by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
UN GATE, July 17 – In Cameroon journalists are being censored and some killed. And the United Nations is doing nothing - in fact, the UN censors and has been the Press that asks it about the situation.
On July 3, 2018, Inner City Press was grilling Cameroon Ambassador to the UN Tommo Monthe when the UN Security of Antonio Guterres intervened and threw the Press out, banning it since.
On July 17, 2023, various NGOs who speak about press freedom announced they were petitioning the UN about attacks on journalists in Cameroon, starting with: "Cameroonian journalists are facing lethal threats and false legal charges as they pursue reporting in the midst of Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict."
Earlier on July 17, banned Inner City Press emailed questions including deaths in Ambazonia to Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric and Melissa Fleming. Both refused to answer, while Dujarric joked with and entertained questions from China state media, among others.
The UN's own censorship was not in the "new report on press freedom and freedom of expression submitted to the United Nations by Freedom House, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights, with the support of Covington & Burling LLP." Surprised?
In fine UN fashion they called on "Biya’s government to finally account for the death in custody of Samuel Wazizi, to free the journalists it has arbitrarily detained, including those falsely accused of terrorism, and to ensure that the murder of Martinez Zogo and the killing of Jean-Jacques Ola Bebe do not go unpunished."
And at the UN itself? They are silent, like the UN had been for a month, on Inner City Press' application to re-enter and cover UNGA 2023, here. This is a litmus test. Watch this site.
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