(CNSNews.com) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman confirmed on Tuesday that the world body has “officially” voiced its concern to the U.S. government about reports indicating that the U.S. has been intercepting the communications of Guterres and other U.N. leaders.
“We have now officially expressed to the host country [the United States] our concern regarding the recent reports that the communications of the secretary-general and other senior U.N. officials have been the subject of surveillance and interference by the U.S. government,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
“We have made it clear that such actions are inconsistent with the obligations of the United States as enumerated in the Charter of the United Nations and the [1946] Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations,” he said.
Guterres said the protest was delivered in the form of a note verbale, through the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in New York.
He described the reported documents as “basically distorted summaries of the secretary-general’s conversation.’
Leaked classified Pentagon documents posted online include several, as reported by the Washington Post this week and the BBC earlier, that appear to be the product of eavesdropping on conversations involving Guterres and colleagues.
The reports say the document appear to be a combination of quotes from intercepted conversations, and analysis and observations by U.S. intelligence officials.
One reportedly reflected Guterres’ dissatisfaction that, during a visit to Kyiv in March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had unexpectedly drawn him into an International Women’s Day event that involved the awarding of medals to female Ukrainian soldiers.
Although Guterres has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, images of his appearance at the medal awarding ceremony could have given the impression he was supporting military personnel on one side in the conflict. According to the Washington Post one of the leaked documents reported that Guterres told Dujarric he was “really pissed off” about the surprise medal ceremony.
A leaked document reported by the BBC revealed a U.S. assessment that Guterres, in the context of trying to safeguard a U.N.-brokered deal on releasing Ukraine grain shipments, was seen as being overly willing to accommodate Russian interests, thereby “undermining broader efforts to hold Moscow accountable for its actions in Ukraine.”
A document from mid-February described a conversation between Guterres and deputy secretary-general Amina Mohammed, in which Guterres voiced “dismay” after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called on the E.U. to produce more weapons and ammunition because of the war in Ukraine.
Another document linked to alleged eavesdropping on Guterres related to his anger over being denied a visa by the Ethiopian government to visit the country’s troubled Tigray region early this year to promote a peace initiative.
The documents appear to be part of a cache of scores of classified papers that were photographed and posted on the Internet in a major leak that has embarrassed the U.S. government and placed strain on relationships with some important allies.
A 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, Jack Teixeira, was arrested last week in connection with the leak and faces charges under the Espionage Act and another statute prohibiting the unauthorized removal of classified documents.
Asked on Tuesday what role President Biden is playing in “managing the fallout” over the document leaks, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president has “expressed his concern that the leak happened” and was taking the matter “incredibly seriously.”
She said he has asked the military and intelligence community “to run a high-priority, senior-level interagency process focused on understanding what happened; take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information; and reach out directly to allies and partners to reassure – reassure them about our commitment to safeguarding intelligence.”
According to the Post, the documents indicate that some of the conversations were intercepted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), section 702 of which permits the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on foreigners’ communications without a warrant. Some FISA provisions, including section 702, are due to expire at the end of 2023.