By Matthew Russell Lee, Video, 7/20, CJR, ICO ruling
UNITED NATIONS GATE, August 1 – As the abuses by Cameroon's security forces have been ignored by the UN, whose Secretary General Antonio Guterres has UN Budget Committee deals with Paul Biya and a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman who is bombing Yemen, the UK Mission to the UN and its parent the FCO withheld information on both countries from Inner City Press.
Even after being belatedly admonished by the UK Information Commissioner's Office, now in May and June 2019 the UK Mission and FCO are doing the same and worse, outright refusing to proceeding Inner City Press' request about Cameroon and Yemen after the UK Mission refused to answer basic written questions.
After the UK Mission's refusal, under Ambassador's Karen Pierce and Jonathan Allen, to answer Inner City Press submitted a FOIA request to FCO: "This is request under the UK Freedom of Information act for the following records as that term is defined in FOI, including but not limited to all electronic records, emails, text/SMS message and communications in any form, involving the UK Mission to the UN in New York since July 3, 2018 regarding Cameroon or Yemen (on which the UK holds the pen in the UN Security Council), and regarding any UK national UN Under Secretaries General including but not limited to Alison Smale and any opportunity given by the UN Secretariat to the UK to replace her or gain a different USG position as she leaves at the end of this summer. This request specifically includes all records related to briefings given by the UK Mission to the UN to members of the major international media (and any mentions of that term), as that information cannot legitimately by made public to some but not to the public"
While last time, for which it was ultimately admonished, the FCO slowed began assembling documents, this time they flatly refuse: "I can confirm that the FCO does hold information relevant to your request.... to refine your request to narrow its scope [suggesting dropping Cameroon, Yemen, and pretending no way to search for documents about Smale or getting UN USG positions from Guterres] .. You can apply directly to the Information Commissioner. However, the Information Commissioner will not normally make a decision unless you have first exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the FCO."
On July 4, Inner City Press has written both to the FCO and the ICO. The ICO said it would wait until FCO ruled, which it has today August 1, in continued corruption. To the FCO, cc-ing two at the UK Mission including Stephen Hickey: "July 4, 2019 Via email to foi-dpa.pmcs@fco.gov.uk To whom it may concern at foi-dpa.pmcs@fco.gov.uk: This is a formal request for review of, and complaint about, FCO's June 15 denial in full of Inner City Press' and my May 11 request under FOIA for documents concerning the UK Mission to the UN, Yemen and Cameroon. Amazingly, despite the UK ICO's 26 February 2019 ruling on the FCO's improper delay and withholding of records on an nearly identical request by Inner City Press (FS50771047, incorporated herein by reference), and with the UK Mission to the UN now refusing to answer or even acknowlege Inner City Press' written questions about Cameroon and Yemen, the FCO denied this reques in full. It did not provide a single documents, even amid the controversy about the UK's sale of weapons for use in Yemen, and increasing visibility of the slaugher of Anglophones in Cameroon, with whose Paul Biya Liam Fox bragged about UK-based New Age's hydro-carbon deal. Additionally, UK Under Sec-Gen Alison Smale is set to leave in August, making the censorship portion of the request all the more timely. Hence this request for review - and for action for accountability for those who are improperly withholding information about the UK government, censorship and the killing of civilians in Cameroon and Yemen. The requested records should be provided immediately."
Four weeks later, this: "INTERNAL REVIEW: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) REQUEST REF 0459-19 Thank you for your email of 4 July requesting an internal review (IR) of our response to the above request. I note that your original request covered a time period of approximately 10 months and was widely framed in terms of the type of information you were seeking. I also note that we suggested you might wish to refine your request before we accepted it, and that you declined the opportunity to do so. I am satisfied that an appropriate sampling exercise was carried out to ascertain how much information we might hold in scope of your request. The results of that initial search indicated that there were several thousand documents which might potentially contain relevant information. I am therefore satisfied that it would have taken us considerably longer than three and a half working days to comply with your request, and that the decision to refuse it under s12 of the FOIA was correct. In your IR request you refer to a request you made for similar information in 2017 (FCO ref 0783-17) and the subsequent ICO Decision Notice on that case. I note, however, that your 2017 request had been refined to cover a much shorter time frame and we were thus able to respond substantively to it within the specified cost limit. For your information, I have attached below some links to published material relating to your request that may be of interest to you. Yemen: https://www.gov.uk/search/news-and- communications?keywords=yemen&world_locations%5B%5D=uk-mission-to-the-united- nations-new-york&order=relevance Cameroon: Statement by Ambassador Jonathan Allen, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the Security Council briefing on Conflict Prevention and Mediation: ‘The role of mediation in conflict prevention’, published 12 June 2019 https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-role- of-mediation-in-conflict-prevention Central FOI Unit Foreign and Commonwealth Office King Charles Street London SW1A 2AH Website: https://www.gov.uk Statement by Ambassador Jonathan Allen, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the Security Council briefing on the UN Regional Office on Central Africa: ‘Inclusive political dialogue in Central Africa’, published 4 June 2019 https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/inclusive-political-dialogue-in-central-africa Statement by Ambassador Jonathan Allen, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the Security Council Briefing on the UN Regional Office on Central Africa: ‘Preventing further conflict in Cameroon and the Lake Chad Basin’, published 13 December 2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/preventing-further-conflict-in-cameroon-and-the-lake- chad-basin If you are not content with the outcome of this Internal Review you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire, SK9 5AF Yours sincerely, Joint Head Central FOI Unit."
We will be appealing. Because this is pure corruption - first colluding with Antonio Guterres to have the Press which asks about Cameroon and Yemen roughed up and banned, then refusing its questions, then trying to strong arm it into dropping whole parts of its FOI request. Disgusting. Watch this site.
