ICP Asks Samantha Power of Ban Ki-moon's Family Indicted, She Says Doesn't Involve UN, Smirks at UN's Haiti Cholera

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 13 – There are those in the UN who like Samantha Power for what they think she stands for. By the same token, Power and the Obama administration were unrelentingly defenders of the UN for what they said it stood for. But were either right?

  On January 13 Samantha Power took up the UN Press Briefing Room for more than an hour to extol her and Obama's virtues. Her outgoing spokesman called early on two US Voice of America affiliates. 

 Between questions, Inner City Press asked, What about the indictment of Ban Ki-moon's brother and nephew? Tweeted video here.

  Power looked over and said, “I don't have any comment. It's not something that involves the UN.” 

  Well, no. The indictment by the US Attorney's Office says Ban's nephew repeatedly cited his family's access to the Amir of Qatar to help selling a building in Vietnam. Ban knew of this for at least a year and a half. Any UN OIOS investigation? But Samantha Power was never about reforming the UN.

   Inner City Press asked, What about Haiti cholera? Power smirked / shrugged, and her spokesman moved on. So the UN bringing cholera to Haiti and killing 10,000 people, not paying a penny - that "is not something that involves the UN?" We'll have more on this.

   When the UN killed 10,000 plus people in Haiti by bringing cholera, what did the Obama administration do? The issue wasn't even mentioned in Power's 8000 plus word Exit Memo. Nor was Burundi or Yemen, where US-made cluster bombs have been dropped on schools and hospitals. A problem from hell, indeed.

   Power and her Deputy Permanent Representative for Management and Reform Isobel Coleman have said nothing about the indictment for bribery of Ban Ki-moon's brother and nephew for using the UN, nor about the John Ashe / Ng Lap Seng UN briefing case about to come to trial. 

They did nothing when  the Press which asked the UN about this corruption was thrown in the street and remains restricted still today, ten months later, despite a request from the Government Accountability Project.
  Specifically, Power, Coleman and the Mission / Administration did nothing when Ban and his holdover head of communications Cristina Gallach had investigative Inner City Press thrown out onto First Avenue. They were asked in writing (by the Government Accountability Project), at the UNSC stakeout (Power) and in Washington (Kirby). Nothing. The UN is trying to give its office to an Egyptian state media which rarely comes in, never asks questions.

   The failure to reform during a UN-sympathetic Administration in Washington will make the coming scrutiny all the more painful. Call it a Problem From Hell.

 When the UN Security Council members met about South Sudan on December 15, the best they could do was extend the mandate of the UNMISS mission for a single day. Even then, there was already news of UNMISS having given arms to warlord, or “rebel general,” James Koang.

 Inner City Press asked US Ambassador Samantha Power about this on December 16 and she said she hadn't read it. On December 19, even while fielding a pre-picked question on South Sudan, Power still refused to answer. Video here.

 We'll have more on this.

Inner City Press: Open Letter to Amb Samanatha Power As ICP Faces Retaliation & Eviction from UN

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 28 -- Amid increasingly retaliation from the UN for Inner City Press' reporting and attempts to cover not only crises like Burundi and Yemen and Western Sahara but also UN corruption, Inner City Press on the evening of March 28, after receiving a legal threat from the UN's top lawyer, issued this open letter to US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, cc-ed:

March 28, 2016

Dear Ambassador Power:

  I write to you as a journalist who has covered the United Nations for ten years, who has for example asked you questions about Burundi and UN peacekeeper rapes, but who now faced eviction from the UN and hindering of my reporting in retaliation for my efforts to cover corruption in the Organization.

   As set forth below, on February 19 on the order of UN Under Secretary General for Public Information Cristina Gallach, who never once spoke to me, I was thrown out onto First Avenue, my laptop thrown on the sidewalk.Audio here.

  On February 26, the DC-based Government Accountability Project wrote to your colleague Ambassador Isobel Coleman urging your Mission to response to this retaliation and to ensure Inner City Press is restored to its shared office space and Resident Correspondent accreditation.

   But today, March 28, I have received a letter from Under Secretary General for Legal Affairs Miguel de Serpa Soares ignoring all arguments about retaliation and freedom of the press and of expression, and reiterated USG Gallach's threat to evacuate eight years of files or have them removed by the UN.

   In this context, still not having heard back from your Deputy or Spokesperson, I am writing this open letter. I have heard that some in the US Mission have delayed acting on GAP's requests, saying that some other journalists don't like me. Others do; more fundamentally, I do not believe that journalism, particularly investigative journalism, is a popularity contest.

 (But be aware, USG Gallach and SG Ban Ki-moon have received protests to their retaliation from, for example, Sri Lanka's Northern Provincial Council - and responded withmispresentations - as well as groups in Burundi, Yemen and elsewhere. There is an online petition, here, with more than 1000 signatures and comments.)

   I also believe that even if one is a supporter of the UN, the Organization is not helped by covering up corruption, or rapes by its peacekeepers, or hindering media which digs into and reports on these.

   The supposed basis for my ouster has not held up. I endeavored to cover an event in the UN Press Briefing Room, where you have held press conferences, on January 29. I had published an article about the event two days before; I openly live-streamed it on Periscope over my phone, entirely visible in the glassed in interpreters booth I used in order to not interact with the event.

   The event was nowhere listed as closed; I believed and believe that events in the UN Press Briefing Room are presumptively open to all and not just some journalists, until the UN Journal or UN Security say otherwise. Two UN spokespeople asked me to leave as a favor; shortly thereafter when a single UN Security officer told me the Spokesman wanted me to leave, I did. I published a story, and the video.

  Three weeks later, without a single conversation or opportunity to be heard - with no due process -- my Resident Correspondents pass was deactivated and I was handed to letter to leave in two hours. That evening, as I was typing up the Syria meeting of the Security Council, I was pushed down the escalator by eight UN Security guard and thrown out onto First Avenue. Audio here.

  (The 17th Precinct, notable, told me they have no jurisdiction over the UN.)

  On Monday February 22, I was told I was banned from all UN premises. After covering the UN and Security Council for three days from the Ralph Bunche Park across the street, and stories in BuzzFeed and Business Insider, I re-entered with a restricted “non-resident correspondent” pass. This has resulted, as your colleague Ambassador Coleman has been informed by another branch of the US government, in the hindering of my reporting.

  But this hindering, these double standards and threats have continued. As I explained in an email to your Deputy and Spokesperson on March 26, before receiving USG de Serpa Soares eviction threat, last week the unjustly reduced accreditation status resulted in me being unable to stakeout and cover the Western Sahara meeting of the Security Council on Monday, March 21 (video here). 

Even more Orwellian, right after the Council's president read out Press Elements on March 24, I was told by MALU staff I had to leave the stakeout immediately, without speaking with any diplomats.

After I said that I have a right to report -- USG Gallach has said I will have the same access, which has not been true -- I was told the only way I could stay was with an a MALU / Secretariat “escort.”

This discourages diplomats and whistleblowers from speaking, with a Secretariat minder present, and in context is tantamount to UN censorship. It is unacceptable and USG Gallach's order must be reversed.

As I have explained and is now even more clear, there was no basis for the penalty in USG Gallach's February 19 letter ousting me from the UN on two hours notice. The meeting I covered was nowhere listed as closed; I filmed it openly, live-streaming on Periscope.

I have been informed that USG Gallach tells interlocutors, including up from Washington, that my violation was being in the interpreters booth. She has refused to produce any rule in that regard, and this past week on March 23 I witnessed and filmed two non-interpreters in the “Other” interpretation booth of the UN Press Briefing Room as the noon briefing took place. Video here.

UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq did nothing about these non-interpreters in the interpretation booth, quite different from my treatment on Jan 29 and since. On March 24 I asked Haq about it and he admitted he had not known who the individuals in the interpretation booth were the previous day. Video here.

So there is no rule, or no rule that is even arguably evenly enforced, in the regard. USG Gallach's order must be reverse: it is not only unjust and untenable: it is resulting in UN censorship.

On March 25 USG Gallach replied to a Western Sahara advocacy group in New Zealand which asked “why did you remove the accreditation of Inner City Press?” Gallach replied, photo here, that “I did not! ICP is fully accredited! Can report from UN.?His privilege to use office was taken out, due to misbehavior.”

Not only is it false that I “fully accredited” - I have had a reduction in accreditation and access and have been banned from the Security Council stakeout on March 21 and required to have a Secretariat “minder” on March 24 -- it also echoes exactly the argument made by two new anonymous social media accounts which USG Gallach follows.

One of these accounts has devoted all of its 600 plus tweets since it began just after my ouster on February 19 to denigrating Inner City Press and misleadingly saying that I have full access. This account is clearly affiliated with UNCA - it tweets about what happened in the UNCA meeting after Inner City Press was ejected, including a refusal then to provide a hard copy of the budget - and is, on information and belief, associated with Reuters, which conducted a similar “troll” campaign in 2013.

The second account is also devoted to denigrating Inner City Press and sounds suspiciously like the Voice of America correspondent who sought to get Inner City Press out in 2012, until exposed under the US Freedom of Information Act.

 (Since for example John Kerry is on the Broadcasting Board of Governors which runs VOA, I believe you and the Mission should particularly look into and take action on this.)

The UN should have a Freedom of Information. Inner City Press and I - and the alternative Free UN Coalition for Access - are entirely for free speech. But for major media to open anonymous accounts to attack a smaller media, to have it followed and echoed and even obeyed by the UN's USG for Public Information, is too much.

This too: on March 24 as I worked on Western Sahara, UNCA President Giampaolo Pioli approached me and said, “You are an assh*le,” loudly. He repeated this several more times, even as I advocated with UN Security not to lock the glass door to the Security Council until the Western Sahara meeting was over. Audio here.

If I have had my accreditation cut and access to my office denied for five week for trying to cover a meeting I believed and believe related to the John Ashe / Ng Lap Seng / Frank Lorenzo / South South News / Vivian Wang case, or for being uncivil, how can UNCA's president be allowed to repeatedly call me an assh*le as I work at the Security Council stakeout? USG Gallach has done nothing.

At this point, USG Gallach has turned over the powers of her office to a witchhunt, which began in 2011 with an attempt to censor my coverage of Sri Lanka. Notably while the response to Sri Lanka's Northern Provincial Council's March 1 letter to the 38 floor was signed by UNICEF's Una McCauley, when asked about its inaccuracy UNICEF has said, "Ask DPI."

USG Gallach's February 19 order must be reversed and this witchhunt and censorship must end. Inner City Press must be restored to its long time shared office space and Resident Correspondent accreditation status immediately, to allow it to report without intimidation or censorship.

  I make this request to you personally, as a former journalist, who clearly has the power to have this reversed. I await your response.

Thank you for your time.

Matthew Russell Lee
Inner City Press
S-303, UN, NYC NY 10017 (?)
InnerCityPress.com @InnerCityPress

  Watch this site.

After UN Department of Pubilc Information Ousts Inner City Press, Government Accountability Project Asks US Mission To Get Pass and Desk Back

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 26 -- After Inner City Press was summarily ejected from the UN, which it has covered for 10 years, on February 19, the ostensibly deciding official Cristina Gallach told no less than Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos Horta that Inner City Press would still be able to cover the UN.

What she didn't say was that Inner City Press' ability to cover the unfolding UN corruption scandal in which she has played a role would be curtailed under the proposed arrangement - by design.

Now the Government Accountability Project, which defends whistleblowers, has written to the US Mission to the UN, Ambassador of Management and Reform Isobel Coleman, to ask the US to ensure Inner City Press gets back its office and Resident Correspondent's pass. GAP letter here.

  GAP's Beatrice Edwards cites the UN's lack of due process and of rules, and the seeming retaliation against Inner City Press for its reporting. (There's also the physical ouster of Inner City Press, audio here.) Other missions have openly taken action: what will the US Mission do?

 Meanwhile in defense of Ban and Gallach, anonymous troll account has taken to tweeting, now at Spanish journalists, that Gallach is fine and didn't throw Inner City Press out of the UN on two hours notice without once speaking to it. But those are the fact. Among the new troll account's followers are Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric and four UNCA board members, plus Reuters bureau chief Louis Charbonneau, who has a history with this, see here.

US Mission to UN Is Asked to Ensure ICP Gets Its Office & UN Pass, by GAP by Matthew Russell Lee

  Because as a working journalist it needed access to cover the February 25 UN Security Council meeting about North Korea, and only in connection with filing a lawyer's letter telling Gallach and the UN not to touch Inner City Press' office or files, Inner City Press late morning entered the UN with a so-called "Green P" non-resident correspondents pass.

  At the day's noon briefing, after asking of Burundi, Western Sahara, Darfur and the UN corruption scandals, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric two simple question, to which he said #AskGallach. From the UN transcript:

Inner City Press: I'd like this to go smoothly, so I'll do it really quickly.  I noticed that on Monday, when I was not able to attend the briefing, that you had a little Q&A about my accreditation status.  So, I just want to state one thing very briefly.  A legal letter has been received by DPI [Department of Public Information] to not touch my office, not touch any of the files, but I need to cover the meeting this afternoon.  I'm just stating that, because I thought it was inappropriate.  But, my question is as follows:  Is it common UN practice to… to tell a journalist to leave the building and give up Resident Correspondent status without ever once speaking to them?  Is that considered an investigation?  What is the lowest standard that the UN can go to to have something to be considered a review of the facts?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I would encourage you to direct all those questions to Ms. [Cristina] Gallach and to DPI.

Inner City Press:  I have one more question.  What are the rules for the use of physical force by UN security?  Because on Friday evening, I was pushed down the escalator and into the street, and my laptop was thrown on the street, and I… and I was offering absolutely zero physical… physical… so I wanted to know what is the recourse for someone to whom this happens?  That's my question.

Spokesman:  I would encourage you to raise all these issues having to do with your accreditation, your treatment, and so forth to Ms. Gallach.

Question:  What are the rights of people not to be pushed by UN security?

Spokesman:  That's… that was my answer to your question.  Thank you.

  Wait - so the UN has no protocols on the use of force? Or DPI's Gallach is in charge of the use of force, and ordered it? How can the UN and USG Gallach be so contemptuous to the most basic forms of due process?

Inner City Press is opposing all this.

  And so now are a range of people from around the world, who have signed a petition to immediately restore Inner City Press to the UN Resident Correspondent accreditation it had for nine years until, without any due process, the UN pass was physically torn from its chest as UN Security throw its laptop onto the sidewalk in front of the UN (also owned by the UN and immunity from US law including the First Amendment).

Here are just some of the comments of those signing thepetition directed to Ban Ki-moon:

UN cover-up artists are taking advantage of the dying months of Ban Ki-moon's tenure to remove a thorn in their side, because they are worried the new SG won't want to start out with a fight. -James Bone, Shelter Island Heights, NY

ICP has been the only voice for the oppressed in #Burundi, #Haiti & #Yemen at #UN. -Eloge Tinya, Lagos, Nigeria

Innercitypress is the voice of many oppressed Burundians and many Africans under dictatorship. I have decided to stand with the oppressed and not the oppressor, UN needs to practice what it preaches by setting free innercitypress to do his work! -Lievin Manisha, Pineville, LA

ICP asked questions that will bring clarity on the agreement the Prime Minister of Dominica signed in Macau on August 25, 2015 together with Ng Lap Seng and a UN official. -Hon. Hector John, Salisbury, Dominica

I am signing for UN to restore Matthew Lee Inner City Press right to access to the UN as a Resident Correspondent to question authorities because it is the fundamental of free speech as the UN preaches to other countries it must first practice itself to set example. -Smret Kibrom, San Gallo, Switzerland

Freedom of press. -Prem Kumar, India

innercitypress defends the human rights of Burundians and help to avoid genocide, please free innercitypress! - MICHAEL Tim, London, United Kingdom

I'm signing because the barring of access to Mr. Lee appears to be at worst motivated by a reluctance to engage with and continue to receive the probing questions he asks, and at best the result of a petty personal vendetta based on unprofessional antipathy towards Mr. Lee by the 'respectable' wing of the United Nations press corps. -Marlon Ettinger, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY

I am signing this petition for Matthew Russell Lee and Inner City Press be restored to the shared UN office and Resident Correspondent accreditation they have had for eight years prior to this pretextual incident. It also requests, as does the Free UN Coalition for Access that Matthew co-founded, that an investigation be launched into how all of this occurred. Moreover to call for aggressive investigative journalism at the UN and to tell the leaders of the UN that the UN, too, must live up to the principles of due process and freedom of the press. -Martha Fassil, New York, NY

Comment l'onu peut agir de sorte alors qu'ils sont comme meilleur modèle de la démocratie, je garde espoir qu'on aura un jour un vrai dirigeants de l'onu pour tous. -Steve Ndacasaba, Montréal, Canada

I'm signing cause, want a real journalist who tells it like it is. No agenda but the truth. I am supporting him for standing up for UN bully. -Paulos Welday, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Han er en journalist som forteller sannheten til verden.
Mussie Tesfay, Oslo, Norway

UN should walk the talk. Practice what you preach - rule of law, democracy, freedom of expression, of press. Reinstate ICP Mathew Russell Lee to full resident reporter. -Seble Ephrem, London, United Kingdom

we need a voice for africa
redae medhane, Kitchener, Canada

Incredible. This banning is the exact opposite of the transparency and accountability that the UN should be defending for all institutions. This must be reversed.
Denis Rancourt, Ottawa, Canada

ICP is the most reliable source of information at the UN. The other corporate media are controlled by the special interest groups. Thus their journalistic integrity is always suspect. ICP is voice of the voiceless - of course unlike the UN and its sponsors and financiers. -tsehaie mahary, edmonton, Canada

I express my solidarity with Mathew, God bless you friend
Mohamed MAYARA, El Aaiun, Western Sahara

Matthew Lee has been a lone voice asking the difficult questions in the UN press gallery. -Martin Field, Geneva, Switzerland

I have seen Matthew only defending the truth. He is a journalist with a genuine journalist ethics. He is also the one of the most intelligent and courageous journalist. He is a model how other journalist should be. He should be given a noble prize for what he does not get banned from the UN. -Yacob Woldehiwot, London, United Kingdom

The UN cannot be dismissive of new media as people get their news from new media.The UN cannot pick and choose media persons according to their whims and fancies. -soraya patel, India

Shame on UN. -ibrahim alhaifi, Sanaa, Yemen

I believe this is censorship of the press. Shameful. -Douglas Smith, New York, NY

I believe this is censorship of the press. Shameful. -Douglas Smith, New York, NY
I'm signing because I believe in ICP to bring balance to the reporting of UN activities around the globe. I also believe in the ability of Lee to investigate, without fear or favour, to keep the UN reputation intact. -Saare Tsehaye, London, United Kingdom

Because this is censorship on free press. Inner City stands for Truth, Justice & Peace !!! -Aman Kubrom, Frankfurt, Germany

How can the UN be so ridiculous?
Feridun Akpinar, Turku, Finland

For Truth & Transparency, there must always be those who Question more. -Auet Melache, Bolton, United Kingdom

I am signing because UN is being unfair and need to take some responsibility. -Lynda Charles, Boynton Beach, FL

He's credible and follows the ethics of journalism to the fullest. -Amanuel Tseggai, Stone Mountain, GA

We need the alternative,independent and investigative media to be present everywhere. -Marja Konttila, Solna, Sweden

I demand the U.N. unconditionaly and ASAP to restore access to Inner City Press`Matthew Russell Lee to the U.N. as a Resident Correspondent. -johannes abraham, Germany

I believe in press giving independant views on ignored issues
Cyrilla Bwakira, Johannesburg, South Africa

Ban is a tool. -Michael Klett, San Francisco, CA

InnerCity Press has been very professional and a life saver. His reports on different issues around the world helped uncover certain hidden truths. If Ban was in #Burundi 2 days ago, I can say it is mainly because of his persistence of bringing Burundi to light from the repression of de facto president
Manirambona Juma, Kirundo, Burundi

Matt spells out the truth and exposes the games protecting the outdated system for what it currently is.Matt actually supports the principle of the UN, those within it, support themselves. -Andy Wren, Littlestone, United Kingdom

Weil ich sihe das innercity einsige unabhengige median vetretete vor
Stimmenloss. -Iassu nugusse, Germany

Matthew Russell Lee, founder of the Inner City Press, is a veteran investigative journalist I have relied upon on UN news for the past six years. He is truthful, and pursues truth in reporting tenaciously and with integrity. We need more journalists like him at the UN to keep us informed. He and his Inner City Press must be reinstated as a fully accredited resident journalist to the UN. -Elias Amare, San Rafael, CA

We need unbiased and impartial reporting from the UN. -David Macilwain, Australia

Does the UN have something to hide? The UN is also obligated by the same principles and norms it preaches. I demand the UN to reinstate Matthew Russell Lee to his desk so he can do what he does best- pure journalism. He is the only honest journalist at the UN compound and being the voice of the voiceless. -Daniel Berhe, Seattle, WA

I am signed because ICP thrown out on the street by the decorator of UN media Personnel with out his belongings Shame UN. -Yakob Tesfaye, Edmonton, Canada

I am signing this because I want to learn about the corrupt UN security council.
TEKLU BAHTA, NORTH CHICAGO,

I respectively ask UNSG and Mr Ban ki-moon to reture Matt to his post us a dedicated reporter in the UN. I have a huge respect for the guy. It would be a travesty of justice if a reporter like matt is out the office of the biggest office in the world when we need a reporter of such kind. -Kibrom tekeste, berkeley, CA

I'am signing because I believe in freedom of speach and Free Press Reporters/Journalists. -Ndayizeye APOLLINAIRE, Gatineau (Hull), Canada

The UN repeatedly acts like human rights protections apply to everyone but themselves. -Betsey Chace, Cambridge, MA

Matthew is the only bona fide journalist reporting on UN. He alone is rectifying the defects created by system of diplomatic immunity. Why makes his job harder? Do you have something to hide from him? He makes UN a more acceptable organization and indeed, by genuinely reporting he makes this world a better place. -T Chan, London, United Kingdom

I am signing for UN to restore Matthew Lee Inner City Press right to access to the UN as a Resident Correspondent to question authorities because it is the fundamental of free speech as the UN preaches to other countries it must first practice itself to set example.
Sara Haile, Alexandria, VA

Matthew Lee is, far and away, the hardest-working and most dogged of any journalist at the United Nations. His arbitrary expulsion is both outrageous and a reflection of the fact that things are not as they should be at the United Nations, and certainly not what YOU would expect. - alberto martin, New York, NY

He is the best one, for the world in the UN which tells us the truth. So if he is out of his work then the UN only remains with out the truth.
ghebreyohanis michiel, bachenbülach, Switzerland

Burundi medias burned by violent/genocidaire regime;our genuine source of information from UN was ICP:fair,not sided.Pls,Reestablish ICP in its rights!
Ange Nganji, Bujumbura, Burundi

I'm signing because I believe in the freedom of the press. I often reads Matthew Lee's work which reports on difficult topics and events that need covering and exposure. He should be reinstated at your earliest convenience.
Rebecca Myles, New York, NY

I'm signing because I'm an advocate for real, independent journalism and condemn the UN's decision to remove Inner City Press's access based on a nonsensical pretext! -Hermon Gebrai, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom

I appreciate Inner City Press' persistent and prepared journalism at the United Nations. -Brian Concannon Jr., Marshfield, MA

Freedom of the press. -Luiz Rampelotto, New York, NY
18 hours ago

The UN needs to be held to standards of openess, transparency and freedom of the press. -Samuel Horton, Silsden, United Kingdom

Lee should not have been expelled, it's a disgrace to the UN. -Richard Johnson, Potomac, MD

It's unfair to throw someone out like that with out hearing from his side of history. -Hermon Tsegay, Slough, United Kingdom

Such a crck down on media in an organization promoting freedom of speech and information is really awkward and clearly disgraceful and unacceptable. -Florent Nduwayo, Kibungo, Rwanda

This is another in a long line of incidents conclusively evidencing the UN's complete and utter disrespect for the laws of its HOST country, the US, in particular the 1st amendment!! UN IMMUNITY = IMPUNITY--END IT NOW!! Journalists are the ultimate whistleblowers, and I am well aware of how UN whistleblowers like Mr Lee are persecuted and suffer grievous harm at the hands of rogue UN officials. The treatment of Mr. Lee is an outrage.

How ironic this has happened just as the US House Committe on Foreign Relations is today, on 24 Feb, holding a hearing about the gross mistreatment of whistleblowers at the UN and WIPO. Congress must act now to cut off 15% of US appropriations to the UN this year on account of its failure to protect and encourage UN whistleblowers like Mr Lee, as provided for in US law, as it already did to WIPO!! -ted beacher, Geneva, Switzerland

ICP is doing a great job. UN should support,respect and promote free speech. -Kalu Thapa, Kathmandu, Nepal

There are more...

 But the UN Correspondents Association, at least its 15 Executive Committee members, issued a February 22 statement in context fully supporting the throwing of Inner City Press into the street, the seizure of passport, the Banning, all of it. We wonder if these scribes' employers know about this.

  For now we reiterate the obvious: the UN Press Briefing Room is presumptively open to all press. If Spokesman Dujarric, or DPI's Gallach, wants to lend it to their friends, at least provide a notice so journalists hungry for news don't get excluded and get nothing.

For Reform at US Mission to the UN, Obama Nominates Isobel Coleman from CFR

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 12 -- More than nine months after Joseph Torsella left as the US Mission to the UN's Ambassador on Management and Reform, and his first proposed successor withdrew, on September 12 the Obama administration announced a new nominee:  Isobel Coleman.

   She has been at the Council on Foreign Relations since 2002; before that she was at McKinsey, and founded NursingHands, Inc. Of her most recent book, her website says, "Through case studies on Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, and Ukraine,Pathways to Freedom explores the structural factors and policy choices that shaped eight important transitions—some successful, others less so."

  It was published by CFR in May, 2013. Particularly on Ukraine, and on Thailand in light of this year's coup, might there be updates?

   Management and Reform has historically been an important position at the US Mission and remains so today, given for example the need for a Freedom of Information Act for the UN. But will this nomination proceed?

   Back in November, 2013 Inner City Press reported thatTorsella would leave by the end of the year, then on November 21 that the Obama administration nominated to replace Torsella the lawyer Leslie Berger Kiernan.  

  On January 30, without explanation, her nomination was withdrawn, notified to the press by email after 6:25 pm:

WITHDRAWALS SENT TO THE SENATE:

Leslie Berger Kiernan, of Maryland, to be Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador, which was sent to the Senate on January 6, 2014.

  We noted that Leslie Berger Kiernan authored a legal treatise chapter on "Political Patronage and the Revolving Door," processes too prevalent in the UN.

 Back on November 15 the US Mission's Ambassador Samantha Power announced that Torsella would be leaving by the end of 2013.

  Inner City Press immediately tweeted it, along with the suggestion of 21 audit salute, since Torsella focused on the issue of releasing UN audits, pushing forward from where things were under his predecessor at the US Mission, Mark Wallace.

(Wallace went, notably, to United Against a Nuclear Iran which appears dis-united on the issue of new sanctions, with president saying no but spokesperson saying members say yes.)

  Torsella pushed for Fifth (Budget) Committeeproceedings to be on UN Television. The Group of 77 responded that other committees like the Second on development and Fourth which included decolonization and work on the rights of Palestinians should also be filmed. 

  Both have happened -- improvements in technology are also involved -- and it's all to the good.

   The G77 meeting at which Bolivia became as Inner City Press first reported the successor to Fiji was not initially televised; when Inner City Press and the Free UN Coalition for Access complained, the UN official in charge said it was belatedly on, check before asking.

   But it was UN staff which also complained, and this automatic defending of the UN is one of the things wrong, in the bigger picture for example on the UN bringing cholera to Haiti. 

  Where does or would Isobel Coleman stand on it? And a newly arising issues, on which Inner City Press hasreported: should the US State Department continue supporting the UN's bid for immunity for allegedly bringing cholera to Haiti? 

  We'll have more on that. For now, this on less reported parts of Torsella's legacy:

Torsella to his credit wasn't just about the money. The issue of lack of accountability in Sri Lanka got delegated to him, in part because military figure Shavendra Silva was cynically put on Ban's Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations.

  (Click here for longer form reporting on Sri Lanka andlast weekend's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.)

  In classic UN form, Ban stayed away telling Inner City Press it was a decision of the member states. Without saying more, Inner City Press can report Torsella worked on this.