As Inner City Press Questions UN on Libya, Sri Lanka and Darfur, UNCA & Reuters Trolling Resumes, UN Censorship Alliance Opposed by Free UN Coalition for Access

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 4 -- Here is how the UN works, or doesn't: on August 27, after Inner City Press in the days before had questioned Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's dubious approach to Sri Lanka and Libya, and UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous' stonewalling on Darfurand elsewhere, the UN's Censorship Alliance decided to fight back.

  A troll social media account linked to the UN Correspondents Association, about which the Free UN Coalition for Access had notified not only UNCA and its head Pamela Falk but also Reuters, whose UN bureau chief tried to get the investigative Press thrown out of the UN then lobbied Google (here) to block his leaked “for the record” complaint from Google's search, revived on July 27, went on the offensive against Inner City Press again -- anonymously, of course.

  The UN itself was notified of this account, since it continues to partner with UNCA as its UN Censorship Alliance, setting aside first questions and giving it a large, usually unused room even as the UN evicted the News Agency of Nigeria from its workspace at the UN citing lack of space. 

  This same troll social media account has promoted the current UN spokesman, to whom the Reuters bureau chief's complaint to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN was directed.

  Now that same spokesman defends Ban Ki-moon, for example adopting Ladsous' censorship on September 3, not taking Press questions on Ladsous' DPKO ordering peacekeepers to surrender to the Al Nusra Front.

  His office has in the past censored from the UN's transcripts even the name of the Free UN Coalition for Access, which Inner City Press co-founded after members of UNCA's Executive Committee including for example Voice of America (Freedom of Information Act obtained document here), Agence France Presse (document here),Bloomberg and Reuters, sought to get it thrown out.

What's telling about these revivals of UNCA's trolls social media campaign is it is tied to when the UN is under attack. That's why they call it the UN's Censorship Alliance.

  Now the big room the UN gives them, entirely closed from August 1 to August 19, while its glassed in bulletin board had and has an advertisement by one of its UNCA members to buy a used car for over $7,000, is set to be used for trickery, with with purported press freedom organization partnering with censors to purportedly talk about... press freedom. We'll have more on this.

  And what of the UN's previous argument against FUNCA's substantive fliers, that they had to be approved by the UN? Are UNCA's used car sales approved by Ban Ki-moon? Are its anonymous trolling social media accounts? Watch this site.

   

"Ghost Staffing" at UN Protection Force in Afghanistan Shown by Leaks to Inner City Press, No Answer by UNDP for 48 Hours, LOTFA Echo

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, August 7 – Following up on Inner City Press exclusive publication of UN Development Program audits of its Law and Order Trust Fund Afghanistan, including double payments and other irregularities, whistleblowers have exclusively provided Inner City Press with more damning documents. 

  Today's third document, exclusively published here, concerns "'Ghost Staffing' at the UN Protective Force," about which the UN Department of Safety and Security said, "Just let it be for now." Click here to view.

    On August 5, Inner City Press exclusively published this one, linking it to the LOTFA scandal: an official "was again advised that it may be illegal for salaried police officials to take cash payments to augment their salaries" but the adviser was told it was "no longer my priority under LOTFA and that I was no longer to address these issues with DPII or DSS."

  This and the other documents indicate that little was fixed, that UNDP goes after whistleblowers, and does not follow up even when for example it is involved in visa fraud. 

   Inner City Press on morning of August 5 asked no fewer than four spokespeople at UNDP, including the personal spokesperson for UNDP Administrator (and UNSG candidate) Helen Clark for their response to the below. 

 More than 48 hours later -- no answers. Inner City Pressexclusively published the second document, here: about payments by UNAMA / UNDSS to fully salaried Afghan forces. Click here.

  Both UNAMA and UNDSS are run by Ban Ki-moon's Secretariat, so Ban's spokespeople must answer. UNDP's Helen Clark herself has refused official inquiry about these irregularities. So on August 6 Inner City Press asked UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq:

Inner City Press: The payments by UNDSS (Department of Safety and Security) and UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) in Afghanistan to members of the Ministry of Interior and other Afghan forces that are already under full salary by the Government. Various documents have come out that show an internal UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) whistle blower seeking to raise these issues within UNDP because, I guess, because as the country team, or whatever. But the documents list, they name UNDSS, they name UNAMA, and basically the person was told, “Don’t raise this anymore.” So, I was anticipating you to say “Ask UNDP”. And I have more than 24 hours ago. I don’t have any answer from them. But I want to ask you, because the documents are not just about UNDP, but about DSS and UNAMA, is it… what are the rules? Is it UN’s, DPKO’s (Department of Peacekeeping Operations), DPA’s (Department of Political Affairs) and DSS’s understanding that Afghan forces shouldn’t receive out double payments. If this information came to light, I think it did, what was done about it? That’s my question to you. I don’t know if you get an answer today. Is it possible?

Deputy Spokesman Haq: As I’m sure you’ve anticipated, and indeed you said you anticipated, yes, I’m aware that UN Development Programme is in touch with you on this. They’ve informed you that they will get back to you. And so, we will first have to wait for what their reply is. First ask them.

Inner City Press: How long --

Deputy Spokesman: No, no. It’s no use trying to get the two of us talk at cross purposes with each other. UNDP will get back to you.

  That UNDP "is in touch with you" was and is not true: there has been no response at all. The statement UNDP "will get to you" remains unfulfilled. This is today's UN system -- even when UN system staff unions wrote to Ban Ki-moon about Helen Clark, and Inner City Press repeated asked about the letter, there has been no response.

  Here is what Inner City Press asked on August 5, no answer after 48 hours: 

This is an Inner City Press Press request on deadline for UNDP's comment / response to the following narrative provided to us by UNDP whistleblowers:

UNDP purchased $100,000 in fuel for a special police unit and it was discovered that some or all of the fuel was stolen by the police. The project manager - chief technical adviser for the project refused to purchase another allocation of fuel due to this reported corruption. Refusing to purchase this additional fuel caused problems between the project manager - chief technical adviser and the chief of UN security in Afghanistan.

This followed with reports that several vehicles purchased by this same UNDP project and given to this same special police unit were not being used for the unit but had instead been given as political gifts or other reasons to other offices of the Afghan government. After giving these vehicles to higher ranking officials the Colonel of this special police unit was promoted to General.

The project manager - chief technical adviser reported this and nothing happened. As part of the review which discovered this the corruption of payments made by the UN security office in Afghanistan to the special police unit was also discovered and reported.

 This is also a request for UNDP response / comment on another issue, of visa overstay, also on deadline:

UNDP's staff from Afghanistan have not returned to their duty station after being granted visas to attend/participate in the recent UN Games in the USA. UNDP supported the official/G4 visas for all of these Afghan nationals and now they have remained behind in the USA... How can the organization justify sending a dozen people half-way around the world to compete in 'UN Games'? How many of them were given business class tickets since the travel exceeds the 9 hour standard? Is this a proper use of public monies? How can an office so critical to the development of Afghanistan in this time of change see it as beneficial for a dozen of their staff to go on a paid junket to the USA?

[Names redacted in this format / for now]

This is on deadline. This is also a request for UNDP's response to the staff survey and the critique(s) of the restructuring / layoffs. 

  More than four hours and one UNDP press conference latter, no answers from UNDP. When they arrive, we plan to have more. Watch this site.

   

At UN, Spirulina Pomp Likened to Snake Oil, Obama and Rodham Clinton Links Played Up

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1spirulina030409.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 5 -- On the fourth floor of the UN on Wednesday night, a restive crowd formed to shake hands with a Sheikh from Dubai, in the name of spirulina. This is an algae which, according to the videos shown at the subsequent dinner, can miraculously cure the disabled. It was rubbed onto knees in Kenya, it was shipping into the white phosphorous marked Iraqi city of Fallujah.

While one skeptic in the crowd muttered, "Snake oil," it was said from the podium that the UN in 1974 deemed spirulina the best hope to fight world hunger. Its proponents called themselves Ambassadors; they are omnipresent in the UN's Delegates' Lounge, passing out books of poetry and quoting Che Guevara. Wednesday night they kept a Dining Room full of freeloaders waiting for two hours for the main course, as representatives of wine firms and the "Official Spokesman of the Obama Family in Kenya" praised the qualities of spirulina.

Inner City Press, among the freeloaders, spoke with a Thai refugee of sorts, now with Smith Barney in San Francisco, who admitted to only coming because it was a chance to see the UN, and contrasted the evening's pomp to a Bay Area non-profit which helps recent immigrants. Next to her was a farm owner from Mississippi, who flew up from Jackson for the promise of US Department of Agriculture subsidies for spirulina farms on the Gulf Coast.

"It'll be like ethanol production there," she said. "Thirty six months to make money, then get out." One wondered if the cited connection to Obama might help with the USDA subsidy. A point was made from the podium of noting the attendance of Hillary Clinton's brother Tony Rodham.

In the crowd, along with Tony and others, was the UN's envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari. Jovial as always, he wished "good luck" to those urging International Criminal Court indictment of Myanmar's General Than Shwe, and expressed concern at the demotion of Tanzanian Anna Tibaijuka from head of the UN Office in Nairobi in favor of the German, Achim Steiner.

The spirulina awardees, for the most part, did not come to the dinner. An award was given to an Jamaican soccer player -- called "the Diego Maradona" of that country -- and to a doctor who took spirulina to Falluja despite the dangers there. "I have a good nose for bullshit," said a woman from the Deep South, "and this is a Code Red, pure bullshit."

The evening's host and sponsor, Sulaiman al Fahim, is described in his spirulina bio as having begun "investing in the stock market under his mother's name" at the age of fourteen. An Inner City Press source saw him at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, while Sudan's press conference about their president's indictment went on, sitting in the delegate's lounge in what are described as dirty jeans. Hours later, in full dish-dash, he said "I have connections all over the world" and predicted a campaign for spirulina including "Hollywood" people.

In fairness, while not shown in the videos, sprirulina is said to re-open the digestive tract in under-nourished people. But to rub it on your legs? We will have more on this.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1spirulina030409.html