Ban's UN, Set to Evict Press, Already Enters Office, Searching & Tossing Files

Ban's UN, Set to Evict Press, Already Enters Office, Searching & Tossing Files By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, April 15 -- As the UN bribery scandal gathered force Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an audit by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services of the Global Sustainability Foundation (GSF), David Ng Lap Seng's Sun Kian Ip Group and its affiliates including the "World Harmony Foundation" and South South News, among others.   The audit, completed early this year but first put onlineby Inner City Press, directly criticizes Cristina Gallach, the Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information.   Gallach has ordered the search and eviction of Inner City Press' files, set for April 16. She has misrepresented it to UN Ambassadors of major countries.  Ban's chief of staff Edmond Mulet has heard requests to hold off from major Permanent Representatives - but has done nothing, except that Inner City Press' files have already been searched. UN Department of Public Information staff despite a formal legal letter (and this notice) about privilege have already entered Inner City Press' office without notice. This violates basic free press protections.  And despite the retaliatory nature of Gallach, ultimately it is attributable to Ban Ki-moon, who on Capitol Hill on April 13 was called "inept" -- Ban's spokesman told Inner City Press that's just "one person's opinion" -- and who is down in Washington and will remain there while Inner City Press' files are searched and evicted. What country does this remind you of? Ban's audit, notably, does not mention that Ban accepted Ng's South South Award and was in the program of Ng's August 2015 event in Macau. Nor does Ban's audit mention that his Sri Lanka adviser Vijay Nambiar and his spouse, Ban Soon-taek, were both present at the founding of the Global Sustainability Foundation; the latter took photos with South South News' indicted Vivian Wang at the UN Correspondents Association ball where UNCA gave Ng, from whose South South News it took money, a photo op with Ban himself. Here are an initial two of many photographs of that event, these by Luiz Rampelotto of Europa Newswire via Facebook, including one of now indicted Vivian Wang of South South News with Mrs. Ban The same indicted Vivian Wang of South South News with David Ng Lap Seng at the same UNCA event   On this, Inner City Press on January 29 sought to cover an UNCA event held in the UN Press Briefing Room, which was nowhere listed as closed.  On February 19Gallach, without recusing herself, unilaterally deactivated Inner City Press UN residential correspondents pass, and had Inner City Press' reporter physically thrown out on First Avenue without coat or passport. Audio here.   This is called retaliation. On the afternoon of April 12, Inner City Press while with another colleague asked Ban about Gallach's orders.   "That is not my decision," Ban said quickly. He is aware; the ouster and censorship serve him, but he says it is not his decision, just as for example Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa or higher profile censors might.   On the evening of April 12 Gallach ordered the final eviction of all of Inner City Press' investigative files on Saturday, April 16 at 10 am. This is the face of today's UN corruption. This is what the UN eviction order sent to Inner City Press says: Subject: Office To:matthew.lee [at] innercitypress.com From: Tal Mekel [at] un.org Date: Tue, Apr 12, 2016 at 6:47 PM Dear Mr. Lee, Further to the letter to you from Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, on 30 March 2016, we note that you did not remove your belongings from the office by the 6 April deadline as required. As you have still not removed your belongings, we wish to inform you that your belongings will be packaged on Saturday 16 April 2016 at 10:00 a.m. After carefully packaging them up, your belongings will be forwarded to Bronx NY headquarters address for Inner City Press that you had listed in your media accreditation application. If you wish us to forward your packaged belongings to another address instead, please let us know as soon as possible. We request your presence during the packing. Please contact the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit (MALU) to make the necessary arrangements. If you are not present, the packing and forwarding will still take place at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday 16 April 2016. Best, Tal Tal Mekel Acting Chief Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit United Nations - S-250 New York, NY 10017    And here is some of what the OIOS audit says, about USG Gallach: "37. On 30 June 2015, Global Sustainability Foundation sponsored an exhibition titled “The Transformative Power of Art” in the visitors’ lobby at United Nations Headquarters. This exhibition was curated by an Italian artist, whose works were displayed along with the works of other artists participating in one of his workshops. 38. Exhibitions in publicly accessible areas at Headquarters are governed by the Secretary General’s Bulletin ST/SGB/2008/6, which stipulates, inter alia, as follows: (a) The United Nations Exhibits Committee, which is an interdepartmental body of the Secretariat chaired by the Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information [Cristina Gallach] is the standing body that reviews and authorizes such exhibitions; (b) Any proposal originating from an NGO or foundation must be accompanied by a written communication of support from a Secretariat department or office, a separately administered organ or programme of the United Nations, an organization of the United Nations system or a permanent or observer mission to the United Nations; (c) Exhibit proposals focusing on a specific individual, or originating from a single artist, shall not be permitted; (d) The Exhibits Committee may, at its discretion, reject a proposal for an exhibit in part or in its entirety, or require the elimination or alteration of any part thereof; and (e) The secretariat of the Exhibits Committee shall inform the Assistant Secretary General, Office of Central Support Services, of the authorization granted for a proposed exhibit.39. OIOS noted that the exhibition held of 30 June 2015 was not in compliance with these provisions. The Exhibits Committee did not authorize the exhibition because it did not receive a proposal in accordance with (b) above. The Chef de Cabinet of the Office of the President of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly informed the Exhibits Committee of the President’s decision to host a series of major cultural events, which included an exhibition, reception, and concert. The Committee informed the Office of the President that the exhibition was not in accordance with the regulations for exhibits in publicly accessible areas at Headquarters, but the Office of the President decided to proceed with the exhibition anyway. Therefore, the Exhibits Committee did not accept, reject or alter the “proposal”. 40. OIOS notes that the Exhibits Committee only had an advisory role in the matter, and in the circumstances described, it could not have possibly prevented the staging of the event. However, considering that the exhibition was attended by the Secretary-General and other senior Secretariat staff despite its non-compliance with the Secretary-General’s bulletin on exhibits, the perception that the NGO was given preferential treatment or favour (that too without performing any due diligence checks) could have an adverse impact on the Organization’s reputation. This risk is aggravated by the allegations in the criminal complaint against Sun Kian Ip group, with whom this NGO is affiliated." While Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric has said this audit will not be made public until April 22, on April 6 as a full text exclusive Inner City Press published the auditwhile noting affiliates the UN audit omitted, and portions of the audit that some involved seem to be trying to cover up, including not only as to the Department of Public Information, but also the Global Compact and other back-doors into the UN, including but not limited to "Friends of the UN."   Beyond the Under Secretary General of the Department of Public Information's responsibility for exhibits in the Visitor's Lobby such as the one indicted Sheri Yan's Global Sustainability Foundation held on June 30, 2015, she was also in charge when GSF was allowed, without any due diligence, to on March 25, 2015 sponsor an event entitled "Unveiling of the 'Ark of Return' Permanent Memorial." Audit at Paragraph 20 (b).   Inner City Press asked the UN about DPI's engagementwith the Global Sustainability Foundation around the Ark of Return in October 2015. To be diplomatic, this should have led to / required a recusal.    DPI, the audit says, was "associated" with Ng Lap Seng's and Frank Liu's World Harmony Foundation through something called the "Friends of the UN" based in Los Angeles / Santa Monica. We'll have more on this.   As Inner City Press demonstrated even before publishing the audit, the Global Compact as of April 2016 lists Ng's World Harmony Foundation as a member, despite the October 2015 indictments.   Now we note that the Global Compact, represented at Ng's Macau event in August 2015, has a representative who because not a UN staff member kept the iPad Ng's Sun Kian Ip foundation gifted. What kind of "anti corruption" UN Global Compact is this? On April 11, after publishing the above, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about it, and when Ban will answer questions. Video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press:  onthis OIOS inquiry, I want to ask you something.  One of the entities controlled by Mr. Ng Lap Seng is World Harmony Foundation.  I don’t know if it was you or Farhan [Haq] last week that said it’s still a member of the Global Compact, but it also seems to partner with DPI (Department of Public Information) is associated through something called Friends of the United Nations, which seems to be based in Santa Monica, California.  It’s a little unclear.  Can you say, is this one of the ground balls that you guys are going to be running down, in terms of what other groups enter through that way?  Also, what explains World Harmony Foundation six months after the indictment still being part of the Global Compact?  And one other Global Compact question.  The audit specifically says that, of the iPads given out at the Macau event in August, the representative of the Global Compact has not returned it, said that he’s not going to return it.  He’s not a staff member and he’s keeping it.  It’s right in the audit.  And so I wanted to know, since the Global Compact said it’s about transparency, anticorruption, is this okay?  And why isn’t he a staff member if he’s representing the Global Compact? Spokesman Dujarric:  I don’t know.  That’s a question you should… in terms of World Harmony, whether or not they’re still a member, is a question you can ask of the Global Compact.  Obviously, as we said, the audit is an initial step, and other issues are being pursued. Inner City Press:  But are they going… I mean, I guess Global Compact, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), are they going to hold a press conference? Spokesman Dujarric:  You should ask them.  They have press people, like the Secretariat, and they’re there to answer questions. Inner City Press:  And the Secretary-General, you said he’ll be in the room tomorrow, but he won’t speak.  Looking at the list of press conferences, it seems like the last one was December of last year… Spokesman:  He will have… there will be some sort of a press conference… there will be a press conference, probably on Friday, tied to the climate event.   Climate of corruption, some say. To be diplomatic, on April 8 this is what Inner City Press asked Dujarric, video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: this OIOS [Office of Internal Oversight Services] audit, I obtained it, published it and I want to ask just for today, two specific questions about it.  One is, it talks about funds going to this thing called UNPAN, which I've heard of, but it seems to be pretty obscure.  And in looking at its website, it claims to be publishing articles they say were published in December 2016, which hasn't actually occurred yet.  So, there's something a little… What's been done on the recommendations as to… to UNPAN and the use of its name by the entities that were audited.... Spokesman:  The recommend… the audit, I think, as all of you have seen now, includes recommendations and includes the status of those recommendations, and we're following through with them. Inner City Press: I'd asked Farhan [Haq] yesterday about the 30 June 2015 event in the Visitor's Lobby, which has a section of the whole audit about DPI [Department of Public Information] being in charge of it, not doing it.  I want to ask you about another event, which was 25 March, this unveiling of the Ark of Return permit memorial, which they said was no due diligence done of the Global Sustainability Foundation.  It seems like, in this audit, they make these two findings about DPI, these two events, but it's only looking at it, I guess, institutionally.  As I've asked you, when Global Sustainability Foundation was founded in this building, a senior adviser of the Secretary-General and his spouse were present… Spokesman:  I mean, I think… Inner City Press:  Does this audit look at individuals or only entities…? Spokesman:  The audit looks at… looked at the systems.  When there are issues related to individuals, further investigations are being done. Inner City Press:  Right.  But, it seems like they only mention the individuals that were in the criminal complaint.  There was nothing… Spokesman:  You know, the audit… I think the audit speaks for itself and outlines how we're following up with it.  There is a need for follow up.