As UN Bans Inner City Press 1596th Day No Answer by UN Spox Dujarric on Mali UN Rapes Sierra Leone UN Whistleblowers DRC Moz Cameroon China Melissa Fleming Legal Letter

2022-08-12 23:08:50 By : Mr. Raymond Lei

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UN GATE, August 12 – Inner City Press on 5 July 2018 was banned from entering the UN, two day after it was physically removed from conducting interviews outside meeting about the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' $6.7 billion budget.

  Then Guterres' Department of Global Communication, run by Melissa Fleming, issued a letter banning Inner City Press from the UN - for life. With no due process, no right of appeal.  Guterres has put the UN in the US Press Freedom Tracker, here. Guterres' Spokesman Stephane Dujarric falsely promised on camera that he would be answering banned Inner City Press' questions - but see below.

     On August 12 after Guterres again refused to answer but the IMF did answer, May 6 here, Feb 25 here, Feb 4 here, here, before Stephane "French Whine" Dujarric, previously the face of UN lies on cholera in Haiti, not Associate "Spokesperson" Florencia Soto Nino who blocks Press on WhatsApp, not equally censoring Associate Eri Kaneko, not new UN Spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay - nor rape-denying Deputy Farhan Haq, held a briefing before which Inner City Press submitted yet more questions - Inner City Press has asked the above, and Guterres and his new chief of staff Courtenay Rattray and others:

These written question are posed and responses requested pursuant to the until-now broken commitment the the UN will "continue to answer e-mailed questions from Mr Lee" Inner City Press, here

August 12-1: On Mali and Germany what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres on that Germany has suspended most of its military operations in Mali, after authorities in Bamako withheld a flight clearance

On disparate UN "justice" what is the response of SG Guterres to this, received by Inner City Press from a longtime UN staffer: "Dear Mr. Matthew.       Hope you are doing fine and healthy.          I want first to apologize for daring to write to you directly. I know you are a very busy person.         Hereby, I beg you for 15 minutes of your time, please read my case. I would like to speak with you in regards to my case.        I have been separated from the UN afte 28 years of services, almost to be retired next year at the early retirement age of 55 but HR NY HQ has separated me from service as a sanction of Allegations of Misconduct where     Such allegations of misconduct against me are unfounded and without any clear evidence. Nevertheless the Administration wants me to leave the Organization despite of me responding to so many facts of the allegations of misconduct.         It is very unfair that the way I am being treated by the Administration when honestly, I have done nothing wrong. I have been accused without any evidence at all since the two previous investigations that started in 2019. It is very obvious that someone wants to make another statistic from me, another statistics and also I do suspect that someone very powerful is behind, trying to harm my 28 years of career in the UN.       I am a small fish, I have been punished for something that I did not do but the SRSG can get away from what he has done and the administration separated me from the Organization BUT for big fishes as Mr. Carlos Massiew can get immunity and impunity.  here       I had two serious investigations and there was no evidence found where I was absolved and/or acquitted. Nevertheless I was still a target, harassed and fired by the Administration. But of course, since I do not have a godfather in this Organization, let’s screw up and target [Name Redacted] and using me as a Guinea Pig.      Nevertheless, the Administrative Law Division of Human Resources at N.Y. HQ were  in the position of taking a severe and strong disciplinary sanction of separating me from the Organization after 28 years of service and almost to my early retirement at the age of 55 next June 2023. Such a decision came as a shock to me.  [Name redacted]." What was the basis of the decision? Is there a right to appeal? How can it be that the UN provides, for journalists, no due process nor right of appeal for total ban since 3 July 2018? 

As separately asked of each of you on the morning of August 11, 2022, on UN sexual exploitation and abuse - alleged - this is a request on the new cases of UN sexual exploitation data dumped on the UN website at 9:01 am on August 11, Rape in CAR by a "civilian," abuse by peacekeepers from Cameroon, South Africa, and "military" - explain why nationality withheld, and what if anything UN has done for victims 

Again, immediately explain the basis for banning me and Inner City Press from the UN and its briefings when not only the IMF on May 20, 2021 on Sudan and El Salvador, here, 

and IMF on June 10, 2021: on Tanzania and Cameroon  and on El Salvador

and Wilson Center on May 20, 2021 on North Korea, here, and also on March 26, 2021 the US State Department takes Inner City Press' questions, transcript here 

and May 27, 2021 "Briefing with Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Julie Chung On the Secretary’s Upcoming Travel to San Jose, Costa Rica," "Let’s go the line Matthew Russell Lee.  QUESTION: Sure. Thanks a lot and thanks for taking the question. I had wanted to ask specifically about Honduras. There have been a series of cases in the Southern District of New York where the brother of the president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, his brother Tony was convicted of drug trafficking," see here.

What is the response of SG Guterres' / USG Fleming to the letter sent to her and others by the Quinn Emanuel law firm regarding ending Press censorship?  See "answer" August 9, here: letter received, no change in status - no reply.

After repeated non-answers to the above, on August 9 UN Spokesperson Dujarric was asked "Quinn Emanuel wrote a letter to the UN asking about reinstatement of our colleague Matthew Lee into the UN press corps. Do you have any comment on that?        Spokesman:  No. All I can tell you is that we've received the letter, and I'm not aware of any change to his status... It's been received. Whether or not it's been answered, I don't know yet." How can the UN, which preached press freedom, not even answer a letter for a journalist from a major law firm? What is your answer? When will Inner City Press be restored to resident correspondent status, like various state media?

Explain how it is legitimate for SG Guterres' DGC / USG Fleming and MALU (cc-ed here) to block Inner City Press from even WebEx questions to UNSC President Ireland, whose Alternate Political Coordinator and Spokesperson Eoghan McSwiney wrote to Inner City Press, "We would refer your request for access to the UN and to UN press conferences to the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit of the UN Secretariat." You are engaged in censorship, no? 

What is the UN's response to Inner City Press' Sept 13 application to MALU incluing for WebEx access to hybrid press briefings during UNGA 76, as it has at the IMF? Beyond last night's interim response projecting a decision in one or day days?  From: malu  Date: Wed, Sep 15, 2021 at 8:02 PM Subject: Your U.N. eAccreditation Request has been RECEIVED     Greetings Matthew Lee,  This is to confirm the United Nations Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit (M.A.L.U.) at New York Headquarters has received your request for accreditation...  Upon processing, a notification email (to the email address registered with the request)will provide the status update, to confirm an approval or rejection, and any additional information which may be required. 

What reason could there be to deny this? Particularly given that only today Sept 16, Inner City Press put questions to the IMF on Guinea, Ukraine and Venezuela (see here and then to IFRC's Francesco Rocca, about Cameroon. If they take questions, how can the UN not now allow Inner City Press, at least for now by WebEx? And IMF on October 21, 2021 here. And US Buffalo NBC TV on Oct 26 here.

Also IMF answering Inner City Press on Nov 4, 2021 on Ethiopia, Zambia and Chad here

On the UN's ban of Inner City Press, from UNHQ and also UNDT proceeding, what on deadeline is SG Guterres' response to this  UNAT decision

AGAIN: on Western Sahara, confirm or deny on deadline both that Khaoula Morchid was recruited for MINURSO under Colin Stewart, and separately Stewart's successor's relations with her

On UNRWA, confirm or deny a relation by then-head Grandi, the actions to silence taken by Lance Bartholomeusz - and that Grandi has even hired Bartholomuesz' wife at UNHCR (submitted here to Secretariat given the role(s) of DGC chief who has also refused to even answer friendly Quinn Emanual law firm letter since July 6, 2021.

On presumptive sexual harasser Fabrizio Hochschild, on which each of your has refused to comment on or explain the leaked OIOS audio Inner City Press exclusively published, now on deadline explain this, reported yesterday by Inner City Press: "the Organization has decided to extend the Applicant’s appointment until 31 January 2022." 

On Lebanon, respond to this complaint made by UN staff to Inner City Press: "Amenities like fridges, freezers, heating, cooling, communication, and mobile systems all rely on electricity and for many, there is very little and sometimes none. Generator syndicates now have a new way to make life difficult for UN employees, they charge them double for half the service while the Secretary General does nothing. It seems UN employees are just in Lebanon to be abused for money and forgotten by those that live their lives in HQ locations."

On Nigeria what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres and separately DSG Amina J. Mohammed on that police in the Nigerian state of Katsina have dispersed protesters who had gathered in the state capital demanding the authorities to do more to end worsening insecurity in the country.  Katsina is the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari. [Inner City Press book featuring Amina J. Mohammed and Guterres (and Buhari) forthcoming]

AND YES YET ONCE AGAIN: On Ghislaine Maxwell, whose child sex trafficking trial started on Nov 29 in SDNY court and on whose Terramar Foundation board UN Partnership rep Amir Dossal was 1 of only 5 people, what is SG Guterres' response to and comments on "Ghislaine Maxwell’s family appeals to UN for her release from jail"?  Now on Dossal - state immediately whether or not he was representing the UN at Ghislaine Maxwell's 116 East 65th Street residence, along with his son Zecki?  And also: SG Guterres' comments and actions on the Jeffrey Epstein "fellowship" with IPI and Epstein's other UN-world connections - including UN engagement with IPI Bahrain, and Geir Pederson's meeting with Epstein. 

On Cameroon, on which each of your have refused to answer Inner City Press' questions about Ambazonia, what now are SG Guterres' comments and actions if any on that more than 30,000 people have fled from northern Cameroon to neighbouring Chad this week

 As asked to each of you on Dec 8, 2021 with no answer: "On UN sexual exploitation and abuse - alleged - this is a request on the new cases of UN sexual abuse by UN "peacekeepers" from Gabon in CAR in 2021  - including a CHILD RAPE -  data dumped at 12:01 pm on Dec 8, 2021 and not addressed at the noon briefing Inner City Press is banned from, along with another case in CAR by a "peacekeeper" from Burundi, and the previous UN child rape in CAR by UN "peacekeeping" troop Burkina Faso (Oct 19) and from Burundi - child rape! - and SEA by Tanzania troops in DRC data dumped at 12:02 pm on Oct 7, and earlier (unanswered) from Peru (Sept 29), Gabon and "the Congo" - and Nepal peacekeeper child rape in DRC - data-dumped at 10:07 am on July 21, 2021 that you immediately provide the "if asked" information" 

On Dec 1 MINUSMA itself sent Inner City Press a partial answer to a question about UN sex abuse that I asked each of your two weeks ago, without answer. 1) why is UNHQ engaged in a bigger cover up of sexual exploitation and abuse than its Missions? 2) where is the report and follow up referred to in MINUSMA's answer, which MINUSMA also emailed to all/most of you? 

Since new PGA spokesperson Kubiak has written to Inner City Press that she did not receive Inner City Press numerous written questions, please explain how the UN blocks addresses or confines Press questions to spam folders?

On Cameroon, Biya and COVID, what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres on that Only 3% of Cameroonians have received a first dose and 1.1% are fully vaccinated, according to Dr Malachie 

On UNCDF as Inner City Press asked each of you in August 2021 without any response, AGAIN, "what is the UN system's response to this, from a whistleblower? Ms Preeti Sinha the newly appointed UNCDF secretary was the business development officer in a Swiss based organization IHDLIFE SARL until October 2020, before that she handled the Secretariat of the same organization’s another vertical. She ran a small company FFD ventures  SARL but in the appointment news of Preeti Sinha she is projected as the CEO and president of FFD Ventures SARL which has raised millions of dollars to support Covid 19 response and other development work.  But the truth is far less 

On UN sex abuse - child rape! - on which each of you on Oct 25 refused written questions from Inner City Press, again: On UN sexual exploitation and abuse - alleged - this is a request on the new case of UN attempted child rape by a UN "peacekeeper" from Morocco, location not even disclosed - why?  - data dumped at 12:03 pm during the noon briefing by Dujarric and Volker Perthes on Oct 25, 2021, and the previous UN child rape in CAR by UN "peacekeeping" troop Burkina Faso (Oct 19) and from Burundi - child rape! - and SEA by Tanzania troops in DRC data dumped at 12:02 pm on Oct 7, and earlier (unanswered) from Peru (Sept 29), Gabon and "the Congo" - and Nepal peacekeeper child rape in DRC - data-dumped at 10:07 am on July 21, 2021 that you immediately

On corruption and Azerbaijan (and more, since each of you already did not answer on UNSC president Kenya on Oct 4, and Jordan and Gabon on Oct 5, and Republic of Congo - Brazzaville on Oct 6, and Qatar on Oct 7 and Sri Lanka on Oct 8 and Czech Republic Babis on Oct 12 and Lebanon on Oct 13, Tony Blair on October 14, Ukraine on Oct 15, Honduras on Oct 18, Dominican Republic on Oct 19 Ecuador on Oct 20, Montenegro on Oct 21, Chad on Oct 22, Chile on Oct 25) what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres on that the Aliyev children’s luxury property investments. They were shareholders of 44 companies registered in the British Virgin Islands between 2006 and 2018. The records show the children owned five companies used to buy more than $120 million worth of high-end London properties

On Nigeria what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres and separately DSG Amina J. Mohammed on that The trial of Nigerian separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu, resumed on Thursday in the capital, Abuja.  He was charged with terrorism, treason, running an illegal company and publishing defamatory materials.  The government has amended the charges, but the details have not been made public.  Mr Kanu, who is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) group, has not yet been asked to plead.  

On UN sexual abuse, on which each of your refused to answer this written Press questions yesterday, is AGAIN is a request on the new cases of sexual exploitation by a UN "peacekeeper" from Burkina Faso in DRC data dumped at 12:06 pm during the noon briefing by Farhan Haq on Oct 19, 2021

  On Cameroon what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres and separately USG Lacroix on that this week 3-year-old Minex Kimora was on her way to school with her mother in the city of Buea when a Cameroonian gendarme opened fire on their car, shattering her skull, killing the girl instantly.    

AGAIN, why didn't SG Guterres' public financial disclosure covering 2016 disclose the money he received from Gulbenkian Foundation, which would subsequently try to sell its oil company to UN briber CEFC China Energy, convicted in the SDNY Federal Court?  

As Inner City Press asked each of you in writing on October 7 without any answer at all - cover up --  On UN sexual exploitation and abuse - alleged - this is a request on the new cases of UN child rape in CAR by UN "peacekeeping" troop from Burundi - child rape! - and SEA by Tanzania troops in DRC data dumped at 12:02 pm on Oct 7, and earlier (unanswered) from Peru (Sept 29), Gabon and "the Congo" - and Nepal peacekeeper child rape in DRC - data-dumped at 10:07 am on July 21, 2021 that you immediately provide the "if asked" information 

On Nigeria what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres and separately his DSG Amina J. Mohammed on that the Nigerian army has confirmed that it arrested actor Chiwetalu Agu for wearing an outfit bearing the flag of the proscribed group Ipob and inciting people to join it.  The Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) is a group that wants a breakaway state in south-east Nigeria. 

On corruption and Kenya (and more), what are the comments and actions of SG Guterres on that the Kenyattas' offshore investments include a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), a foundation where his mother and the president are listed as beneficiaries, and an offshore company that could not be traced back to the Kenyatta family, which was used to buy an apartment in central London now valued at $1.3m (£1m)

On UN system sexual abuse and exploitation what are SG Guterres comments on WHO staffer put on leave for covering up SEA in DRC - and AGAIN why did Guterres' UN not inform authorities of sexual crimes by Karim Elkorany while working for the UN in Iraq, drugging and raping women, before he was allowed to fly back to NJ, USA, now prosecuted here in SDNY court?

On Honduras, what are SG Guterres' responses to Honduras President JOH mocking the narco trafficking evidence against him by inviting Netflix Narcos to read the SDNY transcripts?

Why is the new PGA Abdulla Shaheed not even disclosing how his campaign was and office is funded, including each staff member, as committed do after the PGA John Ashe scandal in SDNY? cc-ing Ms Grayley too

And, on ongoing censorship of Press by SG Guterres, USG Fleming and Spox Dujarric, to this petition with 9000+ signatures here

On Inner City Press' exclusive reporting into UNTSO's scandal of public sex in the UN van, what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres on this, from whistleblower: "the men in the UNTSO car have been charged with transporting a passenger who was not authorized and also for not co-operating with the investigation."  Inner City Press asked, "Thanks - I'd heard they were restored to full pay."  Answer: "Still suspended, but have been getting salary for a year.  Now they have been accused of conduct unbecoming."    Confirm or deny - and explain the long cover up, for/of Michael Antoine.

On Cameroon, what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres on the "Cameroon military opening fire at Christians in Bail/Ambazonia worshipping yesterday Sunday?    

On UNDT opacity, on which you have refused to answer, explain why on August 26, a supposedly "public" case was held - but the access link was dead, not only to Inner City Press but to the public at large: "UNDT/NBI/2020/022 (Mancinelli) The Applicant contests the Administration’s finding of misconduct and imposition of a disciplinary sanction against her." 

Given the Aug 24 UNDT case about UNDP Country Director Samuel Bwalya colluding / forging with Ethiopia's government, immediately state how many other cases of UN staff or officials colluding with Ethiopia's government the UN is aware of, and describe each.

On SG son Pedro Guimarães e Melo De Oliveira Guterres, explain how the business of Explorer Investments has been reviewed for conflicts of interest. Explain immediately how Pedro Guterres doing business with Rwanda while Antonio Guterres was UNSG was and is not a conflict, and what was disclosed and to whom.

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