On
Whistleblowers, WIPO Is
Protested, ICP Asks Of
Retaliation and Impending US
Budget Cuts
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
January 25 – The UN system's
mistreatment of whistleblowers
goes beyond the UN
Secretariat's firing of Anders
Kompass after he went public
with sexual abuse of children
in the Central African
Republic by peacekeepers, and
outright censorship in 2016.
At the
World Intellectual Property
Organization, Director General
Francis Gurry abused his power
after a detailed charge of
misconduct filed by then
Deputy Director General James
Pooley. Whistleblower Miranda
Brown has yet to be
reinstated.
There was a staff
protest at WIPO in Geneva on
January 25. Video
here. Staff say, "Since
2008, WIPO staff have found
themselves on the receiving
end of DNA theft, interference
in procurement processes,
summary dismissal of their
staff union president Moncef
Kateb, intimidation of staff
who speak out and cover-up,
including the attempted
suppression of an
investigation by the UN's
Office of Internal Oversight
Services into inappropriate
behaviour by their
Director-General."
Also on
January 25, Inner City Press
asked the UN's holdover
spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript
here:
Inner City Press:
going back to when you
announced the new
whistle-blower policy.
I’m sure you’ve now seen that
the Government Accountability
Project has said it made some
good steps, but they think it
falls short of the US, under
the US law that requires
withholding
contributions. Do you
disagree with that? They’re
saying that the law requires
external arbitration.
Spokesman: I think we
look forward to having a
dialogue with the Government
Accountability Office, more
importantly, with the US
authorities on this. I
think we’re very, we feel very
strongly that the new
whistle-blower policy meets
best practices, that it is a
great improvement on what the
staff had before. And I
think it’s a testimony to both
parties willing to move
forward that the staff and
management agreed on this
rather quickly in the new
Secretary-General’s term.
Inner City Press: When
you say the staff, given that
there’s a dispute about who
the staff union is, what do
you mean by that?
Spokesman: Well, it’s
with the global, global staff
management…
"to call for the
removal of the WIPO Director
General. The agreed
demonstration will therefore
take place on Wednesday, 25
January 2017 from 12h15 to
12h45 in front of the broken
chair at the Place des
Nations. Speeches will
start at 12h15 sharp.... We
will also have some balloons
to hand out which calls for
the resignation of the WIPO
Director General.
We count on your presence at
the demonstration. Remember,
today it is WIPO, but tomorrow
it could be your
organization."
On January
6, Inner City Press asked the
UN about reports it would be
issuing a revised
whistleblower policy, and
about criticism of it. See
below.
The policy was
announced on January 23, the
first full day of the Trump
Administration in the US,
where already legislation
calls for cutting
contributions to the UN if it
does not protect
whistleblowers. Will this,
which still apparently denies
access to the UN Dispute
Tribunal, be enough?
Inner City Press
asked UN holdover spokesman
Stephane Dujarric on January
23, video here, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
now that you've announced
this… the whistle-blower
policy, I wanted to ask you a
couple of things. As I'm
sure you know, the Government
Accountability Project in
[Washington], D.C., had
criticized this policy in
December 2016, and I wanted to
know, has… can you highlight
any changes? Basically,
they were saying that, in the
past, they… they are saying
it's weakening, the current
one, which says, if you allege
a violation of a rule, you're
protected. And now you
have to allege, according to
them in December, substantial
harm to the UN's reputation
and that that harm will be…
Has been resolved?
Spokesman: I think what
they… the criticism was aimed
at a draft that they
obtained. I will leave
it for them to speak. I
hope they and all concerned
Member States will read
through the policy. And
if they have any comments, we
obviously would welcome
them. But, I think no…
it's… it would be difficult to
argue that this new policy
weakens the whistle-blower
protection system. In
fact, it strengthens it, and
it keeps alive the broad
parameters under which… under
which staff members are able
to file complaints with the
Ethics Office.
Inner City Press: What
are António Guterres' views of
what happened with Mr.
[Anders] Kompass? This
was a high-profile
whistle-blower case known to
many Member States and
commented on newspapers all
over the world. Does he
believe that… would this new
protection… would this new
policy have in any way
protected Anders Kompass from
being fired and thrown out of
his office?
Spokesman: I think it's…
Mr. Kompass' case was examined
thoroughly by the… by the
independent panel. I
really don't have anything to…
you know, I… it's… I don't
think it would be… it would
not be possible for me to
hypothetically plug back in
what he may have done or may
not have done into a policy
that's just been enacted.
Inner City Press: And
can you just… I'd asked you
over the weekend, but can you
somehow, in a succinct way,
clarify what the Ethics Office
said about the Women's March
on Saturday? They sent
out an e-mail at 5 p.m.… 6
p.m. on Friday that saying
participation in political
events may be contrary to the
UN Charter. Was this
meant to tell staff not to go?
Spokesman: I think the
message from the Ethics Office
was meant as a reminder to
international civil servants
as to their code of
conduct. It was not
meant to prevent participation
in the march.
***
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