UNITED NATIONS GATE, July 1 – With the UN Security Council presidency for July being taken over by Peru's Gustavo Meza-Cuadra Velásquez, one might have expected that at least a meeting for the month would be scheduled about Venezuela, if not for example Cameroon.
But no. In a press conference from which Inner City Press was banned by UNSG Antonio Guterres, with no push-back at all by Peru, there was not even a question raised about Cameroon, or Burundi, or any number of topics. There were entirely predictable questions, but for one, answered in an entirely predictable way, as the UN becomes more and more corrupt and closed in on itself.
There will be a meeting on Colombia, on July 19. On July 24, DRC and West Africa, where Guterres' envoy Chambas praises Biya and Buhari, Bongo and whoever else. Libya on July 29 and Syria July 3, 25 and 30, for some reason labeled "3" on the program of work. We'll have more on this - and on Guterres' attempted cover up through censorship of his own failures such as Cameroon, and financial links to UN briber CEFC China Energy. For shame.
Peru is a member of the Security Council for six more months, and heard what was said in the UNSC about Cameroon on May 13. Even the sanitized Lowcock and handpicked NGO version was troubling... Back in a past September Ethiopia's Tekeda Alemu, Inner City Press asked Ambassador Alemu four questions, the answers to which sketch out the Ethopian government's worldview. Video here. In response to Inner City Press asking why Burundi, where even the UN says there is a risk of genocide, is not on his September Program of Work nor on the agenda of the Council's visit to Addis Ababa, Alemu said that you can't compare Burundi to Central African Republic, that Burundi has “strong state institutions.” But it is that very “strength,” which some say the country shares with Ethiopia, and with until recently military-ruled Myanmar about which Inner City Press also asked, that has led to the human rights violations. In this context, Inner City Press asked Alemu about the Oromo protests - and crackdown - in his country. He diplomatically chided Inner City Press for not having asked in private, saying that social media has played a dangerous role. On the other hand, when Inner City Press asked Alemu at the end about the murders of two UN experts Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan, he replied that while the DR Congo is due to sovereignty the one to investigate the murders, the gruesome nature of the killings put a “great responsibility” on the DR Congo. We'l have more on this. Alamy photos here. Earlier on September 1 in Alemu's briefing to countries not on the Security Council, Bangladesh specifically asked that the Council remain seized of the situation in Myanmar. When Inner City Press asked Alemu about this, he said he still had to inform himself more about that situation. The Security Council is traveling to Addis from September 5 through 9, when alongside African Union consultations the Council's member will meet for an hour with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Alemu said. The Council will receive the “maiden briefings” late in the month of the new Under Secretaries General of OCHA and on Counter-Terrorism. There will be peacekeeping on September 20, during the High Level week of the UN General Assembly, and Yemen on September 26. But tellingly, there will not be Burundi. Watch this site.
