Morocco Trolls Mis-Read Inner City Press' #UNcensored, Narrative of UN Censorship

By Matthew Russell Lee, Series, Video I, II

UNITED NATIONS, March 14 – The state of Morocco's online media is exemplified by yesterday's mis-reading of Inner City Press' narrative of eviction from and censorship at the UN, #UNcensored, and breathless accusation of spying, here. This is the same gang which tries to get journalists thrown out, calling anyone who disagrees an agent. The narrative recounted, with the clarification now added in brackets, "went back in through the metal detectors to the Security Council's meetings on Western Sahara. Here, at least online, I was accused of being an Algerian agent, [by pro-Morocco trolls, including strangely in Texas,] even though I didn't deal with anyone at the Algerian mission. I criticized Polisario too, how they were losing embassies. Still, they were the underdog, and more fun or more interesting to side with. This had been my criteria in my years at the UN, and now it had come to this." This was called an admission. UNreal.

#UNcensored's 25th installment, run yesterday, states: "After the UN's eviction of Inner City Press, the days went on, always on the move, asked by UN guards “What are you doing here,” told at the noon briefing I was imagining things, how could I  say I was ousted if I was physically present in the briefing room now? Told online that it was all my fault, for secret filming, standing silent at the Security Council stakeout, tweeting with the wider world, not even moving to get the spoon-fed spin from P3 spokespeople, just ambushing their ambassadors with Periscope and putting in on YouTube...

Burundians had been emailing me, Manisha Lievin from Louisiana, John from DC, that they would rally on 47th Street. I went out and there were maybe two dozen of them, with flags, diffuse. I Periscoped and interviewed; I followed a guy from South South News, described by Preet Bharara as Ng Lap Seng's bribery conduit, through the park and did a voiceover about UN corruption.

Finally their march began, slowing, down First Avenue. I followed and filmed. Some people recognized me and said, I follow you, or, I love your questions. They took selfies with me - this happened with Sri Lankan Tamils, too, and I got accused of being a terrorist, that was by board members of the United Nations Correspondents Association. That was the UN Correspondents Association for you - self righteous scribes.

  It was getting cold, at the Burundians' rally in the 43rd Street Park I'd hung out in for three days. My batteries were going dead. I bid adieu - most of them spoke French - and went back in through the metal detectors to the Security Council's meetings on Western Sahara. Here, at least online, I was accused of being an Algerian agent, by pro-Morocco trolls, including strangely in Texas, even though I didn't deal with anyone at the Algerian mission. I criticized Polisario too, how they were losing embassies. Still, they were the underdog, and more fun or more interesting to side with. This had been my criteria in my years at the UN, and now it had come to this.

  I woke up each morning wondering if this would be the day that the New York Times would finally run its story. I Googled the reporter's name, Corey Kilgannon - he went a week with no stories, then something about a bartender in Woodside, Queens. I'd chosen the wrong guy, I'd begun to think. He'd gotten lobbied. Or those above him. I looked to see how to write to the paper's Ombudsperson, their Public Editor, but she'd recently left. It was all corrupt, I decided, uploading yet another story. I would flail around for the four months then get thrown out forever.

While Dutch Foreign Minister for EU and Lithuania Talks Blogger Rights, Ban Ki-moon Ejected Press, His Trolls Cheer

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 29 -- After Inner City Press was summarily ejected from the UN, which it has covered for ten 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.

  But when Inner City Press came to the UN on morning of February 22, with another journalist there to sign Inner City Press in as a guest, UN Security said, “You are Banned from the UN.”  Audio here.

  Jump cut to February 29, when at the Human Rights Council in Geneva there were speeches about the protection of journalists and bloggers. Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, himself a former UN official, spoke for the EU in favor of the protection of bloggers, as did Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius.

  Inner City Press tweeted audio of the UN's forcible ejection of it to them; tellingly, an anonymous troll Twitter account that has among its few followers Gallach and UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric and UNCA board members from DPA, Reuters and SABC insisted to both that all is well in the UN, that this time of physical ejection of a journalist without any due process or appeal right is fine. This is Ban Ki-moon's UN Censorship Alliance.

  Back on February 22, Inner City Press left the UN pass office, and set up shop in the Isaiah plowshares park across from the UN. Several Permanent Representatives, at least two Under Secretaries General (the same rank as Gallach) and many staff came to express outrage at the UN's censorship.

 But in the UN Press Briefing Room, which was "lent" to the UN Correspondents (or Corruption) Association back on January 29, the reaction was different.

 In an embarrassing colloquy, long time UNCA board member Masood Haider asked Spokesman Dujarric about "the blogger Matthew Lee" who has been "spewing on the Internet reports whether false or not."Video here, from Minute 27:27.

  Bloggers are, of course, hacked to death in Bangladesh, a country on whose free press record USG Gallach never even replied to a detailed email from the Free UN Coalition for Access, for protection for a Bangladeshi journalist then in the UN. Spewing indeed.

 Dujarric took the opportunity to deny that the UN had seized Inner City Press' files -- the reality is, when Inner City Press asked on February 19 to take the most important of them, and its passport, it was denied by UN Security. On February 22, UN Security said Inner City Press is Banned from all UN premises.

  Dujarric said, as if it's ok, that Inner City Press is being "offered" much reduced access, for four months. But Inner City Press did nothing wrong, and the "investigation" by Gallach which led to its ouster did not involve a single conversation with or reaching out to Inner City Press.

  Any reduced access to loss of office space -- which Masood Haider, who hardly writes articles, has, and UNCA President Giampaolo Pioli has, a private office, while writing about Morgan Freeman -- is unfair and is to cast a chill of freedom of the press. No staged colloquy can hide that. We'll have more on this.

  Later, after being told to leave even the UN Pass office, a UN Under Secretary General told Inner City Press Gallach had told other USGs that Inner City Press was in fact in the building - that AFTER Inner City Press was told by UN Security, twice, that it is banned from all UN premises and was told to leave the UN Pass office.

  Now Gallach, and Ban Ki-moon and his chief of staff Edmond Mulet to whom Inner City Press wrote on February 19, still without response, has received a legal letter with a

"demand that Mr. Lee be immediately reissued with the resident correspondent accreditation that he has enjoyed for many years.  I request these remedies pending an examination of the entire matter by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression or by any other mutually agreed and independent review mechanism.

In reaching the decision to perfunctorily revoke Mr. Lee’s resident correspondent accreditation, a number of accepted principles of natural justice and rules of administrative law were breached. These principles include, inter alia, the right to be informed before the imposition of administrative measures, the right to make representations before being subjected to those measures and the right to appellate review of such measures. Mr. Lee was denied all of these procedural safeguards which are commonplace in most democratic societies and which are routinely
vaunted by the United Nations itself."

 As Inner City Press sits in the park across from the UN using its phone as a hot spot -- hence no Periscope -- there has been no response.

 Ban Ki-moon's Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who'd also told those who questioned him that Inner City Press could end and cover “his” briefing on Monday.

  False. UN Security then said, you cannot wait in the pass office, you are banned from all UN premises. Trying to cover the UN Security Council meeting on Syria from the Isaiah plowshares park across from the UN, various Ambassadors came to say they were appalled. But Gallach's office has told then, nothing will be done.

  This is disgusting censorship by an increasingly corrupt UN.

As Inner City Press at the UN pursues unfolding stories of corruption, peacekeepers committing rapes in the Central African Republic, UN inaction in Burundi, South Sudan and Yemen, on February 19 with two hours notice UN Under Secretary General Cristina Gallach ordered Inner City Press to be ousted. Letter here.

   On the evening of February 19, UN Security Deputy Chief Michael McNulty, who refused to provide his name (audio), pushed Inner City Press out onto First Avenue (audio), having cut off its Periscope video livestream (video) and not allowed it to get its files, coat or passport from its longtime shared office. Gallach wants the office back, to retaliate and so the UN Correspondents Association can, in essence, sell the UN space just as it sells access to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

  On February 20, Inner City Press posed four questions to Dujarric and his deputy Farhan Haq, with a copy to Gallach --which 24 hours later have not been answered or even acknowledged (while both Dujarric and Gallach were wildly spinning to those who contacted them, includingNobel Laureate Jose Ramos Horta, see here, who was told there was no problem taking over Inner City Press' office and undermining its ability to report, edit videos, conduct interviews. There is a big problem. Here are the questions:

"Please state the status and condition of all of my papers and property in my office, Room S-303A, including investigative papers, communications from sources including whistleblowers and my passport and when I will have the access to them that I was denied on February 19 and since.

Please state when the Resident Correspondent UN pass I have had for years, but which was torn off my neck on Feb 19, will be returned, in connection with 1, above, and the UNSC meeting(s) and UN Noon Briefing on Monday February 22.

Please state and explain the role of the Office of the Spokesperson of the Secretary General in the deprivations in 1 and 2, above.

Finally, for now, please state the Secretary-General's position on UN Security Deputy McNulty on February 19 threatening twice to have me “handed over to NYPD” (including the concomitant acceptance by the UN of the NYPD's jurisdiction), of UN Security officers grabbing my phone which was live-broadcasting Periscope video at the UN Security Council stakeout and turning it off.

I have other questions but these are most pressing, for immediate answer."

  And as yet, 42 hours later, no answer. Watch this site.

  While Inner City Press was writing up a UN Security Council meeting on Syria that went into the evening, and Periscope broadcasting, UN Security guards walked up, grabbed Inner City Press' laptop, blocked its Periscope camera and turned off the livestream. Video here.

  Then eight UN Security officers led by Deputy Chief McNulty tore off Inner City Press' UN ID badge and carted off Inner City Press' laptop and camera, returning these by throwing them on the sidewalk of First Avenue. Audio here.

 They did not allow Inner City Press to get coat or sweater, or the files in its office. No provision was made for this.

  The ejection letter was signed by the Under Secretary General for Public Information Cristina Galach of Spain but ultimately Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is in charge. Ban and his chief of staff Edmond Mulet and Deputy SG Jan Eliasson were all written to with details as this took place.

  USG Gallach's office, Darrin Farrant in charge, merely "took note" of questions about and criticism of the lack of due process. Gallach did not respond to email, even from Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta, here.

  When Inner City Press was thrown out onto First Avenue, standing waiting, laughing and filming, was Voice of America's Margaret Besheer and another board member of the UN Correspondents Association, whose president Giampaoli Pioli told Inner City Press if it didn't remove a (truthful) article about his screening of a war crimes denial film for a tenant of his, Sri Lanka's then ambassador Palitha Kohona, he would get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN.

  But who is running this asylum? Ban Ki-moon, his spokesman also involved Stephane Dujarric (who threw Inner City Press out of the UN Press Briefing Room on January 29, also trying to turn off ICP's Periscoping phone), and, some surmise, some who don't like Inner City Press' questions. We'll have more on this.

  The pretext was Inner City Press three weeks earlier seeking to cover a meeting in the UN Press Briefing Room by an organization which has taken money from now indicted Ng Lap Seng and Frank Lorenzo's South SOuth News, then gave Ng Lap Seng a photo op with Ban.

(As Inner City Press reported, Gallach attended the South South Awards with Frank Lorenzo, photo here, just before his indictment.  She should have been recused from any decision-making on this.)

  UN Security demanded ICP's pass - and later tore it off.

As Troll Twitter Account Targets Inner City Press, SABC Films, Flaunts South Africa Connection

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 26 -- After Inner City Press was summarily ejected from the UN, which it has covered for ten 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.

  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.

  On February 26, as if on cue, an anonymous troll Twitter account spung up trying to identify any possible rule Inner City Press might violation - like, working at the Security Council stakeout - and trying to convince for example the Government Accountability Project, and US Ambassador for Management and Reform Isobel Coleman to whom GAP wrote, that anonymous insiders should be believed over Inner City Press, on the record.

  A follower, at least, of the troll account is Sherwin Bryce-Pease of South African Broadcasting. Inner City Press never had any issue with him, but on February 19 as Inner City Press was physcially thrown out of the UN onto First Avenue, there is was, pre-positioned, filming. Is that was SABC is all about?

  Earlier this week, Inner City Press exclusively reported that South African troops in Darfur were ordered repatriated by UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous. On February 26, SABC's question on this, UN transcript:

SABC: Thanks, Steph.  A question on the South African battalion's withdrawal from UNAMID (United Nations-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur).  How concerned is the Secretary-General by this withdrawal?  And what does it say about the future viability of this Mission in Sudan?  Our understanding, from the South African Government, is that this is not just a reallocation of resources.  This is due to whole-hearted frustration in terms of being unable to fulfil the mandate that they've been assigned, logistical hurdles that make it impossible for them to manage that deployment.  Clearly, there must be knowledge known to the United Nations.  How concerned are you about what this says for the future of the Mission?  And in terms of the replacements you will seek for this battalion, what are you telling TCC's (troop-contributing countries) about the environment under which they operate in Sudan?

  How surprising, that South African Broadcasting Corp could ask a question based on "our understanding, from the South African Government" - is this how our state media mocked by the insiders operate?

 Ironically, while asking the above - and as alerted to Inner City Press by an elert reason, the SABC correspondent tweeted, "Journalists should ask questions & NOT insert themselves, their thoughts, concerns & ideas into those questions. Ask the question. Simple" - as Inner City Press asked of its expulsion.

Further irony is the SABC correspondent's pitching of a South African from a Deputy job in Darfur - when Ladsous threw a South African batallion out....

  In 2013 in similar circumstances - an attempt to throw Inner City Press out of the UN, amid press coverage which made the UN and those lame among the UN press corps look bad - the same thing happened. In Media Bistro, the trolls were identified as Agence France Presse and Reuters.

  That scribes for major media companies would establish anonymous troll accounts to attack smaller independent media is shameful, and will be responded to, and this and other cases, by the Free UN Coalition for Access, FUNCA -- tellingly, also being trolled by this account.

  Significantly, among this new trolling endeavor's dozen followers are both the bureau chief of Reuters Louis Charbonneau, and his correspondents - and arm grabber - Michelle Nichols.

 More significant: this time, the dozen followers includes not only DPA, the German Press Agency, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, whose correspondent was pre-positioned to film Inner City Press ejection by UN Security on February 19 -- but also Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric. This is a scandal, on which we'll have more.

  For the record, both UNCA, through its Executive Committee, and the UN have been directed to and have seen this troller social media account.

  At the stakeout on February 25, after covering five separate Security Council consultations, Inner City Press asked the President of the Security Council for February, Rafael Ramirez of Venezuela, about one of them, and what he thought of the UN's commitment to free press.

"I hope you find your office," the President of the Security Council said. Video here. So who is Cristina Gallach? Another Security Council Permanent Representative told Inner City Press what Gallach did, ousting the Press without due process, was "outrageous."

On Feburary 26, the UN Staff Union's 45th Staff Council adopted and issued a Bulletin calling for the UN to immediate restore Inner City Press to possession of its office and to ensure these abuses not happened again. Full text here; excerpts below:

"The 45th Staff Council of the United Nations Staff Union expresses its solidarity with Mr. Matthew R. long-time journalist of Inner City Press who was summarily stripped of his credential and physically thrown out of United Nations premises by security personnel, reportedly on the instructions of the Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Public Information.

It is shocking and dismaying that at the United Nations, as a beacon of all freedoms enshrined in its Charter, the Administration would blatantly eject a member of the press corps assigned to report on events at the Organization, in an attempt to muzzle and intimidate. Such actions, reminiscent of tendencies seen, sadly, in too many parts of the world, have no place at the United Nations. They are inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations, which include safeguarding the rights of all peoples and ensuring due process, transparency, accountability and the freedom of the press.

It is inconceivable that the United Nations Administration would seek to silence a member of the press and limit his or her access and ability to report on events at the world Organization, and all the more so given the lack of due process and the manner in which Mr. Lee was treated, simply because Administration officials feel they can do so without any consequences. The actions by the Administration demean all of us, and they demean and undermine the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Any potential disagreement, misunderstanding or other matter surely can be resolved —here of all places.

It should be recalled that this is not the first time that Administration officials have exhibited less than democratic tendencies. Since the December 2013 elections for the staff representatives to the 45th Staff Council, the Secretary-General has to this day refused to grant facilities and time release to the elected staff representatives on the pretext of an undisclosed “dispute” and, perhaps more disturbing, because he feels that he can. For the Administration to arbitrarily act as if staff elections had not happened is deeply troubling and reflects what seems to be a growing trend at the Organization.

The 45th Staff Council stands for the freedom of the press and the right to due process. Among other crucial principles, these are fundamental to the functioning of a free society and to the achievement of the free, fair and equitable world all of us are working for — Staff, Administration and Member States.
The Staff Council calls for the immediate return of Mr. Lee’s Resident Correspondent credential and forthe Department of Public Information to restore him to full possession of his office space, which he uses to report, immediately and, in any event, not enter his office or touch any files in the interim, as well as to lift any restrictions imposed on the performance of his duties and the conditions of his accreditation. The Staff Council stands united with Mr. Lee and the entire United Nations press corps, and respectfully calls on the Secretary-General to ensure that such a situation does not recur at the United Nations."



  With this reduced access pass Inner City Press would later get locked into the Security Council stakeout, trying to edit video while a Zamboni-like vehicle loudly vacuumed the stakeout. But even before that, even from inside, this photo of UN double standards



 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?

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 the petition 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.

Troll Twitter Account Targets Inner City Press, Followed by Reuters, Dujarric, SABC, UNCA Board Members

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 26 -- After Inner City Press was summarily ejected from the UN, which it has covered for ten 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.

  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.

  On February 26, as if on cue, an anonymous troll Twitter account spung up trying to identify any possible rule Inner City Press might violation - like, working at the Security Council stakeout - and trying to convince for example the Government Accountability Project, and US Ambassador for Management and Reform Isobel Coleman to whom GAP wrote, that anonymous insiders should be believed over Inner City Press, on the record.

  In 2013 in similar circumstances - an attempt to throw Inner City Press out of the UN, amid press coverage which made the UN and those lame among the UN press corps look bad - the same thing happened. In Media Bistro, the trolls were identified as Agence France Presse and Reuters.

  That scribes for major media companies would establish anonymous troll accounts to attack smaller independent media is shameful, and will be responded to, and this and other cases, by the Free UN Coalition for Access, FUNCA -- tellingly, also being trolled by this account.

  Significantly, among this new trolling endeavor's dozen followers are both the bureau chief of Reuters Louis Charbonneau, and his correspondents - and arm grabber - Michelle Nichols.

 More significant: this time, the dozen followers includes not only DPA, the German Press Agency, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, whose correspondent was pre-positioned to film Inner City Press ejection by UN Security on February 19 -- but also Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric. This is a scandal, on which we'll have more.

  For the record, both UNCA, through its Executive Committee, and the UN have been directed to and have seen this troller social media account.

  At the stakeout on February 25, after covering five separate Security Council consultations, Inner City Press asked the President of the Security Council for February, Rafael Ramirez of Venezuela, about one of them, and what he thought of the UN's commitment to free press.

"I hope you find your office," the President of the Security Council said. Video here. So who is Cristina Gallach? Another Security Council Permanent Representative told Inner City Press what Gallach did, ousting the Press without due process, was "outrageous."

On Feburary 26, the UN Staff Union's 45th Staff Council adopted and issued a Bulletin calling for the UN to immediate restore Inner City Press to possession of its office and to ensure these abuses not happened again. Full text here; excerpts below:

"The 45th Staff Council of the United Nations Staff Union expresses its solidarity with Mr. Matthew R. long-time journalist of Inner City Press who was summarily stripped of his credential and physically thrown out of United Nations premises by security personnel, reportedly on the instructions of the Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Public Information.

It is shocking and dismaying that at the United Nations, as a beacon of all freedoms enshrined in its Charter, the Administration would blatantly eject a member of the press corps assigned to report on events at the Organization, in an attempt to muzzle and intimidate. Such actions, reminiscent of tendencies seen, sadly, in too many parts of the world, have no place at the United Nations. They are inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations, which include safeguarding the rights of all peoples and ensuring due process, transparency, accountability and the freedom of the press.

It is inconceivable that the United Nations Administration would seek to silence a member of the press and limit his or her access and ability to report on events at the world Organization, and all the more so given the lack of due process and the manner in which Mr. Lee was treated, simply because Administration officials feel they can do so without any consequences. The actions by the Administration demean all of us, and they demean and undermine the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Any potential disagreement, misunderstanding or other matter surely can be resolved —here of all places.

It should be recalled that this is not the first time that Administration officials have exhibited less than democratic tendencies. Since the December 2013 elections for the staff representatives to the 45th Staff Council, the Secretary-General has to this day refused to grant facilities and time release to the elected staff representatives on the pretext of an undisclosed “dispute” and, perhaps more disturbing, because he feels that he can. For the Administration to arbitrarily act as if staff elections had not happened is deeply troubling and reflects what seems to be a growing trend at the Organization.

The 45th Staff Council stands for the freedom of the press and the right to due process. Among other crucial principles, these are fundamental to the functioning of a free society and to the achievement of the free, fair and equitable world all of us are working for — Staff, Administration and Member States.
The Staff Council calls for the immediate return of Mr. Lee’s Resident Correspondent credential and forthe Department of Public Information to restore him to full possession of his office space, which he uses to report, immediately and, in any event, not enter his office or touch any files in the interim, as well as to lift any restrictions imposed on the performance of his duties and the conditions of his accreditation. The Staff Council stands united with Mr. Lee and the entire United Nations press corps, and respectfully calls on the Secretary-General to ensure that such a situation does not recur at the United Nations."



  With this reduced access pass Inner City Press would later get locked into the Security Council stakeout, trying to edit video while a Zamboni-like vehicle loudly vacuumed the stakeout. But even before that, even from inside, this photo of UN double standards



 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?

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 the petition 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.

On Western Sahara, UN Ban Ki-moon's New Report Waffles on Human Rights, Douste-Blazy, Morocco License Plates

By Matthew Russell Lee, Upload exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, April 10 -- The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, MINURSO, which has yet to hold any referendum, gets reviewed this month in the UN Security Council, with the UN's ambiguous position on (not) including human rights monitoring in the mission's mandate once again coming to the fore. 

  On April 10 Inner City Press obtained from multiple sources the advance copy of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's report on the MINURSO mission. We publish it in full here and embedded below (unlike others who try to remove things from the Internet, like here).

  Of protests, the UN report says “Moroccan security forces dispersed them quickly. On several occasions, credible reports were received about the disproportionate use of force on the part of the security forces and hostile actions on the part of the demonstrators in response.”

   Of Douste-Blazy being described as attending for the UN, the report says of the “Crans-Montana Forum, held an event in what it referred to as 'Dakhla, Morocco' [that] following press reports of a high-level United Nations presence, my spokesperson issued a note to correspondents indicating that my Special Advisor on Innovative Financing had attended exclusively in his private capacity and that I had not delegated him or anyone else to represent me or the United Nations.” 

  But the Forum repeated the claim in a press release, as Inner City Press reported.

   Similarly side-stepping the issue, Ban Ki-moon's report says “ I call on the Parties to continue and further enhance their cooperation with United Nations human rights mechanisms and OHCHR, including by facilitating OHCHR missions to Western Sahara and the refugee camps near Tindouf, with unrestricted access to all relevant stakeholders. These missions and other future forms of cooperation between the Parties and OHCHR and other United Nations human rights mechanisms should contribute to an independent and impartial understanding of the human rights situation in both Western Sahara and the camps, with the goal of ensuring protection of all, as well as to comprehensive and sustained implementation of international human rights standards by the Parties. Human rights do not have borders; all stakeholders are thus obliged to uphold the fundamental freedoms and human rights of all people. It is vital that all human rights protection gaps and underlying human rights issues in situations of protracted conflict be addressed.”

  We note that OHCHR recently delayed for (at least) six months an already-agreed to human rights report on Sri Lanka.

Western Sahara Report of UN's Ban Ki-moon, April 10, 2015 by Matthew Russell Lee

  Here are two more sample paragraphs of the report:

39. Both parties continue to diverge significantly in their interpretation of the MINURSO mandate. Morocco considers the mandate to be limited to ceasefire and military matters, demining and logistical support for confidence-building measures. Frente Polisario considers that the organization of a referendum for self-determination remains its central element. These opposing views have a direct impact on the credibility of the Mission vis-a-vis the parties, affecting its ability to fully implement its mandate and exercise standard peacekeeping functions. For the United Nations, the successive Security Council resolutions define the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. Standard peacekeeping functions performed by United Nations operations throughout the world underpin effective mandate implementation, including assessments of and reporting on local conditions that may affect their operations and the political processes.

40. The perception of MINURSO and United Nations impartiality continues to be affected by the fact that MINURSO vehicles operate with Moroccan license plates west of the berm. Logistical and administrative complications also arise, since Moroccan license plates must be removed and replaced by United Nations plates when MINURSO vehicles cross east of the berm and travel outside the area of operations. Implementation of the March 2014 verbal agreement of the Moroccan authorities to gradually replace Moroccan with United Nations license plates for MINURSO vehicles, as agreed with my previous Special Representative (see S/2014/258, para. 49), has not begun; Foreign Minister Mezouar reiterated this commitment to my new Special Representative in February 2015. 

   Inner City Press on April 9 linked to Morocco's letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, here. The army of Moroccan trolls protested nonetheless, misquoting France's former ambassador (to whom the censor sucks up) and saying Morocco should sue Inner City Press. And so it goes. 

  (These trolls would, apparently, say that Ban is noting crackdown on protests and license plate games because he is funded by Algerian petro-dollars. And what of the censor?)

  Speaking of courts, there is this finding by a court in Spain: "A Spanish judge Thursday upheld genocide charges against 11 Moroccan ex-officials accused of atrocities in Western Sahara, a court ruling showed -- a penultimate step towards a possible trial. Judge Pablo Ruz upheld accusations against the 11 ex-security officials and governors of ethnically motivated torture, killings and detentions in the former Spanish colony between 1975 and 1991, the ruling said."

  On April 7, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about a letter sent to Ban by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, which cites “ the need to provide MINURSO with a human rights mandate.” 

   Dujarric replied that he hadn't seen the letter. Video here. Inner City Press reported that Ban's chief of staff Malcorra had, in fact, seen it. When Inner City Press asked again on April 8, Dujarric said the letter was "processed"video here -- and we can verify, it was circulated. 

 (Reuters, which didn't ask and openly panders to the mission(s) most opposed to a MINURSO human rights mandate, brags it is responsible, while both trying to get other media thrown out of the UN, here and FOIA-ed herethen trying to censor that, here: laughable. As was writing that the AU letter was "seen by Reuters" after it was published online in full by another publication.)

  Inner City Press put online the Polisario's letter to Ban Ki-moon, here, in part because the UN ban Polisario from speaking at the UN Security Council stakeout while, for example, allowing current private citizen Hilary Clinton to speak there, with UNCA the UN's Censorship Alliance hand-picked for the softball first question. 

 The new Free UN Coalition for Access opposes censorship and seek to amplify the voices that are being kept away from the microphone, so puts thisonline. 

FUNCA also has put online Morocco's Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar's letter, which says:

"The African Union prejudged, in a biased manner, the outcome of the political negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations, by admitting, within its membership, an entity that bas [sic] no attribute of sovereignty."

 The African Union wrote: “I would be most grateful if you could share this letter and the accompanying communiqué and report with the President of the Security Council, to be circulated as official documents of the Council, as well as with the General Assembly. Your assistance in ensuring that AU Special Envoy Joachim Chissano is given the opportunity to address the Security Council during its April 2015 meeting on Western Sahara will also be highly appreciated.”

  Inner City Press on April 7 asked Dujarric if the letter has been circulated, and for Ban Ki-moon's position including on Chissano addressing the Security Council. Video here.

  Dujarric replied, “I haven't personally seen the letter” adding that if it contains the request, “I'm sure it will be circulated in due time.” But how much time is due? And hasn't Ban's chief of staff Malcorra seen the letter? What's the response? When does it go to the Security Council - and General Assembly?

   “As for people addressing the Council, that's up to the Council,” Dujarric said, though Ban has on other topics been critical of the Security Council. 

   Dujarric said that the report is in progress; when Inner City Press pointed out that Ban often touts the importance of regional organization, Dujarric said “in all files we deal with regional organization have a role to play, but in Western Sahara there is a Security Council mandate.” That's true on most of Ban Ki-moon's files. Why so hands-off on this one? Consider that UN Peacekeeping, in charge of MINURSO, is run by the fourth Frenchman in a row, Herve Ladsous, who refuses all Press questions, on human rights issues from rapes in the Congo and Darfur to killings BY peacekeepers in Mali.Video here, Vine here.  We'll have more on this.

The UN's ambiguous position on Western Sahara was exemplified last month by UN adviser Philippe Douste-Blazy attending the Crans-Montana Forum in Dakhla, Western Sahara. 

  After the UN said Douste-Blazy was there in his "personal capacity," Inner City Press on March 16 asked if Douste-Blazy and UN advisers like him are under a responsibility to make clear when they are not representing the UN.

  It "behooves" them, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told Inner City Press, reiterated that while Douste-Blazy is UN adviser on "innovative financing," he has not there for the UN. Haq would not answer if Douste-Blazy had told the UN in advance, saying only that he is not required to.

  But a press release about the event says:

"The annual session of Crans Montana Forum held from 12 to 14 March 2015 in the southern city of Dakhla under the Patronage of His Majesty Mohammed VI wrapped up, Saturday night, with an award ceremony that paid tribute to international figures from different backgrounds. The 2015 Foundation Award was awarded to former President of the Republic of Estonia (2001-2006), Arnold Ruutel, former Spanish Prime Minister (2004-2011), José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Philippe Douste Blazy, former French Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development (2007-2010), Jean Luis Borloo."

 So apparently Douste-Blazy accepted an award there AS a UN official. Now what?

For days, Inner City Press had been asked to find out what Douste-Blazy was doing there. Inner City Press previously exposed Douste-Blazy's waste of funds through MassiveGood, here. Then this, from the UN Spokesperson's Office:

"We have noted press reports to the effect that the United Nations is participating in the Crans-Montana Forum currently being held in Dakhla, a city in that part of Western Sahara under Moroccan control.

"The Secretary-General was invited to this Forum, but informed its President that he could not attend.  He did not delegate Mr. Philippe Douste-Blazy or anyone else to represent him or the United Nations.  Mr. Douste-Blazy, who serves as a special adviser to the Secretary-General on innovative financing, is attending exclusively in his private capacity.

"While Dakhla is described in Forum materials as a city in Morocco, the definitive status of Western Sahara is the object of a negotiating process being conducted under the auspices of the Secretary-General in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions."

  Well there's that. And this, and before that, this. Douste-Blazy is, of course, a former French government official. But how much longer should he be a UN "adviser"?

  Earlier this year after Ban spoke by phone with the King of Morocco, on February 11 Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said:

"on the status of Christopher Ross, the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara.  I can report that he arrived in Rabat today.  Mr. Ross will hold discussions with Morocco and the Frente Polisario and with the neighboring States during this mission."

  But will Ross, the Envoy FOR Western Sahara, actually visit Laayoune? Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: On Mr. Ross' visit, I wanted to know whether he in fact will go to Laayoune, the main city in Western Sahara.  Maybe I missed when you read it out.

Spokesman Dujarric:  I will get you… as I said, as we get details, we'll get them to you.

Inner City Press:  If he's not, can we find out why he's not?

Spokesman Dujarric:  Sure.  

  So far, seven hours later, nothing. This is the UN and Western Sahara. Back on November 21 asked the New York spokesman for High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid for

"an update on action on the leaked cables, related to Western Sahara, involving current OHCHR official Anders Kompass and one, previously head of OHCHR's office in NY, who's just left. What steps has OHCHR taken on the cables / issues?"

  Now two months and three weeks later there has been no answer on this from the OHCHR spokesperson in New York. But we published this response from OHCHR Geneva spokesperson Rupert Colville to similar questions:

From: Rupert Colville [at] ohchr.org
Date: Friday 12 December 2014
Subj: Investigation leaked cables Western Sahara and OHCHR

The investigation is being carried out, at our request, by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) in New York, which is an operationally independent office that assists the Secretary-General in fulfilling his internal oversight responsibilities. While the investigation is under way, there is nothing else I can say on the matter.

  On January 29, Carman Lapointe the head of OIOS wrote:

"Our operating policies do not allow OIOS to provide information on whether we are investigating any matter, and so you will need to continue to consult OHCHR on this topic.

"In general terms, however, I can say that when/if we receive allegations of leaked confidential documents, we would advise that investigations into leaks of confidential documents are very challenging for OIOS to substantiate.  As you may be aware, OIOS has authority to conduct only administrative investigations, and we have very limited (and no coercive) powers.  Unless staff members involved in leaks admit or confess, or the leaks are undertaken blatantly using United Nations assets that we can examine forensically (such as by an attachment to an email from a UN computer or other device) we would have no jurisdiction to pursue further. "

  Combined with this new scandal uncovered by Inner City Press, about the sale of posts in UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous, the above gives little confidence.

 Meanwhile on January 23 the UN issued this read out:

"The Secretary-General spoke with His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Thursday, January 22.  He expressed appreciation for Morocco’s valuable support of the activities of the United Nations, particularly in peacekeeping and in a number of critical issues in Africa and the Middle East.

"On Western Sahara, the Secretary-General acknowledged Morocco’s concerns about the UN-sponsored negotiations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Frente Polisario.  He confirmed that reports to the Council on this issue will remain objective and reflect facts.  He also reiterated that the UN Mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO, will continue to exercise its existing mandate as set forth by the Security Council.

"In response, His Majesty indicated that Morocco looks forward to moving ahead in collaboration with the United Nations and that Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations will be working with the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Christopher Ross, to arrange his next visit to Morocco as soon as possible, as well as with the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of MINURSO, Kim Bolduc, to facilitate her rapid deployment to the region."

  So how long will that take?

  The UN system often uses the pendency of an investigation as a way to wait for the “problem” to go away. As the publication Tel Quel, here, has noted, many in the media are not covering the leaks.

  Relatedly, the leaks are now being covered up or censored. Two recent uploads, about Morocco and the African Group at the UN, were put on “ filefactory.com” -- then taken down after, the site says, a complaint under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

  This is a new trend -- attempt to use copyright law to take down leaked documents. Reuters, for example, filed a “for the record” complaint with the UN trying to get Inner City Press thrown out - then, when the “for the record” complaint was leaked and published, conned Google into blocking it from Search, calling it copyrighted. Click here for that.

So that media uses or abuses copyright to censor its own “for the record” complaint filed with the UN, and does not cover these new leaks about Western Sahara, Morocco, and the UN. This is a new trend. Watch this site.

  In the above, the referenced former head of OHCHR's New York office is Senegal's Bacre Waly Ndiaye, noted Tijania Sufi. The cables reveal a deep scandal in the UN system. Now OHCHR in Geneva is saying it will not comment until an investigation, Inner City Press understands by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, is complete. But there is no indication that will be publish. This is one of the ways the UN covers up.

 There other ways, beyond Western Sahara. On rapes in DR Congo by Army units the UN support, Ladsous refused to answer Press questions for months. Video here of then and now spokesman pulling microphone away from Inner City Press. These practices are being opposed by the new Free UN Coalition for Access.

 Now on UN Peacekeeping's November 9 press release covering up mass rape in Thabit in Darfur, Ladsous has not answered any questions; UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on November 21 told Inner City Press the UN won't comment on leaks. The Western Sahara leaks are so extensive that despite a seeming media blackout by Western wire services, they will not go away. 

While Ladsous is not the only UN official exposed by the cables, his extraordinary campaign of refusing Press questions, to the point of physically blocking Press filming (Vine here), as well as a DPKO to OHCHR connection, make him key to the case. As to MINURSO, Ladsous is blamed for the non-deployment of Bolduc. 

  Back on November 14 Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq about Bolduc and an investigation of leaks in Geneva of which sources tell it. Video here.

  On November 5, Inner City Press reported on leaked cables showing among other things the UN's Ladsous undermining MINURSO on the issue of human rights, and improper service of Morocco by Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights staffers Anders Kompass and Bacre Waly Ndiaye.

    Since then, along with anonymous death threats, Inner City Press has received additional information including of a UN Office of Internal Oversight Services investigation of Anders Kompers and Bacre Waly Ndiaye.

  On November 14, Inner City Press asked the UN's Haq, per UN transcript:

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  You had a question on Western Sahara?

Inner City Press: It's a two-pronged question.  What Stéphane [Dujarric] said earlier in the week about Kim Bolduc, the new SRSG [Special Representative of the Secretary-General].  I wanted to just kind of confirm it.  In reading it, does that mean that she has never has been allowed in?  And, if so, where has she been since August?  What is the plan to resolve that?  And I also wanted to ask you about regarding the cables that I base the initial question on.  Can you confirm that OIOS [Office for Internal Oversight Services] is conducting an investigation at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on at least two staff members who apparently leaked this information to the Moroccan Government?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  On that, I cannot confirm that.  As you know, the OIOS conducts its work independently.  At some point, once they have completed their work, they apprise us [inaudible].  But I wouldn't be aware of any work that is ongoing.  Beyond that, regarding Kim Bolduc, as you know, both Christopher Ross and Kim Bolduc briefed the Security Council on 27 October.  And at that point, the Security Council reiterated its desire, first of all, to see Ambassador Ross's facilitation resume and reiterated its desire to see Kim Bolduc be able to take up her duties at the helm of MINURSO [United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara] as soon as possible.  And we look forward to the resumption of Mr. Ross's visit to the region and also to the deployment of Kim Bolduc.

Inner City Press:  But is she currently, I mean, she is the SRSG?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  She is the SRSG, but she has not been able to function with her MINURSO duties in-country.

  In-country, eh? We'll have more on this. And on this: Inner City Press is informed that while Ladsous claims to have performed as required in connection with the appointment of Bolduc, even on this he is accused of failing to do his duty, as on many other parts of his job. Video compilation here; recent Vine here.

   Document leaks from inside the UN have identified improper service of Morocco, on the question of Western Sahara, by a staffer at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Anders Kompass.

  Inner City Press has waited to report on them; the spokesperson for the High Commissioner has today said his office is aware the leaked cables, which contain the perspective of certain diplomats, and that the situation is being investigated to clarify the facts.”

  Whatever the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, now under Jordan's Prince Zeid, does about the content of the leaks, more will be required in the UN Secretariat in New York -- particularly at the top of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which runs the MINURSO mission in Western Sahara.

  The cables show that Herve Ladsous, a long-time French diplomat now the boss of DPKO and thus of MINURSO, was flacking for Morocco on the supposed quality of its human rights mechanisms. This directly undercuts the MINURSO mission, for which Ladsous is supposed to be working.

  African Union members of the Security Council, from Uganda to South Africa to Nigeria, have demanded that MINURSO have the same type of human rights monitoring mechanism as the UN Peacekeeping missions in the DR Congo, Mali and Central African Republic. 

  Now Ladsous is exposed undermining extending this to Western Sahara -- the policy of his country, France, but undercutting DPKO.

  During General Assembly debate week in September 2014, Ladsous refused to answer Press questions and ended up blocking the Press' camera, Vine here.

  This is a scandal. And since Ladsous had refused to answer Press questions, about rapes by his mission's partners in the DRC, about DPKO bringing cholera to Haiti, about under-reporting attacks on civilians and even peacekeepers in Darfur and now Central African Republic, it is time for the question to be asked. 

Update: on November 6, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about this, video here.

  Immediately after the briefing, Inner City Press emailed Dujarric the cable it had asked about. Watch this site.