by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
UN GATE, June 17 – On World Press Freedom Day, the United Nations of Antonio Guterres and Melissa Fleming was more hypocritical than usual.
While UN Global Communications chief Fleming put out a video of Guterres equating what he (and she) characterize as disinformation as the threat to press freedom, Guterres has banned Inner City Press from entering the UN since 2018, when it exposed the omission of links to bribery firm CEFC China Energy from his financial disclosure.
Meanwhile the UN "multi-country" office in Fiji has fired up to 40 local employees and is replacing them with overseas interns - a process repeated again and again under Guterres. (In DRC with a twist - for local women to get the UNV jobs, they have to provide sexual favors to Guterres' cronies, as whistleblowers have repeatedly described to Inner City Press but spokesman Stephane Dujarric, once at UNDP, has refused to answer).
"This week, several claims surfaced online from development workers in the country, claiming the UN office sent home local staff without prior notice. The office said 'staff have been consulted; but it did not specify whether the claims of staff being sent home were true. This amid the recent investigations against the UN Resident Coordinator Sanaka Samarasinha." h/t
On June 12, Guterres while plopped down in the propagandist-only UN Press Briefing Room "launched" his proposal to blue wash dictators' censorship efforts as a war on disinformation - which he defines as anything critical of the UN or, even more so, of him. Video with commentary here. His Melissa Fleming carries it out.
Fleming, who has refused to answer a polite pro bono letter from the Quinn Emanuel law firm seeking a dialogue to end her ban of Inner City Press, was intoning, as echoed by another paid UN system communications staffer, "We're creating at the UN a central capacity to monitor and …rapidly react when mis- and dis information and hate speech threaten not just our people, our operations, but also the issues and causes we're working on," -Melissa Fleming."
What is the accountability for this "central capacity" that, without explaining or answering, has the Press roughed up and banned?
Law firm Quinn Emanuel, on a pro bono basis, wrote to Fleming and the UN Correspondents Association (with state media of China on its board of directors) seeking a dialogue to reinstate Inner City Press.
There has been no answer, nor to an appeal to Guterres head of security Gilles Michaud.
Still, ill-informed media run the Guterres video without commentary. Disinformation, indeed.
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.
Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
