reform Isobel Coleman, to ask the US to ensure Inner City Press gets back its office and Resident Correspondent's pass. GAP letter here.

  GAP's Beatrice Edwards cited the UN's lack of due process and of rules, and the seeming retaliation against Inner City Press for its reporting. (There's also the physical ouster of Inner City Press, audio here.) Other missions have openly taken action: what will the US Mission do?

 On February 29, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric another question about UN - this time DPI - seeming corruption, and about GAP's letter, Video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: I'd asked you previously about South-South News, which is pretty much in… is in this indictment of Mr. [Francis] Lorenzo and Mr. Ng Lap Seng as a conduit for funds for the alleged bribery at the UN, why its… its footage and a number of its pieces are included in UNTV in an archive, and I checked today.  They're still there.

I wanted to know, since there's no other med… non-UN media that I can find that has its material inside that archive, why is that, and why does it remain to be the case, given the fact that it's named as a vehicle for bribery?

Spokesman Dujarric:  Obviously, I think that's a question you can address to my colleagues in DPI.

Inner City Press:  Okay.  They're not communicating too well.

Spokesman:  [Calls on another.]

Inner City Press: Again, I'll keep it very short, but I wanted to ask you, the Government Accountability Project, which you know, which represented Mr. [Anders] Kompass and other UN whistle-blowers, has issued a letter on Friday in which they say… they call for… I guess I'll put it in personal terms… for my resident correspondent pass to be returned and my office.  And they say the action was retaliatory in response to independent critical journalism.  I'd like to know what your response to this respected group reaching that conclusion is.

Spokesman:  My simple response would be no, and I'm sure they will get a response from whoever they addressed the letter to.

 We'll see.

 Meanwhile in defense of Ban and Gallach, anonymous troll account has taken to tweeting, now at Spanish journalists, that Gallach is fine and didn't throw Inner City Press out of the UN on two hours notice without once speaking to it. But those are the fact. Among the new troll account's followers are Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric and four UNCA board members, plus Reuters bureau chief Louis Charbonneau, who has a history with this, see here.

US Mission to UN Is Asked to Ensure ICP Gets Its Office & UN Pass, by GAP by Matthew Russell Lee

  Because as a working journalist it needed access to cover the February 25 UN Security Council meeting about North Korea, and only in connection with filing a lawyer's letter telling Gallach and the UN not to touch Inner City Press' office or files, Inner City Press late morning entered the UN with a so-called "Green P" non-resident correspondents pass.

  At the day's noon briefing, after asking of Burundi, Western Sahara, Darfur and the UN corruption scandals, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric two simple question, to which he said #AskGallach. From the UN transcript:

Inner City Press: I'd like this to go smoothly, so I'll do it really quickly.  I noticed that on Monday, when I was not able to attend the briefing, that you had a little Q&A about my accreditation status.  So, I just want to state one thing very briefly.  A legal letter has been received by DPI [Department of Public Information] to not touch my office, not touch any of the files, but I need to cover the meeting this afternoon.  I'm just stating that, because I thought it was inappropriate.  But, my question is as follows:  Is it common UN practice to… to tell a journalist to leave the building and give up Resident Correspondent status without ever once speaking to them?  Is that considered an investigation?  What is the lowest standard that the UN can go to to have something to be considered a review of the facts?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I would encourage you to direct all those questions to Ms. [Cristina] Gallach and to DPI.

Inner City Press:  I have one more question.  What are the rules for the use of physical force by UN security?  Because on Friday evening, I was pushed down the escalator and into the street, and my laptop was thrown on the street, and I… and I was offering absolutely zero physical… physical… so I wanted to know what is the recourse for someone to whom this happens?  That's my question.

Spokesman:  I would encourage you to raise all these issues having to do with your accreditation, your treatment, and so forth to Ms. Gallach.

Question:  What are the rights of people not to be pushed by UN security?

Spokesman:  That's… that was my answer to your question.  Thank you.

  Wait - so the UN has no protocols on the use of force? Or DPI's Gallach is in charge of the use of force, and ordered it? How can the UN and USG Gallach be so contemptuous to the most basic forms of due process?

Inner City Press is opposing all this.

  And so now are a range of people from around the world, who have signed a petition to immediately restore Inner City Press to the UN Resident Correspondent accreditation it had for nine years until, without any due process, the UN pass was physically torn from its chest as UN Security throw its laptop onto the sidewalk in front of the UN (also owned by the UN and immunity from US law including the First Amendment).

Here are just some of the comments of those signing the petition directed to Ban Ki-moon:

UN cover-up artists are taking advantage of the dying months of Ban Ki-moon's tenure to remove a thorn in their side, because they are worried the new SG won't want to start out with a fight. -James Bone, Shelter Island Heights, NY

ICP has been the only voice for the oppressed in #Burundi, #Haiti & #Yemen at #UN. -Eloge Tinya, Lagos, Nigeria

Innercitypress is the voice of many oppressed Burundians and many Africans under dictatorship. I have decided to stand with the oppressed and not the oppressor, UN needs to practice what it preaches by setting free innercitypress to do his work! -Lievin Manisha, Pineville, LA

ICP asked questions that will bring clarity on the agreement the Prime Minister of Dominica signed in Macau on August 25, 2015 together with Ng Lap Seng and a UN official. -Hon. Hector John, Salisbury, Dominica

I am signing for UN to restore Matthew Lee Inner City Press right to access to the UN as a Resident Correspondent to question authorities because it is the fundamental of free speech as the UN preaches to other countries it must first practice itself to set example. -Smret Kibrom, San Gallo, Switzerland

Freedom of press. -Prem Kumar, India

innercitypress defends the human rights of Burundians and help to avoid genocide, please free innercitypress! - MICHAEL Tim, London, United Kingdom

I'm signing because the barring of access to Mr. Lee appears to be at worst motivated by a reluctance to engage with and continue to receive the probing questions he asks, and at best the result of a petty personal vendetta based on unprofessional antipathy towards Mr. Lee by the 'respectable' wing of the United Nations press corps. -Marlon Ettinger, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY

I am signing this petition for Matthew Russell Lee and Inner City Press be restored to the shared UN office and Resident Correspondent accreditation they have had for eight years prior to this pretextual incident. It also requests, as does the Free UN Coalition for Access that Matthew co-founded, that an investigation be launched into how all of this occurred. Moreover to call for aggressive investigative journalism at the UN and to tell the leaders of the UN that the UN, too, must live up to the principles of due process and freedom of the press. -Martha Fassil, New York, NY

Comment l'onu peut agir de sorte alors qu'ils sont comme meilleur modèle de la démocratie, je garde espoir qu'on aura un jour un vrai dirigeants de l'onu pour tous. -Steve Ndacasaba, Montréal, Canada

I'm signing cause, want a real journalist who tells it like it is. No agenda but the truth. I am supporting him for standing up for UN bully. -Paulos Welday, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Han er en journalist som forteller sannheten til verden.
Mussie Tesfay, Oslo, Norway

UN should walk the talk. Practice what you preach - rule of law, democracy, freedom of expression, of press. Reinstate ICP Mathew Russell Lee to full resident reporter. -Seble Ephrem, London, United Kingdom

we need a voice for africa
redae medhane, Kitchener, Canada

Incredible. This banning is the exact opposite of the transparency and accountability that the UN should be defending for all institutions. This must be reversed.
Denis Rancourt, Ottawa, Canada

ICP is the most reliable source of information at the UN. The other corporate media are controlled by the special interest groups. Thus their journalistic integrity is always suspect. ICP is voice of the voiceless - of course unlike the UN and its sponsors and financiers. -tsehaie mahary, edmonton, Canada

I express my solidarity with Mathew, God bless you friend
Mohamed MAYARA, El Aaiun, Western Sahara

Matthew Lee has been a lone voice asking the difficult questions in the UN press gallery. -Martin Field, Geneva, Switzerland

I have seen Matthew only defending the truth. He is a journalist with a genuine journalist ethics. He is also the one of the most intelligent and courageous journalist. He is a model how other journalist should be. He should be given a noble prize for what he does not get banned from the UN. -Yacob Woldehiwot, London, United Kingdom

The UN cannot be dismissive of new media as people get their news from new media.The UN cannot pick and choose media persons according to their whims and fancies. -soraya patel, India

Shame on UN. -ibrahim alhaifi, Sanaa, Yemen

I believe this is censorship of the press. Shameful. -Douglas Smith, New York, NY

I believe this is censorship of the press. Shameful. -Douglas Smith, New York, NY
I'm signing because I believe in ICP to bring balance to the reporting of UN activities around the globe. I also believe in the ability of Lee to investigate, without fear or favour, to keep the UN reputation intact. -Saare Tsehaye, London, United Kingdom

Because this is censorship on free press. Inner City stands for Truth, Justice & Peace !!! -Aman Kubrom, Frankfurt, Germany

How can the UN be so ridiculous?
Feridun Akpinar, Turku, Finland

For Truth & Transparency, there must always be those who Question more. -Auet Melache, Bolton, United Kingdom

I am signing because UN is being unfair and need to take some responsibility. -Lynda Charles, Boynton Beach, FL

He's credible and follows the ethics of journalism to the fullest. -Amanuel Tseggai, Stone Mountain, GA

We need the alternative,independent and investigative media to be present everywhere. -Marja Konttila, Solna, Sweden

I demand the U.N. unconditionaly and ASAP to restore access to Inner City Press`Matthew Russell Lee to the U.N. as a Resident Correspondent. -johannes abraham, Germany

I believe in press giving independant views on ignored issues
Cyrilla Bwakira, Johannesburg, South Africa

Ban is a tool. -Michael Klett, San Francisco, CA

InnerCity Press has been very professional and a life saver. His reports on different issues around the world helped uncover certain hidden truths. If Ban was in #Burundi 2 days ago, I can say it is mainly because of his persistence of bringing Burundi to light from the repression of de facto president
Manirambona Juma, Kirundo, Burundi

Matt spells out the truth and exposes the games protecting the outdated system for what it currently is.Matt actually supports the principle of the UN, those within it, support themselves. -Andy Wren, Littlestone, United Kingdom

Weil ich sihe das innercity einsige unabhengige median vetretete vor
Stimmenloss. -Iassu nugusse, Germany

Matthew Russell Lee, founder of the Inner City Press, is a veteran investigative journalist I have relied upon on UN news for the past six years. He is truthful, and pursues truth in reporting tenaciously and with integrity. We need more journalists like him at the UN to keep us informed. He and his Inner City Press must be reinstated as a fully accredited resident journalist to the UN. -Elias Amare, San Rafael, CA

We need unbiased and impartial reporting from the UN. -David Macilwain, Australia

Does the UN have something to hide? The UN is also obligated by the same principles and norms it preaches. I demand the UN to reinstate Matthew Russell Lee to his desk so he can do what he does best- pure journalism. He is the only honest journalist at the UN compound and being the voice of the voiceless. -Daniel Berhe, Seattle, WA

I am signed because ICP thrown out on the street by the decorator of UN media Personnel with out his belongings Shame UN. -Yakob Tesfaye, Edmonton, Canada

I am signing this because I want to learn about the corrupt UN security council.
TEKLU BAHTA, NORTH CHICAGO,

I respectively ask UNSG and Mr Ban ki-moon to reture Matt to his post us a dedicated reporter in the UN. I have a huge respect for the guy. It would be a travesty of justice if a reporter like matt is out the office of the biggest office in the world when we need a reporter of such kind. -Kibrom tekeste, berkeley, CA

I'am signing because I believe in freedom of speach and Free Press Reporters/Journalists. -Ndayizeye APOLLINAIRE, Gatineau (Hull), Canada

The UN repeatedly acts like human rights protections apply to everyone but themselves. -Betsey Chace, Cambridge, MA

Matthew is the only bona fide journalist reporting on UN. He alone is rectifying the defects created by system of diplomatic immunity. Why makes his job harder? Do you have something to hide from him? He makes UN a more acceptable organization and indeed, by genuinely reporting he makes this world a better place. -T Chan, London, United Kingdom

I am signing for UN to restore Matthew Lee Inner City Press right to access to the UN as a Resident Correspondent to question authorities because it is the fundamental of free speech as the UN preaches to other countries it must first practice itself to set example.
Sara Haile, Alexandria, VA

Matthew Lee is, far and away, the hardest-working and most dogged of any journalist at the United Nations. His arbitrary expulsion is both outrageous and a reflection of the fact that things are not as they should be at the United Nations, and certainly not what YOU would expect. - alberto martin, New York, NY

He is the best one, for the world in the UN which tells us the truth. So if he is out of his work then the UN only remains with out the truth.
ghebreyohanis michiel, bachenbülach, Switzerland

Burundi medias burned by violent/genocidaire regime;our genuine source of information from UN was ICP:fair,not sided.Pls,Reestablish ICP in its rights!
Ange Nganji, Bujumbura, Burundi

I'm signing because I believe in the freedom of the press. I often reads Matthew Lee's work which reports on difficult topics and events that need covering and exposure. He should be reinstated at your earliest convenience.
Rebecca Myles, New York, NY

I'm signing because I'm an advocate for real, independent journalism and condemn the UN's decision to remove Inner City Press's access based on a nonsensical pretext! -Hermon Gebrai, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom

I appreciate Inner City Press' persistent and prepared journalism at the United Nations. -Brian Concannon Jr., Marshfield, MA


The UN needs to be held to standards of openess, transparency and freedom of the press. -Samuel Horton, Silsden, United Kingdom

Lee should not have been expelled, it's a disgrace to the UN. -Richard Johnson, Potomac, MD

It's unfair to throw someone out like that with out hearing from his side of history. -Hermon Tsegay, Slough, United Kingdom

Such a crck down on media in an organization promoting freedom of speech and information is really awkward and clearly disgraceful and unacceptable. -Florent Nduwayo, Kibungo, Rwanda

This is another in a long line of incidents conclusively evidencing the UN's complete and utter disrespect for the laws of its HOST country, the US, in particular the 1st amendment!! UN IMMUNITY = IMPUNITY--END IT NOW!! Journalists are the ultimate whistleblowers, and I am well aware of how UN whistleblowers like Mr Lee are persecuted and suffer grievous harm at the hands of rogue UN officials. The treatment of Mr. Lee is an outrage.

How ironic this has happened just as the US House Committde on Foreign Relations is today, on 24 Feb, holding a hearing about the gross mistreatment of whistleblowers at the UN and WIPO. Congress must act now to cut off 15% of US appropriations to the UN this year on account of its failure to protect and encourage UN whistleblowers like Mr Lee, as provided for in US law, as it already did to WIPO!! -ted beacher, Geneva, Switzerland

ICP is doing a great job. UN should support,respect and promote free speech. -Kalu Thapa, Kathmandu, Nepal

There are more...

 But the UN Correspondents Association, at least its 15 Executive Committee members, issued a February 22 statement in context fully supporting the throwing of Inner City Press into the street, the seizure of passport, the Banning, all of it. We wonder if these scribes' employers know about this.

  For now we reiterate the obvious: the UN Press Briefing Room is presumptively open to all press. If Spokesman Dujarric, or DPI's Gallach, wants to lend it to their friends, at least provide a notice so journalists hungry for news don't get excluded and get nothing.

As Free UN Coalition for Access Asks UN of Prosecution in Thailand for Mere Facebook "Like," UNCA Sells Access to Ban Ki-moon

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 15 -- While today's UN vaguely associates itself with freedom of the press and of expression, its response to attacks on these freedoms is often slow, or non-existent, particularly when it comes to new or social media.

On December 15 Inner City Press for the new Free UN Coalition for Access asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq:

Inner City Press: There’s been a factory worker in Thailand who was arrested for merely liking, on Facebook, a post about the king. He’s threatened with a lengthy prison sentence for expressing his opinion on social media and I’m wondering, does the Secretary General have any position on the use of these lese majeste laws to censor citizens’ speech?

UN's Haq: That’s more of a question for the office of the high commissioner for human rights. But our basic concern is to make sure that there’s no legislation that hurts people’s ability to use any form of media in order to express their free expression of idea.

Inner City Press: But the case in South Korea is a libel case, with people reporting about the president would put you in jail. So is that a law that would restrict free expression?

UN's Haq: We’ve always had concerns about any law that would restrict the freedom of expression and of reporting.

  This for the UN which has resisted having any content-neutral accreditation policy. While FUNCA asked these questions, the old UN Correspondents Association did nothing. In fact, as well as having tried to get the investigative Press thown out of the UN, it sells access to Ban Ki-moon, see below.


With the UN embroiled in scandals including the indictments of the former President of the General Assembly John Ashe and Macau businessman Ng Lap Seng and the founder of South South News, on December 14 the UN Correspondents Association sold seats with Ban Ki-moon for $6000.  Periscope I here;  Periscope II here.

UN corruption, never reformed, rises from the Ashes, courtesy of UNCA, now the UN Corruption Association.

  And yet, from inside Cipriani Wall Street, one of the musicians paid to play has an open mind, and when shown reporting on UN corruption asks, Should I make a scene? Tweet here.

 Just ask, who here paid $6000 as solicited by UNCA to sit with Ban Ki-moon. And why pay it? With Ng Lap Seng, it's clear.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Ban supports journalists. But the UNCA he's supporting tries to get them out of the UN. RSF did good work of late. But willful blindness does not help journalists.

The new EU representative naively said, First UNCA; the Turkish mission tweeted a photo of Ban (after its Perm Rep hob-nobbed with him in front of Monaco's painting, ignoring the invasion of Iraq, whose Ambassador arrived in tux to the Corruption Ball, we excuse him.)

 Since UNCA previously at such an event at Cipriani sold photo ops with Ban Ki-moon to now-indicted Ng Lap Seng, who will be this year's Ng Lap Seng?  Into Cipriani, this time the one on Wall Street, passed many tuxedoed individuals never seen at the UN. What were they buying? What safeguards had been added since Ng Lap Seng and John Ashe? None.

  New PGA Mogens Lykketoft arrived, as did Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson and David Nabarro, who stopped in the rain to speak with Inner City Press, as did another Under Secretary General. How can the UN and its group of scribes remain so UNreformed, despite indictments and public scandal?

The bureau chief of Voice of America, who previously tried to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN after it reported on UNCA corruption, the boss Giampaolo Piolirenting one of his apartments to Sri Lanka's ambassador then screening his war crimes denial film in the UN, this time seemed to give the finger, flip the bird to the press. Ah, journalism.

Is it journalism to solicit and take money from those you ostensibly cover? Where does it go? We'll have more on this.

  Earlier on December 14 UNCA lobbed three softball questions to Ban -- none on Burundi, for example -- from the former president of UNCA Pamela Falk, then the current vice president and finally the current questioner for UNCA. Inner City Press loudly asked a question about the killings in Burundi, which Ban declined to answer. Vine here.

  Inner City Press for the new Free UN Coalition for Access asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about the propriety of UNCA selling seats with Ban. Dujarric said, "As long as it's transparent." Is that the standard?


One would expect the UN press corps, even the entity the UN itself chooses to set aside first questions for, to be pursuing rather than be involved in the scandals.

 One might also expect UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to be more cautious of colluding in events in which access to him  has been sold.

  But with the UN Correspondents Association, this year more than ever, that is not the case. The group or its leadership, headed by Italian paparazzi scribe Giampaolo Pioli who after trying to get the investigative Press thrown out of the UN now covers actors like Morgan Freeman while others at his paper cover the UN, is selling seats with Ban Ki-moon for $6,000.

  In response to Press questions about this UNseemly sale of access, Ban's spokesman said "as long as it's transparent." Will that keep the indictments from expanding?

Inner City Press on December 11 spoke with indictee Frank Lorenzo, pictured here with Ban Ki-moon, aswritten up by "Italian News."


This year's sale of Ban, like to Ng Lap Seng in 2011, is an Italian job, run by pazarazzi / "correspondent" / landlord Giampaolo Pioli.

 How does this UNCA sleaze fest differ from the South South Awards, inextricably linked to the indictments of Ng Lap Seng, South South News' Frank Lorenzo and former President of the General Assembly John Ashe? Hardly at all. So what will happen? We'll have more on this.

Here is a photo of Ban Ki-moon at South South Awards with several indictees, here.

 For now we can report that at the December 11 closed door session on "Revitalization of the General Assembly," both the UN's Controller and Ban Ki-moon's new chief of staff Edmond Mulet made arguments for post-Ashe reforms that a number of member states found far too little. And Ban is slated to have seats next to him sold for $6000. We'll have more on this too.

  On December 10, days after Pioli used the large room the UN gives to UNCA, its UN Censorship Alliance, tocampaign for a Security Council seat for his native Italy by giving out free meats, the view into the Club was blocked. So much for transparency.

  Here is a photo of the Clubhouse:



  The flier on the glassed-in bulletin board, under the "election" results, is of fine recently deceased journalist Haider Rizvi. Inner City Press' obituary hinted at it, but now we're compelled to say: UNCA, or its sidekick, tried to get him thrown out of the UN. There'll be a memorial for Haider, which can be participated in online,  on December 12 - in Lahore. Truth is what journalism is about. But here's Pioli on Morgan Freeman:



 UNCA's "elections" had no competition at all for the officer seats, now doled out to AFP, France 24, the US Broadcasting Board of Governors and ANSA fromholdover president Giampaolo Pioli's native Italy.

  This UNCA "leadership" represents Italy and France, and old media -- tellingly, those new media which chose to run (Inner City Press quit UNCA after its censorship bid) for lesser UNCA seats were not selected. Also tellingly, the UN Spokesperson's office promoted the scam election, using its loudspeaker to try to get out the vote (for candidates who had no opponents.)

 The ringmaster, Giampaolo Pioli, came through the UN Security Council stakeout not to ask any question or even listen to answers on South Sudan or Syria; he glad handed his unopposed slate and then headed to the UN bar. He has arranged more Italian toasting, seeingly part of Italy's actually-opposed campaign for a Security Council seat (more on this in future dispatches).

  It's become the UN's Censorship Alliance - having tried to get the investigative Press thrown out of the UN - and the UN Corruption Association, selling photo ops and seats with Ban Ki-moon.  Call them Ban Ki-moon shots.

  While calling for an audit of sale of UN access under John Ashe, should Ban openly allow access to him to be sold? He appears intent on doing so, or operating by inertia, on automatic pilot. Inner City Press now learns that Ban's twice delayed report on the cover up of peacekeepers' rapes in the Central African Republic will be pushed further back, after the sell-out, buried. We'll have more on this.

 UNCA's awards, such as they gave to South South Newsfor money, include awards and payments to entities who've served on their own Board.

  In 2011 under then (and now) president Giampaolo Pioli, UNCA took money from the South South News of now-indicted Ng Lap Seng, then gave South South News an UNCA award and gave Ng Lap Seng a photo op with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

  Now in November 2015, Pioli has solicited $6000 from UN Ambassadors for seats at the “VIP” table at the UNCA “Ball” on Wall Street: to sit with Ban Ki-moon. Here is UNCA's 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)"

 This is precisely the type of sale of access involved in the indictments of Ng, Sheri Yan and Frank Lorenzo.

  While others are announcing audits and freezing such contacts, UNCA under Pioli is bulling forward, charging ever more money, getting ever further from journalistic purposes.

  On November 20, Pioli's UNCA circulated a list of candidates with no competition for any of the six officer positions. It also pre-announced its awards, including to Reuters (on its Board) and others. We'll have more on this.

    For the three running unopposed for five president slots, two were already on the UNCA board during the relevant time period; the other is Pioli's former protege at Quotidiano Nazionale. It's an Italian thing.

   Running for Treasurer? It's Agence France Presse, whose previous correspondent tried to use a position on the UNCA board to censor Press coverage of Herve Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row atop UN Peacekeeping.

  Reuters is in the mix, too, and another which joined Pioli in trying to censor coverage of Pioli unilaterally approving a Sri Lankan government war crimes denial film for a “UN” screening, after Pioli rented one of his apartments to Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN. This is UN. But amid the new scandals at the UN, this is something new: watch this site.



Footnote: Inner City Press after Pioli's and others censorship bid, and attempt to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN (uncovered along with documents still to be published by a Freedom of Information Act request, here, and questioned by the New York Civil Liberties Union), quit the UNCA board and co-founded, with another who'd quit UNCA as corrupt, the Free UN Coalition for Access.

 FUNCA does not seek any automatic first questions, butopposes the UN setting aside first questions for an entity which, as now shown, is enmeshed in the very UN scandals that must be asked about. Watch this site.

On Thailand, Ban Ki-moon Inviting General to General Assemlby Is Not Prejuding, Inner City Press Is Told

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 16 -- With military rule still in place in Thailand, on March 13 Inner City Press asked the UN if Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would raise the restoration of civilian rule and democracy when he meets Thailand's General at the disaster risk reduction conference in Japan, video here, transcript below.

  After a vague read-out by the UN, General Prayuth Chan-ocho's spokesman made much of Ban inviting the General to the UN General Assembly in September. So on March 16, Inner City Press asked the UN, transcript here:

Inner City Press: about the readout about the Secretary-General meeting with the Prime Minister/General of Thailand, Prayuth Chan-ocha. Contrary or amplifying the UN readout, the Deputy Spokesman for the Thai Government has said that the Secretary-General invited the General to attend the General Assembly in September.  So since like one of the topics was supposedly transition back to civilian rule, can you confirm that this invitation was made?  And does that mean acknowledging an acceptance by the Secretary-General that the so-called road map to transition back to civilian rule would not be completed by September?

Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq:  No, I can't confirm that.  What we have to say is what's in the readout.  What I can say about the invitations is the Secretary-General has been inviting all Governments to be represented at a high level for the September events.  So an invitation extended to Thailand would not be prejudging what the Government of Thailand will be like in September.  Even if there were a change in the Government of Thailand, the point remains the same, that we want Thailand as among… as well as the other Member States to be represented at the very highest level for the September events. 

  Back on March 13 Inner City Press had asked:

Inner City Press: I want to know if you can confirm now before the weekend that the Secretary-General will be meeting with the, I guess, interim or military leader of Thailand while at this conference in Japan, General Chan-o-cha?  And I ask because there are public calls that the Secretary-General use such an opportunity.  Apparently they believe that he will be meeting with him to raise the need to return to democratic civilian rule in Thailand.  Is he going to meet, and will he be raising that?

Spokesman Dujarric:  This is an issue that the Secretary-General and others have raised in meetings with senior Thai officials.  If the meeting is confirmed, and once it has happened, we will issue a readout.  

    And now, on March 14 , there is the UN readout, in full:

Readout of the Secretary-General’s meeting with
H.E. General Prayuth Chan-ocha, Prime Minister of Thailand

The Secretary-General met yesterday with H.E. General Prayuth Chan-ocha, Prime Minister of Thailand, on the margins of the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

They discussed disaster risk reduction and the climate change agenda, as well as the political transition and human rights in Thailand.

Sendai, Japan
15 March 2015

 What will Human Rights Watch, so desperate for access to Ban Ki-moon, say about this? Watch this site.

How does the International Monetary Fund describe and respond to a military coup? Just out of embargo is the IMF's Article IV report on Thailand, with this line:

"private investment is being hampered by low capacity utilization, weak external demand, and concerns over political uncertainty.”

Yeah, political uncertainty. Inner City Press, which puts questions every fortnight to the IMF, asked the UN about Thailand in 2014 and more recently.

 In fairness, here is the complete IMF paragraph:

At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Breuer issued the following statement:

“Staff estimates that real GDP expanded by around 0.5 percent in 2014. A modest recovery is expected to continue in 2015 with growth projected at 3.5 percent on account of some recovery in consumption, including from lower fuel prices, and in private investment as backlogs of project approvals have been largely cleared by various government agencies. Accommodative monetary policy will also support the recovery. Nonetheless, private investment is being hampered by low capacity utilization, weak external demand, and concerns over political uncertainty. Private consumption is also weakened by high household debt and tighter credit conditions. At the same time, global demand for Thailand’s exports is weak. The expansion of public investment has proven more difficult than expected, including the implementation of the stimulus package approved in October.”

 And here now is the full IMF press release. More recently, when the IMF held an embargoed press briefing on January 22, after the Houthi rebels in Yemen have held the Presidential palace for days, Inner City Press asked about the impact on the IMF's program with Yemen.

  IMF Deputy Spokesperson William Murray said that recent events are "not positive from an economic standpoint," but that the IMF's first review of its program will not be until the Spring.

  Where will the Houthis be then? And Hadi? And Saleh?

   Inner City Press also submitted questions on Sri Lanka and on Ebola and debt relief. On the latter, Murray spoke of an exceptional assistance program as with Haiti, but wouldn't specify debt relief. We'll have more on this.

 On Yemen, Murray referred back to the January 21 report and briefing by Masood Ahmed -- to which Inner City Press also submitted the question. In that briefing, Ahmed said:

"we are worried about the continued difficulties in Yemen, really because Yemen is already a country with a fragile economic recovery, with a large number of people living in poverty, and with already trying to cope with different shocks that the economy has undergone, and so this makes the uncertainty, makes it both harder to deal with those shocks and also it affects confidence, so that some of the private sector activity is affected. 

"Of course we as an interactive institution don't have a view on the political developments in any country, but we can look at the economic consequences, which is what I was referring to. In terms of the implications for this on the price of oil, you know the price of oil, the markets build in both up side and down side risks into that price. So there's a risk of supply disruptions. That is one of the sources that can push up oil prices with the risk premium, not just from Yemen but also people have been concerned about supply disruptions in other oil producing countries, but there's also the risk that the world economy may turn out to be slower in terms of growth or there's a risk that in fact oil production may turn out to be higher in some countries than expected. If you remember, earlier on in 2014, people were expecting oil production in Libya to be relatively low for the year. As it happened, oil production actually increased at one point to 900, 1000 barrels a day and so that was unexpected. And some people say that was one of the reasons that was helping people to reestablish equilibrium in terms of their expectations. So I think that the market is always looking at both up side and down side risks and prices."

The IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department Regional Economic Outlook Update as released on January 21, says “Yemen is at high risk because its banks are highly exposed to government debt against the backdrop of a weak fiscal position and limited financing options.”

    Referring to the demands for fuel subsidy cuts, the IMF report says “Yemen “is planning to increase non-oil revenue collection, contain the government wage bill, and continue fuel subsidy reform.” Is that still the case? How could the IMF know?
 
  Looking wider, the IMF report says that “conflicts, terrorism, and related security disruptions continue to be a prevailing concern in the region. Although airstrikes have slowed the advance of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), conflicts in Iraq and Syria persist, creating significant economic and political spillovers for neighboring countries (especially Jordan and Lebanon). The security situations in Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan, and Yemen also remain challenging. Conflicts cast a shadow over the economic outlook for the MENAP region, not only because they disrupt economic activity; they also reduce political space for the much-needed reforms and delay the return of confidence to the MENAP region.”   

 On January 19-20, the IMF's Olivier Blanchard answered Inner City Press' question about the impact of falling oil prices on Africa by saying "Nigeria will have to adjust. I do not know at this stage whether they can adjust on their own or they might need a program from the Fund. If they did any member is welcome to come at this stage I have no information about it.”

    A Yemen-like program?

   To the IMF's World Economic Outlook Update press conference, Inner City Press had submitted this question: “Please summarize what the decline in oil prices may mean for countries in Africa, and what the IMF is prepared to do about those countries negatively impacted.”

    As the second online question taken, this question was put to Blanchard, who responded:

“Most African countries are importers and so are helped. Some countries are not and the main example is Nigeria. Nigeria will have to adjust. I do not know at this stage whether they can adjust on their own or they might need a program from the Fund. If they did any member is welcome to come at this stage I have no information about it.”

  Earlier on January 19, the UN Security Council issued a Presidential Statement about, but not funding, the fight against Boko Haram. Security Council sources leaving the meeting told Inner City Press that for funding, those in the region -- i.e. Nigeria -- should be looked to first.

  But if Nigeria may even need to apply for an IMF program, is it reasonable for the powers in the UN and it Permanent Five members of the Security Council to expect it to be entire responsible for fighting Boko Haram?

  We'll have more on this.

Footnote: while Blanchard's "main example" was Nigeria, what about Angola? What about Equatorial Guinea? To the north, what about Libya? Questions, questions...