Investigative reporting from the inner city to Wall Street to the United Nations This is the blogspot version InnerCityPress.com
Friday, November 30, 2018
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
COURTHOUSE REPORT: In UN Bribery Case of US v Ho Gadio Threatened To Trash CEFC in Chad Asked $100K for Hollande Event
FEDERAL COURTHOUSE, November 28 – In the UN bribery prosecution by the US against Patrick Ho of China Energy Fund Committee, on November 28 Senegal's former Foreign Minister Cheikh Gadio testified all day on how it was he came to be standing with Chad's President Idriss Deby and CEFC's Patrick Ho and gift boxes with $2 million in cash inside - and what happened afterwards.
Gadio texted Deby that his "Chinese friends" were coming to N'djamena with "excellent offers." But when the meeting happened, after speeches by Deby and Ho and CEFC's Zang, suddenly CEFC brought in gift boxes, "as big as that TV," Gadio told the court. Deby accepted them.
But then Gadio, back in his hotel, got a call to return to meet Deby alone. According to Gadio, the coup leader Deby was offended. He had no problem with the cash staying in the country, but required a letter re-characterizing it as a donation. This was provided but Gadio criticized how it was written. By this time, the email made clear, Gadio was mostly focused on getting paid. He'd asked CEFC for $100,00 for a Dakar event co-sponsored by France's then-President Francois Hollande. (He also took money from Total, Hertz and a Zimbabwe cell phone company). Gadio texted his son Boubker in Dubai that if the Chinese didn't pay him by January "we will go to Chad in January and destroy their reputation and strategies in Chad! The President will listen to us!" This was ALL IN CAPS. When asked about the threat by Douglas Zolkind of the prosecution, getting ready for the defense's cross examination, Gadio said he as "translating my frustration" which Zolkind repeated as channeling. This might not work well on cross, which we will be covering, watch this site. Day 3 video here. Initially, UN President of the General Assembly Vuk Jeremic set it up, putting CEFC who he went on to work for in contact with Gadio. Both met Ho - Jeremic with UN Security who said nothing - in Trump World Tower. Gadio used the UN to reach Deby, in a "high level" meeting on Central African Republic. (In another Gadio UN connection, when confronted about the $2 million in cash Gadio called his wife, the head of the UN in Equatorial Guinea.) UN PGA Jeremic's deal making culminating in CEFC offering tanks and surveillance equipment to military coup leader Deby (Gadio lauded him a Pan Africanist, citing no less than Marcus Garvey).
Gadio's emails may kill off once and for all his ambition to run again for President of Senegal. In one, he complains that in 2005 when he was Foreign Minister and Senegal switched from recognizing Taiwan to the PR China, he didn't get paid. He wrote that the then President of Senegal got millions of dollars from the Chinese but didn't pass through any to him and that he complained to his Chinese counterparts about it. How will this play in Senegal? Watch this site. The opening statements were given on November 26. US Prosecutor Paul A. Hayden said Patrick Ho used UN accredited NGO CEFC to cultivate Sam Kutesa while he was President of the General Assembly, and is caught on audio tape planning to bribe other high UN official(s) - and still no audit by UNSG Antonio Guterres. On November 27 after former UN President of the General Assembly Vuk Jeremic under subpoena testified about the role of Cheikh Gadio in CEFC reaching Chad's president Deby, Gadio himself took the stand at 4:35 pm. Post-testimony stand-up video here.
He said he didn't know that CEFC's Ho would have $2 million in gift boxes to hand over at Deby's mansion -- he said he could "only think of it as a bribery attempt" -- but that he "didn't walk away." Why not? Gadio said he wanted to get paid for his and his company SARATAs work - and then Gadio said Deby needed help to fight Boko Haram, an excused use for example by the also long term president of Cameroon, Paul Biya. Inner City Press has heard from Senegal that, contrary to a portion of the defense's opening statement, Gadio is no longer running for president there but instead supports incumbent Macky Sall. He stopped abruptly a few minutes before five o'clock and, unwittingly, stayed in the court room as defense and prosecution began to argue about whethere Ho's visits to the US when he did not enter the UN should still come into evidence. Inner City Press has repeatedly asked the UN to disclose its knowledge of how many times Ho, from his base across First Avenue in Trump World Tower, entered the UN - but Guterres' UN has refused. Likewise, Gadio when asked to disclose his jobs after being Senegal's foreign minister listed a political party but NOT his stint as the Organization for Islamic Cooperation's envoy on Central African Republic. We'll have more on this - and this: earlier on November 27 a CEFC voluteer then staffer, David Riccardi-Zhu, said he was referred to CEFC by his father who worked for the UN. He attended meetings in CEFC's office / apartment in the Trump World Tower, where Ho met with a yet to be named "foreign representative from the United Kingdom." He described UN DESA bending over for CEFC and its sustainable development award - which in 2017 Guterres' DESA still took CEFC's money for even after Ho was arrested and indicted for UN bribery. Inner City Press asked the UN repeatedly about it - and was then roughed up by Guterres' security and has been banned from entering the UN 145 days and counting. Earlier on November 27, Jeremic described doing work for CEFC while still PGA. He tried to get CEFC business with Mexico's PEMEX through "Emilio." He later tried to broker the sale of a potash mine - in court hee said since this is related to fertilizer, it is "a high priority of the UN." He went to meetings in Trump Tower - the one across from the UN, in Apartment 78B, not the one on Fifth Avenue - and acted as a go-between for a CEFC Texas foray, with Noel Thompson who, Jeremic said, promoted wrestling in the UN. The UN comes off as entirely corrupt. And it emerged that Ho was trying to cut his own deal, around CEFC which is paying his legal fees. As soon as Jeremic left he started the process to sign on as a CEFC consultant at $333,333 a year. This require a waiver from Serbia, where he had been foreign minister. But the UN, then as now, has NO cooling off period. Inner City Press asked Jeremic about it during the court's lunch break. He said he had complied with rules - Serbian rules. There are no UN rules; UNSG Antonio Guterres refused to audit CEFC, lawlessly roughs up and bans Inner City Press which asks, including banning it from UNGA week which must now be seen as a hotbed of oil and gas and potash deals. We'll have more on this - it is unclear if Jeremic will take up the rest of the court's day, or if Gadio may start before the end of November 27. On November 26 at 9 am before heading to cover jury selection, Inner City Press in writing asked Guterres, his Deputy Amina J. Mohammed and Global Communicator Alison Smale: "November 26-7: On this the day the UN bribery trial of Ho / China Energy Fund Committee / PGA Kutesa begins, please immediately provide the UN's read out of the DSG's meeting Nov 22 with China's FM, and separately state where the increasingly reported issue of Chinese (government aligned) NGO bribery in the UN was discussed. Relatedly, again, what safeguards are in place for the SG's appearance, for which money is being charged, to ensure that the (Ng Lap Seng) pattern does not repeat itself on the evening of December 5, 2018." Hours later, lead UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric's deputy Farhan Haq replied with this, seeming recycled from the Ng Lap Seng case: "Regarding question Nov. 26-7, we can say that the Organization has cooperated extensively in this matter by making thousands of pages of documents available, as well as providing access to UN personnel." Did Guterres' UN really make thousands of pages of documents available in this Patrick Ho case? If so, how can Guterres claim the case does not concern the UN and merit an audit? We'll have more on this. In the US' opening, Hayden described Ho meeting Cheikh Gadio for the first time steps from the UN; defense lawyer Benjamin Rosenberg countered that Gadio's desire to run for president of Senegal made him cut a deal at any cost. Periscope just after leaving court, here. Longer YouTube here. Before these openings, dozens of prospective jurors were whittled down to 12 with three alternates. Among those not agreed on to stay were the editor of a major magazine and a retired investment banker who travels to get Democrats elected to national office. (We are not using names or more - the insider scribes say there is an understanding, on which we'll have more). Most jurors said they read few newpapers, with a reference to the Daily News for the commute, Yahoo "junk" and social media. They filed into Courtroom 12A, the prosecution estimated the trial will take two, possibly three weeks. Ho was brought in, wearing purple; he looked to the back of the courtroom, eight or so most Asian journalists, Inner City Press, no one apparently from the UN. Some 35 prospective jurors were assigned numbers and were told the case involved charges of bribery of Chad's President Idriss Deby and of Sam Kutesa, then the President of the UN General Assembly, still Uganda's foreign minister. Did any juror feels biased? No one raised their hand. Any juror particularly burdened by a two or three week trial? Many stood up and, after sidebars, some were excused including one Amy Tan (called back to the sidebar twice). The defense had a jury consultant, one Dr. Blackburn, described to the jurors by the defense as "with us." Mid-day Periscope live stream at courthouse door here. The day before the U.S. has asked that Cheikh Gadio not be asked what he heard about how the $2 million Ho gave to Chad's President Idriss Deby was used. The government argues in a letter motion to Jude Loretta A. Preska that Ho didn't know: "Gadio has no personal knowledge as to what happened to the $2 million cash that the defendant and his CEFC colleagues brought to Chad and presented to President Déby. Gadio has no firsthand information as to whether these funds were ultimately used, in whole or part, for “good” or “bad” or “permissible” or “impermissible” purposes after CEFC sent the so-called “donation” letter. However, Gadio’s 3500 material reflects that, at some point, a third-party told Gadio that the money was directed to a supposed good and permissible use. Gadio does not know whether this is true, and in any event, he never spoke about this with the defendant. Thus, the defendant should be precluded from cross-examining Gadio
about what he learned after-the-fact from any third-party." The U.S. also seeks to prevent Gadio being cross-examined about misstatements to pre-trial services when he was Ho's co-defendant. It is not clear when Preska will rule on the letter motion. She has said the trial will begin at 10 am each day but she is willing to hear arguments in her chambers before that. Inner City Press, which covered the pre-trial hearing even while banned from the UN by UNSG Antonio Guterres who is trying to cover it up, not even auditing CEFC's other and ongoing activities in the UN, will be covering the trial. Ho has tried to use CEFC's ongoing UN "Special Consultative Status" to avoid criminal charges. This and Ho's other motions were denial by Judge Preska on November 14, including a motion to exclude testimony from Cheikh Gadio, from government expert Mr. Walkout, and to exclude Ho's dealings with Sam Kutesa's predecessor as UNGA President Sam Ashe. All of this will come in at trial - and makes the failure by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to even audit CEFC's bribes in the UN more outrageous. This UN-accredited NGO offered to broker arms not only to Chad but also Qatar, Libya and South Sudan, about which Guterres and the UN purport to care so much. Ho and CEFC offered themselves as way to evade Iran sanctions. This evidence will come in a trial; the government has agreed not to mention terrorism or US - Iran relations. A 23 minute video of Ho's UN speeches will not come in, being called "gauzy" as is the UN of Guterres who has banned Inner City Press which covers the UN's increasing corruption, from Ng Lap Seng and Ashe to CEFC, Kutesa and beyond, ongoing. We'll have more on this. Ho was trying to exclude testimony from initial co-defendant Cheikh Gadio about Chadian President Idriss Deby's reaction to the bribe. The papers were filed on November 13 and are first being reported by Inner City Press, which as it covers this second UN bribery case has been roughed up and now banned for 132 days by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who won't even audit CEFC's ongoing activities in the UN. Four months after the arrest for UN bribery of former Senegalese foreign minister Cheik Gadio and Patrick Ho, the head of China Energy Fund Committee full funded by CEFC China Energy, his ultimate boss at CEFC Ye Jianming was brought in for questioning in China. On October 4 Ho was again denied bail. Periscope video here. On October 22, the new trial date was set for November 26. On November 12 Inner City Press, banned from the UN by Secretary General Antonio Guterres amid its questions about the CEFC bribery and its connection to the Ng Lap Seng conviction, asked Guterres and his spokesmen: "November 12-4: Now that it is clear that Foreign Intelligence Surveilance Act wiretaps show Sheri Yan, jailed for UN bribery in the PGA John Ashe case, communicating and planned with Patrick Ho of CEFC, please explain why SG Antonio Guterres has not even started an audit into the range CEFC's bribery and interactions in the UN, why it still has access to UN while Inner City Press which which pursued Ng Lap Seng's and Yan's bribery even into the UN Press Briefing Room (29 Jan 2016) and the Patrick Ho / CEFC case, has been denied access to anything in the UN for 131 days with no due process." Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq conducted a noon briefing Inner City Press was banned from, starting with a total of three correspondents. Video here. He and the UN have not answered since, see below. After he did not answer - but he did answer Yahoo News for a story which, inexplicably, does not mention Guterres or his failure to audit CEFC's activities at the UN. Others who have done nothign about the bribery, or about Guterres' roughing up and banning of Inner City Press, like HRW's Ken Roth and FP's Colum Lynch, belatedly retweeted the Ho / Yan corruption story. But what will they and the UN they love so much do? On November 4 Ho's attempt to "suppress all evidence obtained or derived under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" was denied, with a decision that no hearing on it was needed. The FISA information includes wiretaps of Ho and another bribing NGO the Global Sustainability Foundations's Sheri Yan or her deputy planning to pay bribes. This is described today by the Sydney Morning Herald, which while saying that UN officials who it leaves unnamed are lavishing praises on the Belt and Road which Ho now uses as a defense of his alleged bribes, fails to mention main praiser Antonio Guterres. Nor does SMH - Shaking My Head -- mention that unlike even Ban Ki-mon with Ng Lap Seng, Guterres has refused to even start an audit into Ho's (and Yang II's) bribery in the UN, but instead had roughed up and banned Inner City Press which reports on it. Ng Lap Seng paid money to a group Guterres is slated to headline a fundraiser for on December 5, a group he and his spokesman Stephane Dujarric use to support their attack on the investigative Press. We'll have more on this. Hong Kong television has broadcast a report on these alleged UN and Deby bribes, including an interview with Inner City Press which has been banned from the UN by Antonio Guterres amid its coverage of UN corruption and Guterres' refusal to even audit, has been broadcast. The Court's ruling against Ho on FISA notes that "FISA requires a finding of probable cause to believe that: (1) the target of the electronic surveillance or physical search is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power." There will be at least one more court session before the trial starts; voir dire and jury instructions are being debated. The reckoning time is approaching. In a hearing Inner City Press covered - there were no other UN correspondents there, for this UN bribery case - it emerged that the prosecution has turned over 3,300 emails to a vendor, and that each side will meet with Judge Preska "in camera" about Confidential Information, under US v Mustafa, 992 F. Supp. 2d 335. Video here. We'll have more on this. Ho's lawyers, paid by CEFC, are arguing that the Chinese government's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) campaign, under which they says Ho's payments were made, must be considered at the delayed trial with testimony from "Professor Kirby as 'an expert in contemporary China’s business, economic, and political development with a particular focus on international activities.'" Given the many timesas UN Secretary General that Antonio Guterres, who has refused to even audit CEFC's and Ho's payments in the UN, has praised China's One Belt, One Road - might Guterres be called or offer himself as a pro-Ho defense witness at trial? Guterres already maintains a secret banned from the UN list including "political activists," see here.
about what he learned after-the-fact from any third-party." The U.S. also seeks to prevent Gadio being cross-examined about misstatements to pre-trial services when he was Ho's co-defendant. It is not clear when Preska will rule on the letter motion. She has said the trial will begin at 10 am each day but she is willing to hear arguments in her chambers before that. Inner City Press, which covered the pre-trial hearing even while banned from the UN by UNSG Antonio Guterres who is trying to cover it up, not even auditing CEFC's other and ongoing activities in the UN, will be covering the trial. Ho has tried to use CEFC's ongoing UN "Special Consultative Status" to avoid criminal charges. This and Ho's other motions were denial by Judge Preska on November 14, including a motion to exclude testimony from Cheikh Gadio, from government expert Mr. Walkout, and to exclude Ho's dealings with Sam Kutesa's predecessor as UNGA President Sam Ashe. All of this will come in at trial - and makes the failure by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to even audit CEFC's bribes in the UN more outrageous. This UN-accredited NGO offered to broker arms not only to Chad but also Qatar, Libya and South Sudan, about which Guterres and the UN purport to care so much. Ho and CEFC offered themselves as way to evade Iran sanctions. This evidence will come in a trial; the government has agreed not to mention terrorism or US - Iran relations. A 23 minute video of Ho's UN speeches will not come in, being called "gauzy" as is the UN of Guterres who has banned Inner City Press which covers the UN's increasing corruption, from Ng Lap Seng and Ashe to CEFC, Kutesa and beyond, ongoing. We'll have more on this. Ho was trying to exclude testimony from initial co-defendant Cheikh Gadio about Chadian President Idriss Deby's reaction to the bribe. The papers were filed on November 13 and are first being reported by Inner City Press, which as it covers this second UN bribery case has been roughed up and now banned for 132 days by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who won't even audit CEFC's ongoing activities in the UN. Four months after the arrest for UN bribery of former Senegalese foreign minister Cheik Gadio and Patrick Ho, the head of China Energy Fund Committee full funded by CEFC China Energy, his ultimate boss at CEFC Ye Jianming was brought in for questioning in China. On October 4 Ho was again denied bail. Periscope video here. On October 22, the new trial date was set for November 26. On November 12 Inner City Press, banned from the UN by Secretary General Antonio Guterres amid its questions about the CEFC bribery and its connection to the Ng Lap Seng conviction, asked Guterres and his spokesmen: "November 12-4: Now that it is clear that Foreign Intelligence Surveilance Act wiretaps show Sheri Yan, jailed for UN bribery in the PGA John Ashe case, communicating and planned with Patrick Ho of CEFC, please explain why SG Antonio Guterres has not even started an audit into the range CEFC's bribery and interactions in the UN, why it still has access to UN while Inner City Press which which pursued Ng Lap Seng's and Yan's bribery even into the UN Press Briefing Room (29 Jan 2016) and the Patrick Ho / CEFC case, has been denied access to anything in the UN for 131 days with no due process." Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq conducted a noon briefing Inner City Press was banned from, starting with a total of three correspondents. Video here. He and the UN have not answered since, see below. After he did not answer - but he did answer Yahoo News for a story which, inexplicably, does not mention Guterres or his failure to audit CEFC's activities at the UN. Others who have done nothign about the bribery, or about Guterres' roughing up and banning of Inner City Press, like HRW's Ken Roth and FP's Colum Lynch, belatedly retweeted the Ho / Yan corruption story. But what will they and the UN they love so much do? On November 4 Ho's attempt to "suppress all evidence obtained or derived under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" was denied, with a decision that no hearing on it was needed. The FISA information includes wiretaps of Ho and another bribing NGO the Global Sustainability Foundations's Sheri Yan or her deputy planning to pay bribes. This is described today by the Sydney Morning Herald, which while saying that UN officials who it leaves unnamed are lavishing praises on the Belt and Road which Ho now uses as a defense of his alleged bribes, fails to mention main praiser Antonio Guterres. Nor does SMH - Shaking My Head -- mention that unlike even Ban Ki-mon with Ng Lap Seng, Guterres has refused to even start an audit into Ho's (and Yang II's) bribery in the UN, but instead had roughed up and banned Inner City Press which reports on it. Ng Lap Seng paid money to a group Guterres is slated to headline a fundraiser for on December 5, a group he and his spokesman Stephane Dujarric use to support their attack on the investigative Press. We'll have more on this. Hong Kong television has broadcast a report on these alleged UN and Deby bribes, including an interview with Inner City Press which has been banned from the UN by Antonio Guterres amid its coverage of UN corruption and Guterres' refusal to even audit, has been broadcast. The Court's ruling against Ho on FISA notes that "FISA requires a finding of probable cause to believe that: (1) the target of the electronic surveillance or physical search is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power." There will be at least one more court session before the trial starts; voir dire and jury instructions are being debated. The reckoning time is approaching. In a hearing Inner City Press covered - there were no other UN correspondents there, for this UN bribery case - it emerged that the prosecution has turned over 3,300 emails to a vendor, and that each side will meet with Judge Preska "in camera" about Confidential Information, under US v Mustafa, 992 F. Supp. 2d 335. Video here. We'll have more on this. Ho's lawyers, paid by CEFC, are arguing that the Chinese government's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) campaign, under which they says Ho's payments were made, must be considered at the delayed trial with testimony from "Professor Kirby as 'an expert in contemporary China’s business, economic, and political development with a particular focus on international activities.'" Given the many timesas UN Secretary General that Antonio Guterres, who has refused to even audit CEFC's and Ho's payments in the UN, has praised China's One Belt, One Road - might Guterres be called or offer himself as a pro-Ho defense witness at trial? Guterres already maintains a secret banned from the UN list including "political activists," see here.
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Monday, November 26, 2018
Sunday, November 25, 2018
In Corrupt UN of Guterres Office of South South Cooperation Chediek Spends $164000 Only Solheim Fired
By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED NATIONS GATE, November 25 – With UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres gone from New York with location and costs to the public undisclosed for four days and counting having praised the UN Office of South South Cooperation so recently exposed as a bribery vehicle in the Ng Lap Seng - President of the UN General Assembly John Ashe corruption prosecution, OSSC chief Jorge Chediek is scheduled for another press conference with Inner City Press which reports on his corruption still banned. In fact, the trial in the next UN bribery case, that of China Energy Fund Committee, begins the same day. So the night before, this exclusive update on OSSC and Chediek: In the wake of Erik Solheim’s forced resignation from UNEP after revelations of travel no worse than those of Guterres himself, questions remain over the travel of Jorge Chediek, Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation who racked up over $81,300 in travel in 2017. Despite the previous revelations, Mr. Chediek continued his high traveling ways, having spent in excess of $82,500 on travel by November of this year. In total, his travels for the last two years amount to nearly $164,000 criss-crossing over 30 countries, with over a month left before the end of the year. This list, exclusively:
JORGE CHEDIEK, UN Office for South-South Cooperation
Benin $ 5,390.00 $ 509.04
Switzerland $ 2,450.00 $ 1,272.00
Thailand $ 3,140.00 $ 975.53
Turkey - Kazakhstan $ 4,500.00 $ 1,091.24
Kenya $ 4,740.00 $ 1,210.72
China $ 5,270.00 $ 673.40
Brazil $ 5,950.00 $ 505.76
Argentina $ 3,520.00 $ 1,230.00
China - India $ 9,045.10 $ 1,420.90
Argentina $ 4,053.00 $ 1,168.32
France $ 2,424.50 $ 1,313.68
Germany $ 2,315.00 $ 1,030.00
Brazil $ 2,672.10 $ 815.50
Turkey $ 2,722.00 $ 363.00
Bangladesh - Hong Kong $ 7,800.00 $ 1,771.48
Hawaii $ 2,848.00 $ 337.80
Egypt - France $ 3,976.90 $ 2,283.00
Brazil $ 2,747.60 $ 822.17
Argentina $ 5,053.70 $ 909.52
Portugal - Spain $ 3,832.01 $ 1,698.16
Cuba $ 342.70 $ 848.94
South Africa $ 7,424.50 $ 710.39
China $ 5,429.00 $ 1,307.21
France - Norway $ 1,912.71 $ 1,603.60
Thailand $ 6,326.00 $ 1,262.83
Egypt $ 5,650.00 $ 983.92
India $ 3,882.21 $ 763.68
Iran - UAE $ 4,815.13 $ 1,146.72
Switzerland - Italy $ 4,914.83 $ 1,311.96
Brazil $ 2,481.31
Poland 4,671.63
It is worth noting that Solheim was the head of a UN agency while Chediek has managed to spend this sizeable sum merely as head of an Office. The public censure has not slowed his ambitions to campaign for a coveted ASG post in the least; he continues the campaigning disguised as preparations for the March 2019 BAPA+40 conference. Travel records backed up by his Facebook posts reveal that he is not one to cave in to any criticism on excessive spending.
This is egregious misappropriation of agency funds in the context of overall funding shortages at the United Nations Developmet Programme that allocated $3.5 million annually OSSC. As Mr. Chediek continues to rack up air miles, who in UNDP approves travel for the second most globetrotting UNDP official? What percentage of OSSC budget is dedicated to travel? Why is this information not publicly available? What are the development gains as a result of these baseless travels? Moreover, it again raises questions over the prudence of cash strapped Argentina, now under austerity measures, to be spending millions on Mr. Chediek’s BAPA+40 conference.
These issues will be highlighted at the annual UNOSSC Global Expo, slated for the end of this week (November 28-30) in New York. This three day conference will again consist of events which for the most part only nominally contribute to development. In reality, it is just another self promoting, expensive, photo opportunity event for Mr. Chediek and his cronies, with the endorsement of Secretary General Guterres and UNDP Administrator Steiner. For transparency reasons, ICP is requesting details on the budget of the UNOSSC Global Expo, including travel costs and details of those sponsored to attend this jamboree in New York.
Benin $ 5,390.00 $ 509.04
Switzerland $ 2,450.00 $ 1,272.00
Thailand $ 3,140.00 $ 975.53
Turkey - Kazakhstan $ 4,500.00 $ 1,091.24
Kenya $ 4,740.00 $ 1,210.72
China $ 5,270.00 $ 673.40
Brazil $ 5,950.00 $ 505.76
Argentina $ 3,520.00 $ 1,230.00
China - India $ 9,045.10 $ 1,420.90
Argentina $ 4,053.00 $ 1,168.32
France $ 2,424.50 $ 1,313.68
Germany $ 2,315.00 $ 1,030.00
Brazil $ 2,672.10 $ 815.50
Turkey $ 2,722.00 $ 363.00
Bangladesh - Hong Kong $ 7,800.00 $ 1,771.48
Hawaii $ 2,848.00 $ 337.80
Egypt - France $ 3,976.90 $ 2,283.00
Brazil $ 2,747.60 $ 822.17
Argentina $ 5,053.70 $ 909.52
Portugal - Spain $ 3,832.01 $ 1,698.16
Cuba $ 342.70 $ 848.94
South Africa $ 7,424.50 $ 710.39
China $ 5,429.00 $ 1,307.21
France - Norway $ 1,912.71 $ 1,603.60
Thailand $ 6,326.00 $ 1,262.83
Egypt $ 5,650.00 $ 983.92
India $ 3,882.21 $ 763.68
Iran - UAE $ 4,815.13 $ 1,146.72
Switzerland - Italy $ 4,914.83 $ 1,311.96
Brazil $ 2,481.31
Poland 4,671.63
It is worth noting that Solheim was the head of a UN agency while Chediek has managed to spend this sizeable sum merely as head of an Office. The public censure has not slowed his ambitions to campaign for a coveted ASG post in the least; he continues the campaigning disguised as preparations for the March 2019 BAPA+40 conference. Travel records backed up by his Facebook posts reveal that he is not one to cave in to any criticism on excessive spending.
This is egregious misappropriation of agency funds in the context of overall funding shortages at the United Nations Developmet Programme that allocated $3.5 million annually OSSC. As Mr. Chediek continues to rack up air miles, who in UNDP approves travel for the second most globetrotting UNDP official? What percentage of OSSC budget is dedicated to travel? Why is this information not publicly available? What are the development gains as a result of these baseless travels? Moreover, it again raises questions over the prudence of cash strapped Argentina, now under austerity measures, to be spending millions on Mr. Chediek’s BAPA+40 conference.
These issues will be highlighted at the annual UNOSSC Global Expo, slated for the end of this week (November 28-30) in New York. This three day conference will again consist of events which for the most part only nominally contribute to development. In reality, it is just another self promoting, expensive, photo opportunity event for Mr. Chediek and his cronies, with the endorsement of Secretary General Guterres and UNDP Administrator Steiner. For transparency reasons, ICP is requesting details on the budget of the UNOSSC Global Expo, including travel costs and details of those sponsored to attend this jamboree in New York.
As recession looms in Argentina, its Central Bank raising its interest rates substantially in the past month and after the country announced it was turning to the IMF for a bailout, the government is set to spend millions of borrowed dollars on a wasteful UN conference on South-South Cooperation slated for March 2019 in Buenos Aires, to spend millions on an Office led by director Jorge Chediek whos aim OSSC sources say is to use this conference to advance to UN Assistant Secretary General level. His tenure at the Office thus far has involved a spate of self promotional travel while signing off on dubious Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) for projects that are only tangentially related to actual South-South development.
The MoU signings are often documented on the Facebook pageof Mr. Chediek, where he brags about the support from Guterres, who has refused to audit the next UN corruption scandal involving Patrick Ho the China Energy Fund Committee and had Inner City Press which reports on it roughed up and banned from the UN.
The MoU signings are often documented on the Facebook pageof Mr. Chediek, where he brags about the support from Guterres, who has refused to audit the next UN corruption scandal involving Patrick Ho the China Energy Fund Committee and had Inner City Press which reports on it roughed up and banned from the UN.
Its collaboration with Yingke Group, started initially when current UNOSSC Deputy Direcor Grace Wang, a Chinese national, worked at BPPS. When she commenced her role at UNOSSC, this relationship traveled with her. This Yingke Group -UNOSSC collaboration is covered in a 30 May 2018 article entitled UNOSSC delegation discusses South-South collaboration with Yingke Group where it claims this collaboration "is designed to be one pillar of the South-South Cooperation Poverty Eradication Facility,aiming to utilize tourism as an instrument for poverty alleviation through improving infrastructure, generating local employment, increasing local income, and developing local capacities." But what is behind these buzzwords?
The large number of Mo Us also attest to the frequency of wasteful travelby Mr. Chediek. While million of Argentinians are subjected to austerity, the Government of President Macri has decided to invest millions in the ambitions of one man, Mr. Chediek. In addition to the Chinese nepotism, Mr. Chediek seems to have his own questionable connections. Recently, OSSC sources complain, he hired an Argentinian national for a senior peace-building post and one whose brother is the founder and executive director of Brandling Latin America, a London based PR firm with royal connections through the company's senior director Lady Gabriella Windsor?
The Office continues to operate in highly questionable ways, giving rise to these questions: 'This Office of South South Cooperation is nested under UNDP, and provided with $25 million in core money from the UNDP budget. This budget is currently protected from any change in UNDP's financial situation. It should be noted that the budgets of the other UNDP-funded organizations, UN Volunteers and UNCDF - which had their strategic frameworks approved by this Board, and whose monitoring and evaluation frameworks are clear - are not protected. So... I) When will the Office's budget, monitoring and evaluation and results be reported to the [UNDP Executive] Board, and will this be for decision? 2) Will the Office start producing an annual report again, and when will this be available to the Board? 3) How is the Office working with UNDP's evaluation and audit offices? 4) Where will the Office's results be reported and collated? 5) How does the Office comply with UNDP's transparency requirements? We also note the Office's fundraising activities, and the very generous investments totaling $150 million this year by the Government of India.
We'll have more on Guterres and this Office, in India and beyond. Amid record unemployment rates and long soup kitchen queues is BAPA+40 really a priority item for the Government of Argentina? What is happening to the UN under Guterres, and his spokesman Dujarric who blocks and bans the Press? Watch this site.
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
On Cameroon UN From Geneva Undercounts Biya Killings At 6 But Cites 100 Kidnappings While Guterres Censors
UNITED NATIONS GATE, November 20 -- After Paul Biya who has ruled Cameroon for 36 years lied that Transparency International was observing his re-coronation, and burned village after village in the Anglophone regions while hiring lobbyists to seek and get support from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, on October 22 he claimed to win over 71% of the vote and even that 16% of those eligible voted in the Anglophone North-West and South-West regions. None of this is credible.
Nor, in context, is Guterres' UN system's belated expressions of concern after he sold out for more than a year. On November 20 in Geneva Ravina Shamdasani a spokesperson for Michelle Bachelet the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights picked by Guterres, who has yet to criticize, chide or even cajole Guterres in any way even has he has sold out Cameroon and also had roughed up and banned for 139+ days the Press which asked and asks him why said this
Full Text: "We are deeply concerned about the worsening violence in the Southwest and Northwest regions of Cameroon, as we continue to receive reports of abductions and killings by armed groups, as well as extrajudicial killings by State armed forces. We urge all sides to refrain from acts of violence that have, for more than a year now, left the population in these regions living in fear, unable to access their basic human rights.
In addition to the high-profile abduction and subsequent release of 78 students and three staff at a Presbyterian secondary school in Bamenda, in the Northwest earlier this month, we regularly receive reports of abductions, reportedly carried out by armed secessionist groups. Just over the past two weeks, we have received reports of the abduction of eight students and one school official in Kumba, in the Southwest, and of at least 13 nuns near the locality of Bamessing – Ndop in the Northwest. They were all subsequently released, after some parents paid ransoms and the Catholic Diocese of Kumba intervened.
We have also received reports of armed secessionist groups attacking schools and destroying school buildings, which, coupled with the worrying abductions, has resulted in many children being unable to access their right to education since the violence broke out in October last year. There are also reports of the abduction and killing of police officers and administrative authorities.
Also in recent months, Cameroonian armed forces have allegedly carried out a number of extrajudicial executions in the Northwest and Southwest regions. On 20 October, in the village of Rom, in the Northwest town of Nwa, security forces reportedly killed four villagers during a confrontation with armed secessionist groups, while on 24 September, two men suspected of being secessionist fighters were reportedly killed on the spot. There have been numerous such reports in the preceding months.
What began as protests in October 2016 in the Northwest and Southwest regions against structural discrimination escalated into violence in 2017, and the situation has worsened considerably since then. The violence has led to massive internal displacement – at least 436,000 people are believed to be internally displaced, while more than 30,000 have fled to Nigeria since September last year.
We strongly condemn the human rights violations and abuses that have plagued the people in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon. We call on armed secessionists groups to refrain from the use of violence. We urge the Government to respect and protect the rights of all, to address the long-standing grievances of the communities in these regions, including through dialogue, to promptly investigate all cases of violations reportedly involving its security and defence forces, and to hold perpetrators responsible.
We also reiterate our readiness to work with the Government of Cameroon, including through an assessment mission to the Northwest and Southwest regions of the, which we have requested. This will enable us to be able to look into the human rights situation first-hand and engage with the Government accordingly on ways to address it." We'll have more on this - and on Bachelet's troubling failure to even respond on Guterres' censorship. On November 19, former UN official Helen Clark did: answering Inner City Press' question across First Avenue from the UN, she pointedly called out "the exclusion of journalists across the road." Vine; longer version here. Apparently one has to be a former UN official to say the obviouson this: that Guterres' no due process censorship is spiteful, wrong, and bad for the UN. Bachelet has yet to do anything or even answer her mail.
Guterres' UN refused through two spokesmen to respond to or even acknowledge Inner City Press' formal written question about Biya's jailing of journalist Mimi Mefo.However, even banned from "his" UN for quoting Guterres' own staff on WHY he sold out - for favors in the UN Budget Committee -- we continue to transmit the UN's statements of concern, here from UNHCR whose staffer Nadine Njoya called for "harsher repression" of Anglophones by Paul Biya and whose Deputy Volker Turk refused to answer on that, and appeared not to know there ARE any refugees from Cameroon in Nigeria: "The number of Cameroonian refugees fleeing violence and seeking refuge in Nigeria crossed the 30,000 mark this week. Refugees fleeing the South-West and North-West Regions of Cameroon have been arriving since September 2017. Almost 600 arrived in refugee settlements in the last two weeks.
Four out of every five of those registered so far are women and children, driven out after last year’s protests turned violent. They are being sheltered in Nigeria’s states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Benue and Taraba, most of them being hosted within local communities.
Most of the latest arrivals come from the Akwaya and Eyumojock sub-divisions in Cameroon. People are telling us they were ordered to leave their houses due to increasing violence in their home areas.
As official border entry points remain closed, UNHCR and its partners are present at the border areas inside Nigeria, around the most used informal access points, to assess the situation and the needs of new arrivals.
UNHCR is facilitating the voluntary relocation of refugees from the border points to the settlements of Adagom (Cross River) and Anyake (Benue), which provide better security and shelter as well as access to essential services such as food, health or education.
We are working with the Nigerian Government, through its National Commission for Refugees (NCFRMI), and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
This crisis erupted last year after protests turned violent, amid calls for secession. So far this year, some 400 civilians have been killed in escalating attacks between separatist groups and government forces, according to rights groups.
Currently, more than 9,000 Cameroonian refugees have been moved to new settlements, where they receive food as well as essential items such as mattresses, mosquito nets, stoves and cooking utensils, as well as equipment to build shelters. With bricks, timber, nails or corrugated iron sheets, they can start to rebuild a place to call home.
These settlements allow better access to critical assistance. Our partners on the ground distribute dignity kits for women and girls. These kits include, among other items, buckets, soap and towels.
In some instances, cash assistance is provided to enable refugees in the settlements to buy food directly from the markets in host communities, as those settlements are meant to facilitate the integration of those forced to flee and those welcoming them.
Despite all our efforts and those of our partners, the needs of the refugees are far from being met.
Another 21,000 refugees are currently living with host communities, in over 50 localities spread across an area of some 116,000 square kilometres.
The rainy season and harsh road conditions to remote areas makes the assistance to the refugees outside of the newly-developed settlement very difficult, with acute needs for food, shelter, water and sanitation.
Education is also one of such essential needs, with 48 per cent of the registered refugees being of school age yet out of school, for more than two years for many of them.
Inside Cameroon, access to areas affected in North West and South West is very limited. Humanitarian agencies are discussing with the government the need for improved access to the displaced population. It is estimated that some 436,000 people may be internally displaced. Together with OCHA, which coordinates the UN response in the country, we have started deploying personnel in Buea to help meet the needs of the displaced people." Some of this is dubious - Deputy Turk of UNHCR, when Inner City Press asked, did not even seem to know there ARE Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, see below. Similarly the stories told to date about the 90 students now released do not add up. The government railed about 79 released, at a video of 11 student circulated. The parents were not allowed into the school, nor told which of their children were kidnapped and which not. Now 90 have been released, with the quiet announcement that 11 had been kidnappe earlier, on October 31. So they were the ones in the video, not the 79? The media which have not covered, or mis-covered, Biya's abuses will move on, like the UN, declaring this a victory. We'll have more on this. On November 4 Biya's forces arrested more people for protesting the fraudulent results, in Bafoussamin the West region of Cameroon denouncing what they call an “electoral hold up” by Biya. This follows arrests in Douala and Yaounde, on all of which Antonio "Traveling Man" Guterres has been characteristically silent. Nor have Guterres' spokesmen being answering Inner City Press' questions on Cameroon including this on November 6: "November 6-1: On Cameroon, first please immediately now five days after ASG Ursula Mueller's Nov 1 presentation (at the Norway Mission) about Cameroon provide a copy or summary of her remarks. Second, what is the SG's knowledge of, comment and action on, the reporting kidnapping of students in Anglophone Cameroon, with the kidnappers caught saying 'tu perds ton temps'?"
In addition to the high-profile abduction and subsequent release of 78 students and three staff at a Presbyterian secondary school in Bamenda, in the Northwest earlier this month, we regularly receive reports of abductions, reportedly carried out by armed secessionist groups. Just over the past two weeks, we have received reports of the abduction of eight students and one school official in Kumba, in the Southwest, and of at least 13 nuns near the locality of Bamessing – Ndop in the Northwest. They were all subsequently released, after some parents paid ransoms and the Catholic Diocese of Kumba intervened.
We have also received reports of armed secessionist groups attacking schools and destroying school buildings, which, coupled with the worrying abductions, has resulted in many children being unable to access their right to education since the violence broke out in October last year. There are also reports of the abduction and killing of police officers and administrative authorities.
Also in recent months, Cameroonian armed forces have allegedly carried out a number of extrajudicial executions in the Northwest and Southwest regions. On 20 October, in the village of Rom, in the Northwest town of Nwa, security forces reportedly killed four villagers during a confrontation with armed secessionist groups, while on 24 September, two men suspected of being secessionist fighters were reportedly killed on the spot. There have been numerous such reports in the preceding months.
What began as protests in October 2016 in the Northwest and Southwest regions against structural discrimination escalated into violence in 2017, and the situation has worsened considerably since then. The violence has led to massive internal displacement – at least 436,000 people are believed to be internally displaced, while more than 30,000 have fled to Nigeria since September last year.
We strongly condemn the human rights violations and abuses that have plagued the people in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon. We call on armed secessionists groups to refrain from the use of violence. We urge the Government to respect and protect the rights of all, to address the long-standing grievances of the communities in these regions, including through dialogue, to promptly investigate all cases of violations reportedly involving its security and defence forces, and to hold perpetrators responsible.
We also reiterate our readiness to work with the Government of Cameroon, including through an assessment mission to the Northwest and Southwest regions of the, which we have requested. This will enable us to be able to look into the human rights situation first-hand and engage with the Government accordingly on ways to address it." We'll have more on this - and on Bachelet's troubling failure to even respond on Guterres' censorship. On November 19, former UN official Helen Clark did: answering Inner City Press' question across First Avenue from the UN, she pointedly called out "the exclusion of journalists across the road." Vine; longer version here. Apparently one has to be a former UN official to say the obviouson this: that Guterres' no due process censorship is spiteful, wrong, and bad for the UN. Bachelet has yet to do anything or even answer her mail.
Guterres' UN refused through two spokesmen to respond to or even acknowledge Inner City Press' formal written question about Biya's jailing of journalist Mimi Mefo.However, even banned from "his" UN for quoting Guterres' own staff on WHY he sold out - for favors in the UN Budget Committee -- we continue to transmit the UN's statements of concern, here from UNHCR whose staffer Nadine Njoya called for "harsher repression" of Anglophones by Paul Biya and whose Deputy Volker Turk refused to answer on that, and appeared not to know there ARE any refugees from Cameroon in Nigeria: "The number of Cameroonian refugees fleeing violence and seeking refuge in Nigeria crossed the 30,000 mark this week. Refugees fleeing the South-West and North-West Regions of Cameroon have been arriving since September 2017. Almost 600 arrived in refugee settlements in the last two weeks.
Four out of every five of those registered so far are women and children, driven out after last year’s protests turned violent. They are being sheltered in Nigeria’s states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Benue and Taraba, most of them being hosted within local communities.
Most of the latest arrivals come from the Akwaya and Eyumojock sub-divisions in Cameroon. People are telling us they were ordered to leave their houses due to increasing violence in their home areas.
As official border entry points remain closed, UNHCR and its partners are present at the border areas inside Nigeria, around the most used informal access points, to assess the situation and the needs of new arrivals.
UNHCR is facilitating the voluntary relocation of refugees from the border points to the settlements of Adagom (Cross River) and Anyake (Benue), which provide better security and shelter as well as access to essential services such as food, health or education.
We are working with the Nigerian Government, through its National Commission for Refugees (NCFRMI), and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
This crisis erupted last year after protests turned violent, amid calls for secession. So far this year, some 400 civilians have been killed in escalating attacks between separatist groups and government forces, according to rights groups.
Currently, more than 9,000 Cameroonian refugees have been moved to new settlements, where they receive food as well as essential items such as mattresses, mosquito nets, stoves and cooking utensils, as well as equipment to build shelters. With bricks, timber, nails or corrugated iron sheets, they can start to rebuild a place to call home.
These settlements allow better access to critical assistance. Our partners on the ground distribute dignity kits for women and girls. These kits include, among other items, buckets, soap and towels.
In some instances, cash assistance is provided to enable refugees in the settlements to buy food directly from the markets in host communities, as those settlements are meant to facilitate the integration of those forced to flee and those welcoming them.
Despite all our efforts and those of our partners, the needs of the refugees are far from being met.
Another 21,000 refugees are currently living with host communities, in over 50 localities spread across an area of some 116,000 square kilometres.
The rainy season and harsh road conditions to remote areas makes the assistance to the refugees outside of the newly-developed settlement very difficult, with acute needs for food, shelter, water and sanitation.
Education is also one of such essential needs, with 48 per cent of the registered refugees being of school age yet out of school, for more than two years for many of them.
Inside Cameroon, access to areas affected in North West and South West is very limited. Humanitarian agencies are discussing with the government the need for improved access to the displaced population. It is estimated that some 436,000 people may be internally displaced. Together with OCHA, which coordinates the UN response in the country, we have started deploying personnel in Buea to help meet the needs of the displaced people." Some of this is dubious - Deputy Turk of UNHCR, when Inner City Press asked, did not even seem to know there ARE Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, see below. Similarly the stories told to date about the 90 students now released do not add up. The government railed about 79 released, at a video of 11 student circulated. The parents were not allowed into the school, nor told which of their children were kidnapped and which not. Now 90 have been released, with the quiet announcement that 11 had been kidnappe earlier, on October 31. So they were the ones in the video, not the 79? The media which have not covered, or mis-covered, Biya's abuses will move on, like the UN, declaring this a victory. We'll have more on this. On November 4 Biya's forces arrested more people for protesting the fraudulent results, in Bafoussamin the West region of Cameroon denouncing what they call an “electoral hold up” by Biya. This follows arrests in Douala and Yaounde, on all of which Antonio "Traveling Man" Guterres has been characteristically silent. Nor have Guterres' spokesmen being answering Inner City Press' questions on Cameroon including this on November 6: "November 6-1: On Cameroon, first please immediately now five days after ASG Ursula Mueller's Nov 1 presentation (at the Norway Mission) about Cameroon provide a copy or summary of her remarks. Second, what is the SG's knowledge of, comment and action on, the reporting kidnapping of students in Anglophone Cameroon, with the kidnappers caught saying 'tu perds ton temps'?"
Dujarric's Deputy emailed banned Inner City Press: "Regarding your first question, we have just issued the following statement:
The Secretary-General condemns the reported kidnapping on 5 November of students and staff from a secondary school in Bamenda, North-West region of Cameroon. He calls for their immediate release and return to their homes and families. There can be no justification for these crimes against civilians, particularly minors.
The Secretary-General reiterates the need for a peaceful solution to the crisis in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon through an inclusive dialogue process. The United Nations stands ready to assist in this regard.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General
New York, 6 November 2018" So what about that French? No answer. Now the issue will be pushed behind, with the release of 90 and not the state 79 students. Nor did the UN inform Inner City Press, despite its questions, that Guterres' Ursula Mueller, who previously visited Cameroon without going to the Anglophone areas (Inner City Press asked her why, before being roughed up andbanned), had given a November 1 briefing a Norway's mission to the UN on 50th Street, leaked invitation here. We will ask the UN about this, even amid Guterres' ongoing censorship of Press. Should we expect a UN statement on students kisnapped or taken hostage? Who would draft it? Watch this site. On November 2 Inner City Press asked the deputy of the UN refugee agency UNHCR Volker Turk about the refoulement of AyukTabe and 46 others from Nigeria, the Cameroonian refugees and the UNHCR staffer who previously called online for harsher repression by Biya. Video here. Troublingly, Volker first responded about only the Far North of Cameroon, then implied that displaced Anglophones all remain inside Cameroon and not in deplorable conditions across the border in Nigeria, from which some were illegally returned. He did not answer the question about UNHCR's own staffer, whom will therefore name: Nadine Njoya. How is this acceptable? The UN of Antonio Guterres remains silent, including the the face of multiple questions from the Press (which Guterres has banned) as journalists and peaceful protesters, bystanders and perceived opponents are arrested. On the morning of October 29 Inner City Press in writing asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, "October 29-3: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on the government's arrests of peaceful protesters in Douala, Yaounde and elsewhere over the weekend?" Now on October 30, no answer at all, while Dujarric is tweeting his photos from a ferry to the Upper East Side and blockingthe Press. On November 2 when, after questioning UNHCR's Turk Inner City Press asked Dujarric if Guterres has congratulated Biya, Dujarric said "I don't know" and biked away. Video here, looped 6-second Vine here. Guterres has gone for four days on the UN's and public's dime to his real home in Lisbon, for a speech with little to do with the UN and a dubious award. We'll have more on this. Among the journalists outrageously locked up by Biya: ElvisMcCarthy, Thomas Awah Junior, Tsi Conrad andMancho Bibixy; quickly added to by the detentions of Michel Biem Tong and Mathias Mouenda Ngamo. Then again, Guterres and Dujarric (and others) worked to have Inner City Press which asks them about Cameroon and corruption roughed up, twice, and now banned from the UN for 118 days from noon briefing in which, for days, no one let it ask anything about anything in Africa, much less Cameroon. The UN of Guterres and Dujarric is corrupt. We'll have more on this - and this: here are just some of Inner City Press questions to Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, which USG Alison Smale promised UNSR David A. Kaye would be answered - but not a single one has: "October 22-1: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on... the surrounding of Kah Walla's house by police, the slowing / shut off of Facebook and WhatsApp, etc? What is his comment on Obiang of Equatorial Guinea having congratulated Biya on re-election 2 days before the results?
October 23-1: On Cameroon, does the SG agree that there were “irregularities in the re-election” of Paul Biya? Again, what is his comment on the government's false claim that Transparency International observed the election? Does he think the reported turn-out and results in the Anglophone regions are credible? Where IS Francois Fall? When is the last time he was in Cameroon?
October 24-1: On Cameroon, beyond the unanswered questions below, what is the SG's comment and action on the arrest of journalist Michele Biem Tong? In terms of corruption and the credibility of the Oct 7 election, what is the SG's comment and action on “Cameroon’s government has issued a public tender for the construction of a new residence for the president of the Constitutional Council, the same legal body that just two days ago announced the re-election of long-time President Paul Biya”?
No answers, just a reiterate that Guterres has put Inner City Press on a permanently banned list that the UN will not disclose, under Global Censor Alison Smale. We'll have more on this.
The Secretary-General condemns the reported kidnapping on 5 November of students and staff from a secondary school in Bamenda, North-West region of Cameroon. He calls for their immediate release and return to their homes and families. There can be no justification for these crimes against civilians, particularly minors.
The Secretary-General reiterates the need for a peaceful solution to the crisis in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon through an inclusive dialogue process. The United Nations stands ready to assist in this regard.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General
New York, 6 November 2018" So what about that French? No answer. Now the issue will be pushed behind, with the release of 90 and not the state 79 students. Nor did the UN inform Inner City Press, despite its questions, that Guterres' Ursula Mueller, who previously visited Cameroon without going to the Anglophone areas (Inner City Press asked her why, before being roughed up andbanned), had given a November 1 briefing a Norway's mission to the UN on 50th Street, leaked invitation here. We will ask the UN about this, even amid Guterres' ongoing censorship of Press. Should we expect a UN statement on students kisnapped or taken hostage? Who would draft it? Watch this site. On November 2 Inner City Press asked the deputy of the UN refugee agency UNHCR Volker Turk about the refoulement of AyukTabe and 46 others from Nigeria, the Cameroonian refugees and the UNHCR staffer who previously called online for harsher repression by Biya. Video here. Troublingly, Volker first responded about only the Far North of Cameroon, then implied that displaced Anglophones all remain inside Cameroon and not in deplorable conditions across the border in Nigeria, from which some were illegally returned. He did not answer the question about UNHCR's own staffer, whom will therefore name: Nadine Njoya. How is this acceptable? The UN of Antonio Guterres remains silent, including the the face of multiple questions from the Press (which Guterres has banned) as journalists and peaceful protesters, bystanders and perceived opponents are arrested. On the morning of October 29 Inner City Press in writing asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, "October 29-3: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on the government's arrests of peaceful protesters in Douala, Yaounde and elsewhere over the weekend?" Now on October 30, no answer at all, while Dujarric is tweeting his photos from a ferry to the Upper East Side and blockingthe Press. On November 2 when, after questioning UNHCR's Turk Inner City Press asked Dujarric if Guterres has congratulated Biya, Dujarric said "I don't know" and biked away. Video here, looped 6-second Vine here. Guterres has gone for four days on the UN's and public's dime to his real home in Lisbon, for a speech with little to do with the UN and a dubious award. We'll have more on this. Among the journalists outrageously locked up by Biya: ElvisMcCarthy, Thomas Awah Junior, Tsi Conrad andMancho Bibixy; quickly added to by the detentions of Michel Biem Tong and Mathias Mouenda Ngamo. Then again, Guterres and Dujarric (and others) worked to have Inner City Press which asks them about Cameroon and corruption roughed up, twice, and now banned from the UN for 118 days from noon briefing in which, for days, no one let it ask anything about anything in Africa, much less Cameroon. The UN of Guterres and Dujarric is corrupt. We'll have more on this - and this: here are just some of Inner City Press questions to Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, which USG Alison Smale promised UNSR David A. Kaye would be answered - but not a single one has: "October 22-1: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on... the surrounding of Kah Walla's house by police, the slowing / shut off of Facebook and WhatsApp, etc? What is his comment on Obiang of Equatorial Guinea having congratulated Biya on re-election 2 days before the results?
October 23-1: On Cameroon, does the SG agree that there were “irregularities in the re-election” of Paul Biya? Again, what is his comment on the government's false claim that Transparency International observed the election? Does he think the reported turn-out and results in the Anglophone regions are credible? Where IS Francois Fall? When is the last time he was in Cameroon?
October 24-1: On Cameroon, beyond the unanswered questions below, what is the SG's comment and action on the arrest of journalist Michele Biem Tong? In terms of corruption and the credibility of the Oct 7 election, what is the SG's comment and action on “Cameroon’s government has issued a public tender for the construction of a new residence for the president of the Constitutional Council, the same legal body that just two days ago announced the re-election of long-time President Paul Biya”?
No answers, just a reiterate that Guterres has put Inner City Press on a permanently banned list that the UN will not disclose, under Global Censor Alison Smale. We'll have more on this.
Major countries' business with Biya continues, not only from Biya's long time supporter France but also the UK's New Age natural gas deal of which Minister Liam Fox bragged. UK Minister for Africa Harriett Baldwin was asked about her congratulations to Biya and doubled down, calling it a "new" government. After 36 years, what's new about it? Now another journalist has been arrested, according to multiple credible souces: Mathias Mouene Ngamo. And from the UN, where banned Inner City Press asks SG Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, no answer, despite the promises of USG Alison Smale. This while Inner City Press appeal of the FCO's withholding of Cameroon information remains pending with the Information Commissioner's Office and another request, on collusion in censorship, pends.