CPJ's New Board Chair Kathleen Carroll Is Only For Friends on Twitter, CPJ Silent as UN Restricts Press

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 26 – After the Committee to Project Journalists came to the UN for a meeting on the 38th floor on February 23, Inner City Press asked CPJ's Joel Simon for a summary of what had been raised. "Not yet," Simon said, as one of his escorts told Inner City Press to back away. Tweeted video here.

 It was a typical UN scene: a group promoting a principle outside of the UN not pursuing it inside the UN, in order to maintain access and perceived influence. So was the UN's lack of due process for the Press, noted for example by Special Rapporteurs Kaye and Forst, here, raised or addressed? Now on May 26 CPJ has announced a new board chair, Kathleen Carroll formerly of AP, who tellingly has a locked / private Twitter account, @redheadkxc. How's that for Press Freedom?

  At the February 24 UN noon briefing after UN holdover spokesman Stephane Dujarric made claims about the UN's commitment to freedom of the press, Inner City Press asked him for a read-out of Guterres' meeting with CPJ et al. Dujarric did not provide one; he refused to answer the question about due process, telling Inner City Press "This is not your living room." Video here, Vine Camera here.

 Moments later, as Inner City Press asked Dujarric about a leaked UN Peacekeeping letter it exclusively published earlier in the day and which contradicts what Dujarric had said on the record on February 23, Dujarric simply ran off the podium and out of the briefing room. And the UNTV clip, as "produced" by UN DPI, cuts the audio mid question, here at end. This is the UN's commitment to responsiveness, due process and freedom of the press.

 At the UN for journalists, there is no law, no due process, no appeal. And when CPJ reported on the killing of journalists, it omitted a journalist killed right under the UN's nose in South Sudan, John Gatluak (Inner City Press reported it here:  CPJ mentioned only Syria and the Middle East in its press release. And in its count of journalists killed in 2016, CPJ does not count for example South Sudan journalist John Gatluak, executed in the Terrain in Juba. 

The United Nations' Cammaert / cover up report on its failures in Terrain also does not mention Gatluak. It's like the UN Censorship Alliance. Click here for video of Inner City Press' live-Periscope camera being grabbed, thrown and smashed by "journalists" on December 16 on Wall Street. Who watches the watchers?

  It is the same as groups speechifying about accountability not holding the UN to task for killing 10,000 Haitians with cholera, nor for the lack of prosecutions for peacekeepers' sexual abuse. The UN talks about the rule of law but does not abide by it.

    CPJ, including Simon and his deputy Robert Mahoney, were informed in detail of the UN's lack of due process for the press - but they have done nothing. One year ago, covering the UN corruption scandals which have resulted in two sets of indictments for bribery involving the UN, Inner City Press was ordered to leave the UN Press Briefing Room by then Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

  Other correspondents were allowed to stay in the briefing room, which Dujarric had "lent" them. But he insisted that Inner City Press leave. Video here.

  Inner City Press asked to see any paperwork that the event was closed; none was provided. Inner City Press stated that if a single UN Security official asked it to leave, it would. Finally one guard came and said Dujarric wanted it to leave. 

  Inner City Press immediately left, uploaded the already live-streamed Periscope video, and continued digging into the corruption that's resulted in the indictment for bribery and money laundering of Ban Ki-moon's brother Ban Ki Sang and nephew Dennis Bahn.

  But three weeks afterward, without a single conversation or opportunity to be heard, Ban's Under Secretary General for Public Information Cristina Gallach ordered Inner City Press to leave the UN, after ten years, on two hours notice. Order here.

   This was enforced, as Inner City Press worked on its laptop at the UN Security Council stakeout, by eight UN Security officers led by Deputy Chief McNulty, who tore Inner City Press accreditation badge off its chest and said, "Now you are a trespasser." Audio here.

  Inner City Press was marched down the escalator and around the UN traffic circle, without even its coat which was up in its longtime office. It was pushed out of the gate and its laptop, in a bag, was thrown on the sidewalk and damaged.

  The next work day when Inner City Press arranged for a fellow journalist to sign it in as a guest so it could cover the Security Council, UN Security official Matthew Sullivan said it was Banned from UN premises worldwide. Audio here.

   After three days covering the UN from the park in front in the sleet, and articles like this one, Inner City Press re-entered with a "non-resident correspondents" pass - to which it is still, more than eleven months later, confined.

  The then-US Mission under Samantha Power and Isobel Coleman, even petitioned by the DC-based Government Accountability Project, did nothing. Indirectly, a offer was made of an upgraded pass if Inner City Press would agree to a gag order, to which it would not and will not agree.

  There has been no UN opportunity for appeal or reinstatement. After having five boxes of Inner City Press' investigative files thrown on the sidewalk in April, Gallach is giving its office to an Egyptian state media Akhbar al Yom which rarely comes in, a correspondent Sanaa Youssef who had yet to ask a single question. 

Her only claim is that she was once, decades ago, a president of the United Nations Correspondents Association, the group to which Duajrric "lent" the UN Press Briefing Room, without notice or written record, on January 29, 2016. 

 Even as the scope of Ban Ki-moon's corruption is being exposed upon his return to South Korea, here, his successor Antonio Guterres has yet to reverse this year of censorship and no due process. On January 6 Dujarric and Gallach led him on a tour of... the UN Correspondents Association, which now wants him again in their clubhouse. (More on this to follow.)

 On January 27 as Inner City Press moved to cover Guterres at the UN's Holocaust event, it was targeted by UN Security and told it could not proceed without a minder, who did not appear for over 15 minutes. 

  The harassment continued through the day, as Inner City Press exposed more corruption, including involving Jeffrey Feltman (Dujarric told ICP its questioning was "despicable"), and the use of military contingents involved in war crimes in Herve Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping, as criticized by new US Ambassador Nikki Haley.

 All of this must change - but hasn't yet, in 145 days of the "new" UN Secretary General CPJ met with in February, Antonio Guterres. This is a scam, and censorship: the UN's Censorship Alliance. We will have more on this.

After ICP Asked of WIPO's N Korea Work, Nikki Haley Calls WIPO UNtransparent and Dangerous, Cyanide

By Matthew Russell Lee, follow up

UNITED NATIONS, May 19 – While the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization helps North Korea with a patent application for social cyanide (WIPO site here), Inner City Press on May 16 began to ask US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley about it (video here). 

On May 17, Nikki Haley replied to Inner City Press' question: "All parts of the UN system need to support the Security Council in its efforts to respond to the grave threat of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs. Sodium cyanide is banned for export to North Korea by the Security Council. A common sense reaction would be for WIPO to inform the Council of such patent applications. Its failure to do so may have dangerous consequences.” 

The UN through spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Inner City Press it supports WIPO, video here. On May 19, Inner City Press asked North Korea's Ambassador Kim In Ryong about it, without answer. Video here. Now the US Mission to the UN has issued a longer press release: 

"The United States continues to be concerned about the way the World Intellectual Property Organization has handled North Korea’s patent application for the production of sodium cyanide. 'The thought of placing cyanide in the hands of the North Koreans, considering their record on human rights, political prisoners, and assassinations is not only dangerous but defies common sense. We urge all UN agencies to be transparent and apply the utmost scrutiny when dealing with these types of requests from North Korea and other rogue nations,' said Ambassador Haley.
The United States has long encouraged UN specialized agencies to be in close contact with Security Council sanctions committees regarding any activity related to the implementation of Security Council resolutions. All parts of the UN system need to support the Security Council in its efforts to respond to the grave threat of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs." 

 Inner City Press adds: this should (even) include the UN Federal Credit Union, which is soliciting the funds of the North Korean mission and its employees, as well as UNA-USA members. Inner City Press on the morning of May 18 asked the chair of the UN Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee, the Italian Mission to the UN under Sebastiano Cardi, "Does your Mission, which holds the chair of the 1718 Committee, agree that WIPO should have informed the Security Council of this work with North Korea? I recently asked Ambassador Cardi about a DPRK sanctions violation in Germany, without yet much of a response. I notice that the Italian mission stopped sending Inner City Press any information at all in February 2017. Please explain." In the afternoon, the Italian Mission's spokesperson Giovanni Davoli replied, "the Panel of Experts was not aware of this matter. Therefore the Committee could not be. The Panel announced they are going to open an investigation. Once the Committee will receive the report of the panel, we might be able to comment further." We await that, and another answer.
 Inner City Press also on May 18 asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about Ambassador Haley's response - but all Dujarric would do was refer, positively, to a WIPO press release. In its press release, WIPO says "a DPRK individual citizen applicant filed an international patent application under WIPO’s PCT system in respect of a process for production of sodium cyanide." Are there really "individual applicants" in today's North Korea? Isn't the import of sodium cyanide into North Korea a violation of UN sanctions? Dujarric called this WIPO's "very clear explanation." Inner City Press repeatedly asked Dujarric to state if the Secretariat finds WIPO's statement on May 16 -- before Ambassador Haley's response -- sufficient. Apparently yes. We'll have more on this: Inner City Press has asked other UN Security Council members. Watch this site. In an earlier exchange with UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the UN itself acknowledged that the Security Council's Panel of Experts is belatedly looking into it as a possible sanctions violation. Video here, transcript below. Later to May's President of the UN Security Council, Uruguay's Elbio Rosselli, Inner City Press asked about UN WIPO's (non) compliance with UN sanctions, working on a patent for North Korea's production of sodium cyanide. Periscope video here. Ambassador Rosselli said he had not heard of the issue. At the UN's May 16 noon briefing, Inner City Press had asked the UN about that and its reporting that the UN Federal Credit Union, regulated by the US National Credit Union Administration, openly solicits the business of both North Korean employees of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's mission to the UN and the members of the UN Association of the USA (UNA-USA), amid questions of immunity and a previous UNFCU settlement for sanctions violations.  UN briefing video here, from Min 10:20.

UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric dodged on whether Secretary General Antonio Guterres would this time talk to WIPO chief Francis Gurry, as he did not as Gurry deployed criminal defamation law against the press; he also wouldn't answer on UNFCU. UN transcript: Inner City Press:  About WIPO [World Intellectual Property Organization] doing a patent application for North Korea for the production of sodium cyanide, which is banned to be brought into the country.  Before, it wasn't clear to me if the Secretary-General had communicated with WIPO about their use of criminal defamation against journalists.  But, is this something that concerns him?  I also want to ask you about the UN Federal Credit Union (UNFCU) openly soliciting deposits from… from the Mission of North Korea, as well as the employees of the Mission despite having previously settled sanctions charges for just such activity on another sanctioned country.  Do you think that this is consistent with this whole idea of tightening up?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I don't speak for the Credit Union.  They're an independent body.  I would agree… I would urge you to question them.  On the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and the Fox News report, obviously, I think what's contained in the report is disturbing and demands looking into.  The Panel of Experts… the Security Council Panel of Experts, as you know, is an independent team reporting to the Council.  And they have the prerogative to look into all alleged violations of DPRK sanctions and report to the Council accordingly.   I think, as noted in the article, the Panel's coordinator said the Panel will look into the issue.  And I think we'll need… the Panel will do its work and report back.  And if… we will obviously look more directly into the issue, as well from our end.

Inner City Press:  Given that there have been previous allegations and reported retaliation at WIPO concerning activities with North Korea, do you or the Secretary-General think it's something that at the CEB [Chief Executives Board] or some kind of system-wide, does it need to be reiterated to the UN agencies that these sanctions are reported?

Spokesman:  I think the need… the absolute need to respect the sanctions regime, both whether it's from Member States or within the UN, I think, is clear and should be clear to everyone.

 UNFCU's website lists under “Missions to the UN in New York eligible to join UNFCU” that of “North Korea (DPRK"). Inner City Press asked UNFCU's Senior Manager of Media Relations Elisabeth Philippe questions including “why some UN member states' missions to the UN are eligible to join UNFCU, including the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and others are not, why members of UNA-USA became eligible to join UNFCU, what regulatory filings in any UNFCU made for this change in field of membership, and any restrictions on the use of these UNA-USA members' funds, and what services UNFCU offers to UN agencies and country teams, in which countries, and if there are any restrictions or safeguards.” 

  On deeming the North Korean mission and all of its employees eligible, UNFCU's Ms. Philippe told Inner City Press, “The employees of any mission to the United Nations based in New York are eligible to apply for UNFCU membership. The employees of all missions are eligible to join once their mission has submitted an application and been approved.” The website says the mission itself can join UNFCU. On May 10, Inner City Press asked the chairman of the UN Security Council's North Korea Sanctions Committee Sebastiano Cardi about North Korea's embassy in Berlin renting out space as a hostel, video here. What safeguards does UNFCU, with UNA-USA's members in its field of membership, have?

  On UNFCU expanding its field of membership to including anyone who joins UNA-USA, Ms. Philippe told Inner City Press, “UNA-USA is the largest UN advocacy organization in the United States. UNFCU is a financial organization providing retail banking for the UN community. Members of UNA-USA, who are US citizens or permanent residents of the US, are eligible to become members of UNFCU. In December 2013, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the US regulatory body which oversees US federal credit unions, approved the expansion of UNFCU membership to include UNA-USA based on a shared mission and values in support of the United Nations. UNA-USA members who become members of UNFCU are eligible for the full suite of products and services available to UNFCU’s field of membership.”

  But what is in the “full suit of products and services” available from UNFCU? The US Office of Financial Asset Control or OFAC settled charges against UNFCU for, in connection with Mission employees, violating sanctions, see here. And Inner City Press' third question, about precisely what services “UNFCU offers to UN agencies and country teams” - including for example in North Korea - remained at publication time unanswered. Now this: "As a member-owned financial institution that serves the UN community globally, UNFCU provides bank account services to UN/agency staff, and consultants subject to payroll requirements of the various UN agencies and subject to the rules and regulations governing all US Financial Institutions. Accounts are maintained in US dollars and are protected by federal share insurance through the National Credit Union Administration. UNFCU complies with US regulations, including those governing US economic sanctions." But why then did UNFCU settle charges of sanctions violations? We'll have more on this. Inner City Press previously exclusively reported for example that "Sudanese nationals working for the UN have had part of their salaries paid into UN Federal Credit Union accounts, in U.S. dollars. Then they were told that these dollar accounts were frozen, and could only be transferred to the Bank of Khartoum." Watch this site.

On CAR, ICP Asks UN Deputy Corner of Retreat If UN Stopped Firing & Taking Sides

By Matthew Russell Lee, Series

UNITED NATIONS, May 18 – The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations in Central African Republic was reportedly part of a retreat deal if they'd stop shooting and taking sides. Inner City Press on May 15 asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here and below; he deferred to local decision makers he didn't name. On May 18 Inner City Press asked Deputy SRSG Diane Corner, video here. She said among other things that because the UN was targeted, it had an "impact on our response." So is the answer Yes? From the May 15 UN transcript: Inner City Press: I wanted to ask you about the Central African Republic. There are reports that something of a withdrawal of the militiamen from Bans… Bangassou has been negotiated by a cardinal, but what I wanted to ask you specifically about is it says that they've agreed to withdraw on the condition that the UN troops stop firing and that the President comes in person to negotiate.  And it goes on to say the UN has been accused of taking sides.  Is the UN… are you aware of… of… of a UN being one part of an agreement to get this withdrawal?  And what do you say to the allegation that the UN has taken sides there or that its firing may have, in fact, inflamed things?

Spokesman:  I don't believe the UN has… the UN activities have inflamed.  As you know, the UN convoy was attacked.  Peacekeepers were killed.  There was fighting in the town.  Civilians are the first one to have suffered.  The United Nations is there in support of the Government of the Central African Republic.  We have put in a lot of effort to protect civilians to push back when necessary against various armed groups.  There are a number of… we understand another… incidents being reported in locations around Bangassou, which have caused more population movements.  The town itself, as far as we know, remains under the control of armed groups and is inaccessible, including the airstrip, and humanitarian access has been severely curtailed.  Our focus right now is on getting, as we had said earlier, humanitarian aid in.

Inner City Press: Maybe you can ask them or something, it's a BBC report, and it says that part of the deal to get them to withdraw is for the UN to agree to stop firing.  Generally, would the UN agree to that?  And are you a party--

Spokesman:  Whatever tactical actions local peacekeeper commanders are taking on the ground, I'm not going to comment on or second-guess from here.  I think you can ask them if you want.  When we get an update from them, we will share it with you.

 Five hours later, nothing. As Inner City Press asked about and reported earlier in 2017, MINUSCA  had "peacekeepers" turns schools into military sites, and held no one accountable. From the UN's March 23 transcript, the day before Ladsous' "farewell" press conference: 

Inner City Press: UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic of MINUSCA used schools as military bases in… contrary to everything that's been called for, both by Gordon Brown and others.  Is it true?  And, if so, why did they use it?  And who… what are going to be the accountability repercussions for those who, in the name of the UN, used schools as a military base?

Deputy Spokesman:  Okay.  First of all, as of now… since the end of January 2017, no MINUSCA peacekeepers occupy any schools as barracks or bases.  What did happen is that, in 2016 and early 2017, UN peacekeepers occupied two schools for a short period of time in the west and the centre of the Central African Republic while implementing protection of civilians operations.  The schools were located in De Gaulle in the Ouham-Pendé prefecture and Mourouba in the Ouaka prefecture.  At that time, MINUSCA peacekeepers settled in De Gaulle while separating 3 R and anti-Balakas armed elements.  In Mourouba, the school was no longer in use, and the community had fled due to clashes between ex-Seleka UPC and FPRC in the area.  MINUSCA troops vacated the school of De Gaulle in November 2016 and Mourouba in January 2017.  On both occasions, MINUSCA command force ordered the immediate evacuation of the schools once it was observed that troops had located bases in the schools.
Inner City Press:  But when… I mean, it sounds from the first one… the way you described the first one you're sort of saying, because they were engaged in protection of civilians, somehow it was okay.  How did the commanders not know where their soldiers were… were operating from?  And… and is the UN saying it is okay if your motives are pure to use a school as a military base?

Deputy Spokesman:  No; in fact, we have a directive on the protection of schools and universities against military use.  And as a result of that and as a result of other things, including, by the way, the Conventions on the Rights of the Child, we have made it clear that no MINUSCA peacekeepers are to occupy schools and barracks or bases and none of them are doing that.

Inner City Press: But who decided to go in… in the first instance, it was actually a school that was in use.  Who… at what level of command did they decide to use it as a base?  How long did it take for MINUSCA to understand where its troops were operating from?  And what's going to happen to the person who… presumably, they didn't just wander in disorganized and start using it.

Deputy Spokesman:  The point to be made is that all troops have been advised about the directives.  It's… we've tried to make it clear that anyone when… including, by the way, when armed groups are occupying schools, they're also requested to leave.  And we have a directive out now that is… makes it very clear that MINUSCA forces are requested not to use schools for any purpose and that abandoned schools which are occupied should be liberated without delay in order to allow educational authorities to reopen them as soon as possible.  Masood?

   MINUSCA is also dumping waste negligently leading to malaria, a UN memoleaked to and exclusively published on February 3 by Inner City Press has shown.

  On February 13, when Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq about the UN killing three civilians along with one combatant near Bambari, the lack of accountability in UN Peacekeeping was again on display. Haq dodged - this was a day before he called Inner City Press obsessive and then, as he left, an a*hole - so on February 14 Inner City Press asked, transcript here: 

Inner City Press: the UN is calling on the… the Congolese authorities to look into the civilian casualties they may have caused; I'm wondering if now, a day later, if… if you have anything on the reported killing of three civilians by MINUSCA in CAR outside of Bambari.  What is… what procedure is in place for the UN to know how many people were killed?  And it's… you described it as a crossing of the red line.  But how many people… how many non-combatants were killed?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, you've heard the update I gave you about the situation there.  The UN mission has reaffirmed its impartiality in the hostilities.  And, again, its core mandate is to protect civilians.  The worry in this case was that if… once the red line was crossed, that fighting would be brought to the civilians of Bambari, which has happened before, mind you.  And it needed to be stopped at this stage.  Beyond this, we are looking into our actions over… of the past few days to see whether there are any further details.

Inner City Press:  No, I just want to follow up, because I'm sure the DRC army said they did what they did for a reason.  So I'm not contesting your reason for shooting.  I'm just saying, doesn't the UN have a mechanism to, in fact, discover and disclose civilians that it killed?  And what is that mechanism?  And what is the deadline to state what happened?  Not why it happened.

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, it's not a question of deadline.  We'll need to get further details, and the mission is trying to get further details about what happened, including any potential casualties, such as civilian casualties.  

  It's called hypocrisy.

From the February 13 UN transcript:

Inner City Press: on the Central African Republic announcement that you made, the reports say that… that… or the people that were fired on say that one commander, but also three civilians were killed.  What is the UN's estimate of what the effect of using the helicopter, I guess, gunships was?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, at this stage, we are still trying to evaluate what happened as a result of its actions.  Like I said, we had no choice but to take the particular action we did once it was clear that the actions being taken by the FPRC could harm civilians in Bambari.  The coalition led by the FPRC refused to end its military campaign, has made taking Bambari its main objective.  From our standpoint, we had been trying to mediate and urged them to engage in dialogue.  So we continue to stress that and we continue to stress the need to protect civilians, including in Bambari.  And so we're hopeful that the armed groups, the FPRC and the UPC, will now stop crossing the red lines that they're not to cross.  It's because a red line was crossed that we had to engage.

Question:  But, if a military intervention… if it's true what's being… what this says that… that the ratio between civilians and combatant casualties is 1 to 3, or 75 per cent civilian, is it acceptable to the UN?  And what's the mechanism to investigate that?

Deputy Spokesman:  We're looking into see exactly what happened, what the casualties were, whether they were civilians or combatants.  At this stage, we don't have those sorts of figures, those sorts of numbers.  It's clear that a helicopter from the UN Mission had to intervene because the FPRC members went into an uninhabited zone.  That necessitated our action, and that was designed to protect the civilians in Bambari.  Had we not acted, the fear was that that would mean that there would be actual fighting involving civilians in Bambari.

  So how many civilians were killed by the UN?

 On February 7 Inner City Press put the question to the UN Ambassador of France, which has controlled UN Peacekeeping four times in a row not, and prospectively a fifth. See below.

  Ambassador Francois Delattre told Inner City Press "I will take a close look at it, it is a high priority for us." Video here.

  On February 6, in a classic UN noon briefing cover up, holdover spokesman Stephane Dujarric when Inner City Press asked about its February 3 exclusive said he wouldn't speak to the authenticity of the leaked memo but that the UN is looking at possibilities of moving or somehow improving the dump.

  Then the memo showed up as "removed" from Scribd -- NOT by Inner City Press - so we uploaded it to our own server, now via PDF here. 

(Likewise, eviction by Dujarric and the UN's current head of communications Cristina Gallach has hindered Inner City Press from putting up video of Dujarric's evasion. The high-speed cable in the office Gallach evicted Inner City Press from sits entirely unused by the Egyptian state media Akhbar al Yom she seeks to give it to.)

  For the UN to try to cast doubt on the leaked memo while seeking to dodge its contents with vague assurances of improvements is typical. 

  The UN has known about this dumping and malaria for months. Who will be help accountable?

  The memo states that "following complaints by the local population living in the vicinity of the dumpsite" a UN investigation found that the dumpsite sludge dams breed insects which result in sickness. Eighty-one percent of the UN's victims are children, the memo says.

  The report, under "Community Discontent," cites malaria. It notes that when concerns were raised, "police force was used to quell the dissent."

  Later on February 3, an "anonymous" UN Peacekeeping officials spuns wire services about DPKO's same-old claims to reform itself, which include Ladsous visiting the Haiti mission he has mis-managed. 

  But this CAR negligence will be a test of the commitment to reform expressed, among other places, in the US Senate confirmation hearings. How can Ladsous (or MINUSCA as constituted) remain in place? How can France keep this UN Department?
]  
   By the same token, how could corrupt censor Cristina Gallach remain in the UN system, in a post other than Public Information of which she had made a mockery? We'll have more on this.

  Inner City Press has long questioned Ladsous, for example about his linking of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers to "R&R" or rest and recreation, here. Ladsous replies, "I don't answer your questions, Mister."

  Now under new UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, many are interested who will replace Ladsous. While other Under Secretary General posts like Cristina Gallach's atop the Department of Public Information are now subject to public vacancy notices, DPKO has not. Why not? Inner City Press asked, but UN holdeover spokesman Stephane Dujarric didn't answer.

  Sources will Inner City Press France is trying to hold onto DPKO for the fifth time in a row, albeit with a women, on information and belief Sylvie Bermann, since 2014 France's ambassador in London. Five times in a row? Given this kind of mismanagement, in a former French colony?

Exclusive: UN Waste In Dump Caused Malaria in Central African Republic, Report Leaked to Inner City Press S... by Matthew Russell Lee on Scribd

  This concerned the Kolongo dumpsite in Bangui. Related memos refer to the UN in Mali as well.

  Tellingly, this UN memo warns of litigation, "taking into account lessons learned in the Haiti case." But was did the UN learn?

  Ban Ki-moon, who after leaving the UN on January 1 has found his campaign for South Korea's Presidency implode amid corruption charges, dodged legal papers about Haiti for years. In his last month he promised millions but so far less than $2 million have been raised, more than half of it blood money from South Korea.

  In the Central African Republic, UN peacekeepers have been accused of sexual abuse, including of minors. The UN itself recently accused 25 Burundian peacekeepers of sexual exploitation and abuse, but UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, the fourth French national in a row to hold the position, determined to continue to pay the Pierre Nkurunziza government for 800 more troops.

  New UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is considering who will replace Ladsous. He should consider and act on this as well.

  UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, while declining to explain Ladsous' reasoning, recent answered only two and a half of 22 questions Inner City Press posed in writing. UN Department of Public Information chief Cristina Gallach evicted Inner City Press from its UN office without due process, confining it still to minders to cover the General Assembly.

  The UN reflexively covers up its abuses. Even after killing 10,000 people with cholera in Haiti, these practices continue in the Central African Republic.

  Other memos have been leaked to Inner City Press. Meanwhile even the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, rather than dealing with the substance of a UN Ethics Office memo Inner City Press published, has Tweeted a press release saying it is all unsubstantiated. Really? The UN must be reformed.

Exclusive: UNSG Guterres Won't Release Budget or Staffing Chart, ICP Obtains Supposed Reform Chart

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Series

UNITED NATIONS, May 24 – Even facing budget cuts, the UN remains as untransparent as ever, even more so. On May 24 Inner City Press asked Secretary General Antonio Guterres' holdover spokesman Stephane Dujarric for a copy of Guterres' budget speech or budget, but none was given. Later on May 24 the head of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, which Guterres spoke before, issued three tweets about the presentation. Inner City Press has obtained and tweeted a copy of Guterres' placemat-like "Peace and Security Pillar" chart, with three separate Udner Secretaries General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Peace Operations and Field Management and Support. Many are left wondering, where is the reform? Inner City Press on May 24 asked Dujarric, UN transcript here: 
on the budget, could I just… it's a factual question.  You've listed today at 3 presenting his pro… proposed programme budget for the biennium 2018-19 to ACABQ [Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions]. One, is it open?  Two, can we see the budget?  And if… three, if not, why not?

Spokesman:  The process remains the same.  This is a budget that has start… that was elaborated before the sec… this Secretary-General came into office.  As you know… as you may not know, but it's kind of a long process.  This is the first step.  It will go to the ACABQ and then go to the Fifth Committee.  The Fifth Committee deliberations are often open, and then I think we'll get a clearer picture then.

   But it's not clear. On May 24 before 6 pm Guterres held a meeting with his senior management group since after a two week trip he is in New York for only three days, leaving tomorrow. At the appointed time for Azerbaijan, streaming out of Guterres' conference room were USg Jeff Feltman, Jean Pierre Lacroix who declined to answer Inner City Press' question about France's 20+ year rule of UN Peacekeeping, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Fabrizio Hochschild and others. Earlier on May 24 Inner City Press asked Dujarric to "please state if a David J Vennett is now a/the principal advisor to the SG, if so why he is not in iSeek and how he was recruited and hired and, again, please provide a list of who works in / or the Executive Office of the Secretary General and whether they are paid by the UN, by a UN affiliate like UNOPS, or by a country and is so which." There was no answer. Dujarric announced, "Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will be heading out of New York for Italy to attend the G-7 meeting. On Saturday, he will participate in the outreach session of the summit, which is taking place in Taormina.  The focus of the discussion will be "Innovation and Sustainable Development in Africa."  He will leave Taormina Saturday afternoon." Does it take from Thursday to Saturday to get to Italy? Is there a stop over on the way back? What was in Guterres' budget speech on May 24, a copy of which Inner City Press requested? Why was corrupt censor Cristina Gallach speaking in the General Assembly Hall on May 24, and why has her censorship continued, without hearing or appeal?

Facing US budget cuts, how does today's UN react? On May 1 Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about the 12:15 pm item on Secretary General Antonio Guterres' public schedule: meeting with members of US Congress. Inner City Press asked, who are the members? Dujarric replied that it was organized by the UN Foundation and, pressed, agreed to provide the list. When it arrived, it consisted of 11 House of Representatives members -- each and every one a Democrat. Here is the list: "Matthew, here's the list:
1.        The Honorable Barbara Lee (California)
2.        The Honorable Diana DeGette (Colorado)
3.        The Honorable Val B. Demings (Florida)
4.        The Honorable Lois Frankel (Florida) TBC
5.        The Honorable Cheri Bustos (Illinois)
6.        The Honorable Robin Kelly (Illinois)
7.        The Honorable Chellie Pingree (Maine)
8.        The Honorable Nita Lowey (New York)
9.        The Honorable Yvette Clarke (New York)
10.         The Honorable Carolyn Maloney (New York)  TBC
11.         The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas)"

  We'll have more on this. It is part of a pattern. Guterres and/or the holdovers surrounding him extended the UN contract of Jeffrey Sachs, for example, then refused to explain his quotes or what the upside of extending his contract is. Inner City Press had to repeatedly ask the UN to get it to acknowledge the contract extension, which was then re-reported and added to by Fox, here, which noted Sachs did not explain himself. Now on April, citing and using his UN role, Sachs has issued this endorsement of Dho Young-shim to head the UN World Tourism Organization. Sachs' letter says "in my capacity as a senior UN advisor." On April 24 Inner City Press put the question to the UN's holdover spokesman Stephane Dujarric who as before claimed he didn't know but would look into.  UN transcript here. But a day later, nothing. So on April 25 Inner City Press asked again. UN transcript here Inner City Press: on the Jeffrey Sachs thing, yesterday, you said you'd look into it.  I'm staring… I mean, it's been published.  It's an open letter that he wrote saying that this candidate do should get the job.  Have you seen it?  Have you used your Google machine to see that…?

Spokesman:  I have used the Google machine.  I love the Google machine.Inner City Press: Okay.  What's… is… now… yesterday, you said you wouldn't say if it's appropriate or not because you hadn't seen it.  Now that you have, is it appropriate?

Spokesman:  No, I don't think UN officials should endorse other UN officials.

Inner City Press:  So what's going to be done?

Spokesman:  Abdelhamid?

 So a UN official, recently extended by Antonio Guterres, is making an endorsement in a contested election to head a UN agency. We'll have more on this. Back on April 18 Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about not a quote but an article Sachs had published the night before on CNN, "How Trump Could Make the US a Climate Pariah over Paris Pact." From the UN Transcript: 

Inner City Press: I'd asked you before about some comments by Jeffrey Sachs, the UN Special Adviser on the SDGs, and you said you hadn't seen them.  I don't know if you have yet, but I want to ask you about an article that was published last night, yesterday evening, by Jeffrey Sachs entitled How Trump Could Make the US a Climate Pariah over Paris Pact.  Given that it's directly within the scope of his mandate, is this a statement as a UN official?  You said the other ones weren't so…

Spokesman:  No, his…

Inner City Press:  It's on climate change.  It's on the SDGs…

Spokesman:  It's not, as far as I know, it is not a statement made in his… in… in his capacity as a UN envoy.

Inner City Press: You said at the time that you hadn't seen the other comments.  Have you taken any time to actually take a look at them?

Spokesman:  I'm aware of his comments. 

  And? On April 11, Inner City Press asked Dujarric, video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: you'd said previously that the Secretary-General had decided to extend the contract of Jeffrey Sachs as a Special Adviser on the Millennium Development Goals.  So I wanted to ask you, he has been quoted that the US President is "the quintessential short-term populist and a nonstop font of lies."  So I wanted to know, in what capacity does he speak?  Is this something that the Secretary-General considered?

Spokesman:  If, indeed, he said those things, that would not be in his capacity as a UN envoy, but I haven't seen those quotes myself.

Inner City Press:  Well, there's a story…

Spokesman:  Okay.

Inner City Press:  He didn't choose to answer about them either to deny them, and he has written an article talking about climate change fantasy, and he called… there's a number of things that he said.

Spokesman:  He has a role.  When he speaks as a UN envoy, it's fairly clear.

Inner City Press:  Right.  But my question is, do you think as a recent article says, do you think this is a wise thing, by the Secretary-General, if he’s, in fact, so concerned with continuing US funding, that he's even making post decisions for that basis, is this… what's the upside to Jeffrey Sachs that justify this downside?

Spokesman:  A number of people have been extended for, for a year during a transition period.

  Why is Sachs needed, for an entire transition year? We'll have more on this.  Generally Guterres' UN has been cautious; many have portrayed Guterres' acceptance of David Beasley as an attempt to keep the US funds flowing. But there are more surprises. For weeks the UN has refused to answer Inner City Press if the UN has kept Jeffrey Sachs on as a UN official. Finally on April 4, when Inner City Press asked yet another time, Guterres' holdover spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed that Sachs is still a UN official -- even after he stood on the steps of the UN residence on Sutton Place when Ban Ki-moon used it for a campaign announcement, and said he would advise Ban's campaign for South Korean president (which quickly collapsed.). Vine Camera video here. From the April 4 transcript: 

Inner City Press: Yesterday, I e-mailed you about Jeffrey Sachs.  Does he remain in his position?

Spokesman:  Yes, he does.

 That position is "Special Adviser to the SG on the Sustainable Development Goals." According to the UN website, Sachs has been a UN official since 2002: that is, for 15 years. As a UN official, beyond flacking for the Ban even as corruption scandals enveloped him, Sachs has written "Donald Trump’s Climate Fantasies." This is apparently a series: there is also "Why Millennials Will Reject Trump." Sachs' forays into politics have not been limited to South Korea. From March 31: "Trump Calls Congressional Inquiry a ‘Witch Hunt.'  We obviously need a special prosecutor at this stage." Sachs is quoted, on Trump: "'I have to live with this idiot every day' #pageberlin."

  This contrasts to the UN's parallel M.O. of stealth and stonewalling, with a limited and carefully picked media, describing lobbying for funds as "UN advocacy." When Secretary General Antonio Guterres went on a trip to Kenya, in New York the Press was not informed of any chance to go. But there Guterres appeared with Al Jazeera, and then in a profile in the Washington Post from a usually hard-hitting reporter, this time quoting the UN's Herve Ladsous, who has mismanaged UN Peacekeeping and the Press for five years. The article described the UN Foundation as "advocating for UN causes." But shouldn't issues like accountability for victims of UN cholera in Haiti, and opposing censorship in the UN and for example in Western Cameroon, with no Internet for more than 70 days, be "UN causes"? In fact, UN Foundation lobbies against US budget cuts to the UN, even if targeted and designed to bring about reform. The UN's cause, it seems, is to perpetuate itself.

  Recently in the UN basement as Inner City Press came in late through a long line of tourists and students at the metal detectors Inner City Press must now use everyday since the UN evicted it for covering corruption, a meeting in a windowless side conference room was ending. Outside in the hall it was labeled, Congressional Group. But inside on a TV screen it said, “UN Foundation: Congressional Learning Trip.” UN Foundation was set up, with Ted Turner's money, to help and now defend the UN. The UN's point person on sexual abuse, long a topic of interest for such Republicans as Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee), is Jane Holl Lute, who before that was a high official of the UN Foundation and of the Obama Administration. She was notably absent when a “new” sexual abuse strategy, immediately critiqued by the group Code Blue and others, was announced. On March 13, Inner City Press asked UN Spokeman Stephane Dujarric, UN Transcript here: 

Inner City Press: last week, I saw a meeting in the basement 1B held by the UN Foundation.  It was called Congressional Learning Trip.  And so, I guess I wanted to know, number one, what is the relationship between the UN and UN Foundation?  Can it hold a meeting of its own accord with congresspeople?  Are you aware whether it was only… you know, was it a bipartisan meeting?

Spokesman:  It was a bipartisan… I mean, it wasn't… it was far from a stealth meeting as you described it, because, obviously…Inner City Press: On the outside, it was congressional group, and then, when you opened the door, it said UN Foundation, so it was stealth.

Spokesman:  Right.  It was a programme run by the Better World Campaign, and they often bring up staffers.  And it was very much a bipartisan group of staff members who work with senators and House members, both Democratic and Republican, an information tour of the UN.

Inner City Press:  Can groups that are more critical of the UN or do… or are seeking UN reform, such as Code Blue, such as Government Accountability Project, can they schedule their meetings in 1B?

Spokesman:  I think we've… I think… I've been here for about 16 years.  I think often groups that are very critical of the UN are able to speak at the UN.

Question:  No, but in… can they sponsor congresspeople in 1B?

Spokesman:  That's… it's up to them to see who they're willing to invite.

  This is a bogus answer: could GAP and Code Blue book UN Conference Rooms to instruct US Congresspeople about what needs to be reformed at the UN? We'll have more on this.

  (One of Guterres' team is quoted that Guterres' goal is to say out of Trump's Twitter feed. Is telling a newspaper that the best way to make it come about? And if Trump or Rex Tillerson eschewed a traveling press corps for hand-picked coverage, there would be and is outcry. The Free UN Coalition for Access asks, Is it acceptable by the UN?)

   Down in Washington, Democratic sources on the Hill told Inner City Press of a visit by the Obama administration's appointee to the UN, Jeffrey Feltman. Strangely, perhaps, they list the topic not as involving only Feltman's specific UN job, the Department of Political Affairs he has been held over to head until April Fools Day in 2018, but “budget cuts to peacekeeping.” The head of that Department, held by France for more than 20 years, should be the one lobbying. But Herve Ladsous is unappealing in the best of times; now he left on March 31, replaced by his fellow Frenchman Jean-Pierre Lacroix. Will Lacroix be able to stave off cuts? Will he continue to use public funds, more than a quarter of it from US taxpayers, to pay peacekeepers accused of rape such as in the contingents from Burundi and Cameroon?

   Inner City Press on March 10, still under censorship restrictions imposed without any hearing or appeal after it sought to cover the fallout from the UN bribery indictment of Macau-based businessman and former Clinton funder Ng Lap Seng, was Banned from a simple photo opportunity on the UN's 38th floor. The Ban's by the Department of Public Information. When asked the basis, the UN's holdover Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq gave no reason or definition being used; he barely looked up from his computer, from which he never did answer Inner City Press' questions on Cameroon abuses and the UN's Cameroon Resident Coordinator Najat Rochdi blocking it on Twitter, nor how much "extra-budgetary" funds the UN proposes to use on Louise Arbour's D1 head of office.

   The moves are stealth, like much in the UN these days - and have the potential of backfiring. Watch this site.

ICP Asks IMF About Saudi - Blackstone Deal, and Possible Extension for Ghana, Cameroon

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 25 – When the International Monetary Fund resumed its biweekly embargoed press briefings on May 25, Inner City Press asked about Saudi Arabia (and Blackstone), Ghana and again Cameroon.IMF Spokesperson Gerry Rice read out Inner City Press' question, "On Saudi Arabia, what is the IMF's view of the interaction between the country's sovereign wealth fund's deal with Blackstone and the warning that rapid cuts to the government’s budget deficit could damage the economy?" Rice replied that the IMF views the Blackstone deal as an attempt to diversity internationally, and not related to domestic deficit reduction (transcript will be on IMF's website. Inner City Press also asked, "amid reports that Ghana will agree to extend the IMF program in return for a bigger credit facility, what is the IMF's position on the government's speed in meeting the objectives of the program?" Rice acknowledged that the IMF and Ghana are discussing an extension but said it would require a formal request by the country; he said a key objective is to key public debt on a continuing downward path. On Cameroon (and Yemen and the UN's "Financing for Development" outcome documents), no answers yet. Watch this site. From the IMF's May 11 transcript, of its Deputy Spokesperson Willam Murray: "I’ve got a question from Inner City Press on Sri Lanka. Do recent government moves on the Inland Revenue Act make it more likely the IMF Board will act on the request for completion of the second loan review in June and make a third disbursement? Again, it’s a question about Sri Lanka and the Inland Revenue Act and the likelihood of completing the second review. We had a staff level agreement in Sri Lanka on May 3rd, last week. We noted in announcing that agreement that it’s subject to completion of a prior action by the authorities, which is submission of the Inland Revenue Act to Parliament. And that was a prior action that was agreed earlier this year. Our legal experts are still analyzing the content of the new draft bill, and are in discussions with the Sri Lankan authorities. That’s where we stand at the moment on Sri Lanka."

 The answer's appreciated. On Cameroon, Inner City Press has asked for the IMF's "updated view about the Internet cut off (lifted only after 94 days) and other restrictions in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon injuring 'Silicon Mountain.'" Watch this site: we'll stay on this. Back on April 12 when at its Spring Meetings the IMF held its Middle East and Central Asia press conference, Inner City Press submitted this question: "Please describe the IMF's view and possible plans on Yemen, given the crisis there, including on President Hadi's proposed moving of the Central Bank out of the capital to Aden. What is the IMF's view of and any assistance to the Central Bank's performance?" After the briefing, the IMF provided this answer: "The humanitarian and economic impact of the conflict has been devastating; it has caused many deaths, depressed economic activity, and destroyed much of Yemen’s infrastructure. There is now even a tangible risk that the conflict could lead to famine in some parts of Yemen. Yemenis food supply relies largely on imported staples, like wheat and rice. Yemen needs urgently foreign exchange grants from donors to pay for imported food. But Yemenis also need to be able to buy the food that is imported. Resuming paying public salaries and social assistance grants in all of Yemen is therefore also urgently needed. Given these needs, the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) could be the pivotal player for facilitating food imports and for resuming paying public salaries and social assistance grants in all of Yemen. But to play this humanitarian role, the central banks in Aden and Sana’a need urgently to find a way to cooperate in the interest of providing sufficient food to all Yemenis.  Fund engagement is currently limited. We support the Yemeni authorities and the international community to the best of our abilities.The Fund stands ready to re-engage more fully as soon as the conflict is resolved to help rebuild economic institutions, jumpstart growth, and stabilize the economy."

 Back on April 6 when the IMF held its biweekly embargoed press briefing, Inner City Press asked Spokesperson Gerry Rice about South Africa, Zambia, Bosnia, Nigeria and the UN, Cameroon and other issues. On Zambia, Inner City Press asked, "On Zambia, please state if a sale / privatization of Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) is no longer a condition for an IMF program with the country, as inferred from the recent list of conditions issued by the IMF's Tsidi Tsikata." After the briefing, an IMF Spokesperson replied to Inner City Press that "We have made progress towards reaching understandings on an economic program that could be supported by an IMF arrangement. There is broad agreement on key objectives, targets, and policies. We have agreed to continue discussions at the forthcoming April 2017 Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank here in Washington D.C. At this stage, it is premature for us to get into specifics on policy actions such as sales of parastatals."

  On South Africa, Inner City Press asked "does the IMF have any comment on the recent firing of the finance minister? Separately, have there been any discussions of a possible program with South Africa?" Rice said that no request for a program has been received -- "the South African authorities have not requested a program from the IMF" -- and that the IMF normally does not comment on "domestic politics." He went ont to say, "it's important that institutions remain strong and the government can be united on policies for inclusive growth for all South Africans." We'll have more on this.

  On Bosnia, Inner City Press asked the IMF, among other things: "what the IMF's comment on opposition, from farmers and the Republika Srpska to the excise tax on fuel which it is reported is a condition for the IMF's program?" Early on April 6, prior to the embargoed briefing but there reiterated at it, the IMF's mission chief for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Mr. Nadeem Ilahi, said: "The IMF took note that the BiH parliament did not adopt the amendments to the law on excise tax and the new law on deposit insurance during a session held on April 5, 2017. This will have implications for mobilizing external financing for much needed infrastructure projects and for the authorities’ efforts to modernize banking sector legislation. Both are key requirements of the authorities’ program, supported by the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). We now expect a significant delay in completion of the first review of the program.   In recent months, the authorities have made good progress in implementing economic reforms supported by the EFF, particularly by strengthening fiscal discipline, safeguarding financial stability, and improving business environment. We stand ready to assist the authorities in continuing the implementation of structural reforms to unlock growth potential and maintain macroeconomic stability, including through IMF advice and technical assistance.The authorities need more time to make further progress in a number of key areas of their program, such as securing financing for key infrastructure project, modernizing banking sector legislations, and improving corporate governance of state owned enterprises. In the period ahead, we will maintain close dialogue with the authorities and remain committed to assist them in their efforts.” We'll have more on this.

  Back on March 23 when the International Monetary Fund held its previous biweekly embargoed press briefing, Inner City Press asked Spokesperson Gerry Rice about Dominica, Belarus, Cameroon and other issues. On Dominica, Inner City Press asked: "the IMF's Mr. Guerson has referred to 'high Citizenship-By-Investment (CBI) revenues.' What is the IMF's view of fraud and / or AML dangers in that CBI program? Mr Guerson also called for the 'operationalization of the Eastern Caribbean Asset Management Company.” Can you say more: by when, and on what assets?" Shortly after the briefing, an IMF spokesperson responded to Inner City Press that "seaking more generally and not on Dominica specifically, the IMF has conducted extensive research on citizenship programs in the Caribbean including on the regulatory and governance challenges related to these programs. As a general principle, the Fund has stressed the importance of transparency in the design and implementation of these programs. When properly run, these programs can be an important source of additional revenue. Generally speaking we have called for receipts to be held for future generations, debt repayments and not to be used for regular operating expenses." Some in Domenica have asked if the Skerrit government's program is meeting this standard, for example with regard to Macau-based businessman Ng Lap Seng now facing a UN-related bribery trial in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. But to emphasize: the IMF's answer is general.

On Belarus, Inner City Press asked: "requests have been publicly made to write to head IMF mission to Belarus Peter Dolman and advisor of the IMF mission in Minsk Julia Lysko to NOT give loans to the government. Has the IMF received such letters? If so, how many, and what weight does it give them and the issues raised in them?" Rice read out the question, then said he's not aware of any letters being received, but is aware of a petition from press reports. He said the IMF met Belarus' presidnet on March 16 and talks about a program will continue up to the IMF's Spring Meetings in April. 

  On Cameroon, Inner City Press asked: "the IMF's Mr. Selassie said: 'there will be significant fiscal reforms that need to be effected as well as reforms to promote growth and we are working on developing those with a number of the CEMAC countries.' Please provide further specifics, particularly regarding Cameroon and the continuing financial impact of the now 65-day Internet shut down to the Anglophone areas including “Silicon Mountain” in Buea." We hope to have more on this.

Earlier in March, Inner City Press asked both the International Monetary Fund and the UN Security Council's president about the crisis in Cameroon's Anglophone areas on March 9 and heard that while the IMF acknowledges the financial risk, the Security Council does not see it as a threat to international peace and security. But the UN's Resident Coordinator Najat Rochdi has said nothing about the crisis, and blocks on Twitter the Press which asks about it. Is the UN system failing, in its new Secretary General's promise of increased preventative diplomacy?

 When the IMF's spokesperson Gerry Rice took questions on March 9, Inner City Press asked about Cameroon, specifically the crackdown in the northwest and southwest of the country. Inner City Press asked, "On Cameroon, after the mission led by Corinne Delechat, what is the status of talks for a program, and since the IMF cited “civil unrest in the neighboring Central African Republic,” please state the IMF's awareness of civil unrest and arrests in Northwest and Southwest Cameroon, also known as the Anglophone areas, and their impact." Rice read out the question and then said, among other things, that the risk factors for 2017 include a continuation of the "social and political events" in the "so-called Anglophone" areas of Cameroon. Interim video here.  On IMF site, here, from 34:56. IMF transcript below.

  But a few hours later when Inner City Press asked the month's UN Security Council president Matthew Rycroft of the UK, who had just been in Cameroon, about the crisis, he said it is not a threat to international peace and security. From the UK transcript:

Inner City Press: In Cameroon there’s an issue that has been existing since November in Anglophone areas which have no internet for 52 days, there’s been teachers arrested, no schools. So I’m wondering as one Council member said, it did somehow come up in meetings, but was the issue raised at all, and what response was given by the government to this ongoing cut off of internet and abuse in this area?

Amb Rycroft: It came up informally in our contacts with members of the Government of Cameron but as far as I recall it did not come up in any formal meeting, and I think that makes sense because we were going there to look at the threat to international peace and security, and Boko Haram, and related issues, but in private, informal discussions with ministers in the Government of Cameroon it came up and they gave us the benefit of their perspective on the issue.

Inner City Press: Is there any Security Council role that can be played in trying to preventively deal with this issue?

Amb Rycroft: I don’t think it’s an issue on our agenda per se, we keep our eye on our radar across the world, but we have to make a judgement about whether something is a threat to international peace and security, and at the moment, I think our judgement would be that issue is an issue that is confined within Cameroon without international aspects.

  But the UN Resident Coordinator does nothing about it, says nothing, blocks the Press. Inner City Press asked the UN's holdover deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, UN transcript here: 

Inner City Press: the answer you sent about Mr. [Francois] Louncény Fall saying that he would raise issues to the authorities.  Can you say whether the issue of the internet being off in two provinces for 52 days has been raised?  And, secondarily, I wanted to ask you this.  You announced from this podium that Najat Rochdi is going to Central African Republic as Resident Coordinator.  What's the process to appoint a new Resident Coordinator for the UN system in Cameroon?  And is it… is it… is it… can it be public in any way?  It seems many people have complained that, while she was there, she never raised the Anglophone issue.  And, in fact, I found that she blocks Inner City Press on Twitter, so I'm unable to ask her why this issue has not been raised.  But what's the process to replace… and you can smirk, but should a UN official in their official account…?

Spokesman:  That's an unrelated thing.  I mean, obviously, all people… all individuals, not even just all UN officials, are free to block whoever they want on Twitter.  That's within their rights.

Inner City Press:  Including missions?  So you think a peacekeeping mission should pick and choose which media can follow it?

Spokesman:  Organizations will respond… are supposed to respond to press requests.  Individuals can do whatever they like with their Twitter accounts.

Inner City Press:  What's the process of replacing the Resident Coordinator in Cameroon?

Spokesman:  It's the same as in any other place.  There's a process that goes… that you go through, and the Resident Coordinator's selection process is supervised by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). 

  This is at odds with the UN's claims to be transparent in its use of public money, and to be open to the press and impacted public, and will be pursued at Rochdi's next assignment at the UN in Central African Republic. But it raises the question: how are UN Resident Coordinators selected? Inner City Press reported on Ban Ki-moon's son in law Siddharth Chatterjee getting multiple promotion under Ban, including being named UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya by Ban himself. (Inner City Press was evicted by Ban's UN, and remains restricted under Ban's successor). But shouldn't Anglophone Cameroonians have some input into the UN's next Resident Coordinator in their country? This is a project for the Free UN Coalition for Access, @FUNCA_info. Watch these sites and feeds.

From the IMF's March 9 transcript:

"There is a question of Cameroon, from Matthew Lee, "After the Mission what is the status of talks for a program; and since the IMF cited civil unrest in the neighboring Central African Republic, please state the IMF's awareness of civil unrest and arrests in Northwest and Southwest Cameroon? And also known as the Anglophone areas, and their impact?"

So, the background here is, I think important the context. So, the Fund's engagement here in the CEMAC Region, CEMAC is the six Central African Economic nations that comprise the Central African Economic and monetary community. They met in Yaoundé on December 23rd. The Managing Director was there. And in that meeting, heads of state discussed the economic situation, the severe shocks that have hit that CEMAC region in recent years, including the sharp decline in oil prices, and decided to act collectively and in a concerted manner. And the heads of state requested the assistance of the IMF to design economic reforms needed to reestablish macroeconomic stability in each country and in the region as a whole.

So, again, context: I can tell you that the funders already sent missions to Gabon, Republic of Congo. And a reminder to you, that we already have programs with Central African Republic and Chad. Okay?

Now, we also have sent a mission to Cameroon, which is the question. And we did issue a press statement, which the question referred to, just on Tuesday. That was the Corrine Delechat reference.

So, the specific question, to turn to that. We are indeed aware of the events in the so-called Anglophone regions of Cameroon. The macroeconomic impact of any event that could affect production and/or consumption, is typically felt with a certain lag. So, these events started in November last year, and thus are likely to have not had a significant impact on production in 2016.

For 2017, the risks to our growth outlook include a combination of external and domestic factors, including continuation of the sociopolitical events in the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon. And as our press release the other day indicated, our view is that the medium-term outlook for the Cameroonian economy remains positive, subject to the implementation of appropriate policies."

We'll have more on this. Watch this site.