UNITED
NATIONS, April
13 -- When
Inner City
Press asked
about the UN's
ostensible
protection of
whistleblowers
nearly two
years ago, on
May 21, 2013,
it was told
that "the UN
Secretariat
has engaged
Justice Louise
Otis of Canada
to conduct an
independent
review of the
Organization's
protection
against
retaliation
policy.. and
her final
report is
expected to be
delivered to
the
Secretary-General
later in the
year."
But
when Inner
City Press on
April 10,
2015, asked
about the
status of Justice
Otis' report,
UN Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric said,
"I'm not aware
of any Judge
Otis report."
Three days
later, no
answer; no
update was
inserted into
the UN
transcript,
here:
Inner
City Press:
I'm assuming
that you've
seen this
letter from
nine
whistle-blowers
including Mr.
[James]
Wasserstrom,
[inaudible]
and others
saying the
Secretary-General
current
protections
are totally
either
unimplemented
or
unsatisfactory
and calling
for the
release of
this report
that was done
by Judge
[Louise] Otis
some time ago.
It was said
that he'd
commissioned
an outside
report by a
Canadian
jurist and it
hasn't been
released or he
doesn't think
it's been
released.
What's the
response
that?
And can it be
released now?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
I'll
check.
I'm not aware
of any Judge
Otis
report.
We obviously
recognize and
value the
whistle-blower
protection.
They have
been… I think
it comes… it's
a bedrock of
accountability
and being able
to address
serious
wrongdoing of
the
organization.
There have
been
protections
put in place
since 2005,
which was in
accordance
with best
practice at
the
time. We
obviously
conduct any
serious review
of any
allegations
having to do
with
whistle-blower
protection.
And I would
say that we're
obviously
looking to
actively
strengthen the
protection
against
retaliation
specifically
by reforming
the policy so
that it
enhances how
the UN
encourages the
reporting of
misconduct and
protects
whistle-blowers
from
retaliation
and
facilitates
retaliation
prevention.
Inner City
Press:
What do you
think of their
proposal of
external
arbitration?
These are nine
individuals
who have all
apparently had
a pretty…
Spokesman Dujarric:
Obviously, I'm
not going to
go into the
details of the
individual
cases that
were brought
up, but I
think the
point is that
we're always
looking and we
are… we're
actively
currently
working on
strengthening
the
protection.
Obviously, any
proposal would
be looked at
seriously.
For the UN
transcript
they looked up
and added the
name "Louise"
before Otis -
maybe because
the
whistleblowers'
letter
specifically
asked Ban to
"publicly
release the
external study
of
whistleblower
protections at
the UN
conducted
by Justice
Louise Otis"
-- but no update
on the report
that was due
more than
sixteen months
ago.
Currently the
UN Secretariat
says doubts
are being
unfairly
raised about,
for example,
its UN Joint
Staff Pension
Fund - but it
refused again
and again to
answer even if
Investment
Committee
chair Ivan
Pictet had
resigned.
More
tellingly, the
UN Secretariat
has allowed an
Under
Secretary
General to
openly and
repeatedly say
that he won't
and doesn't
have to answer
questions from
specific media
(video
here, Vine here). After that,
why would
parts of the
UN like the
Pension Fund,
or the
constellation
around
whistleblower
protection,
feel a need to
answer any
question? But
how it is
working?
The
whistleblower
signatories
included James
Poole, Miranda
Brown, Aicha
Elbasri, James
Wasserstrom,
Vesna
Dzuverovic,
Cynthia Brzak,
Rasna Warah,
Nasr Ishak and
Mahan Amarnath.
Back on
May 21, 2013
Inner City
Press asked
the UN Office
of the
Spokesperson
about
protections
for
UN
whistleblowers.
Minutes after
the (very
short) noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press was sent
this response:
Subject:
Re:
Your question
at the noon
briefing
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Tue, May
21, 2013 at
12:27 PM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
The UN
Secretariat
has engaged
Justice Louise
Otis of Canada
to conduct an
independent
review of the
Organization's
protection
against
retaliation
policy for the
purpose of
issuing
recommendations
to the
Secretary-General
to enhance
policy
effectiveness.
Justice Otis
is an expert
in
international
administrative
law, and
formally
served on the
Redesign Panel
on the United
Nations
Administration
of Justice
System.
Justice
Otis'
review is
currently
underway, and
her final
report is
expected to be
delivered to
the
Secretary-General
later in the
year.
Sixteen
months after
that deadline,
nothing. Watch
this site.
, 
