At
UN, Biting Incident Reveals Nepotism of UNDP and Congo Envoy,
Whistleblower Maced
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July 30 -- The biting incident at the UN, on which Inner
City Press exclusively
reported one week ago, has its roots in a
glaring case of nepotism in which the UN's top envoy to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Alan Doss,
lobbied to get his
daughter the UN Development Program job effectively held and applied
for by alleged biter, Mr. Nicola Baroncini.
When Mr. Baroncini was
suspected of knowing of the nepotism, documented by an e-mail to UNDP
from Mr. Doss, he was fired, forcibly removed, with pepper spray,
from the UN compound and arrested by NYPD on the basis of false
accusations. Doss' daughter Rebecca is now ensconced in the disputed
UNDP job, while Mr. Baroncini is due in Criminal Court on August 10
on charges of third degree assault.
The
case is an
early test of UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, in the job for 100 days
now, and new UN Security chief Gregory Starr, with whom Mr. Baroncini
is asking to meet in order to withdraw the criminal charges against
him. Also in question is how Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will react
to documented allegations of improper requests and nepotism by his
personal envoy to one of the UN's largest and most controversial
peacekeeping missions.
Documents
filed
with the US Department of State, obtained by Inner City Press, show
the lead-up to the June 22 pepper spray.
On March 16, 2009, after several other UNDP posts ranging from
Cambodia to New York, Mr. Baroncini began functioning as assistant to
Ms. Ligia Elizondo, Deputy Director of UNDP Regional Bureau
for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP).
According to
the complaint Mr.
Baroncini was "managing her personal agenda; screening inbound
and outbound communications; organizing meetings; reviewing documents
and other material; distributing tasks within the bureau. I had
unlimited access to her UNDP email account. My tasks also included
email filing (in my hard drive)."
A
month later in
April according to the complaint, Mr. Baroncini "witnessed that
Ms. Elizondo received several phone calls from Rebecca Doss. Her CV
was permanently in Ms. Elizondo’s in-tray. Also while filing Ms.
Elizondo’s UNDP email inbox I came across several emails from
Rebecca Doss to Ms. Elizondo. In one, Rebecca made reference to the
position of 'Special Assistant to RBAP Deputy Director' and said that
she would contact Ms. Elizondo at home."
Subsequently,
Mr.
Baroncini applied for and was one of four short-listed candidates for
this post, whose functions he was already performing. Other
candidates included Violeta Maximova and Rebecca Doss, whose father
Alan Doss, in charge of the UN's billion dollar peacekeeping mission
in the Congo, wrote on April 20 to Ms. Elizondo
"Dear
Ligia,
This is just to inform that I have advised UNDP in writing
that I will transfer to DPKO effective 1 July 2009. I have also
spoken to Martin and advised him that I cannot transfer before that
date because the new DPKO contractual arrangements only come into
effect on the 1 July. He informed me that the ‘deadline’ for the
ALD contracts is 15 May so the period of overlap would only be 6
weeks (assuming Rebecca’s ALD would come into force on the 14th May
at the latest). I have asked for some flexibility, which would allow
a very long serving and faithful UNDP staff member a little lee-way
before he rides off into the sunset.
Becky is very excited about the
prospect of going to work for you so I hope that it will work out.
With my warm regards and thanks,
Alan.
Alan
Doss
Special Representative of the Secretary-General United Nations Mission
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo"
E-mail
in docx text
format - download
When Inner
City Press asked the UN spokesperson's office on July 27 about the and
biting incident and the underlying recruitment, Associate Spokesman
Farhan Haq said "it
had to do with a frustrated jobseeker. The only thing I
can say is the information I got from UNDP on this is that the hiring
process regarding
that particular vacancy at UNDP was filled in accordance with their
rules." Transcript here,
video here.
But as Doss'
email in
the complaint shows, since it is illegal for the child of a UNDP
staff member, as Doss then was, to be hired by UNDP, Doss asked for
"a little lee-way" -- to ignore what he called a six week overlap. The
propriety of a UN Under Secretary General making personal contact and
applying pressure to waive rules and award a job to his daughter has
not yet been addressed.
UN's Doss, at right, with Kouchner and Clooney: Doss is connected
Next,
Ms. Maximova
and Ms. Doss were declared the top two candidates. Ms. Maximova
suddenly was offered and accepted a job at the Clinton
Foundation /
Initiative, and Ms. Doss was given the job.
Mr.
Baroncini spoke
with the Director of RBAP, Mr. Ajay Chhibber, on July 19. Initially,
Mr. Chhibber
took an interest in hearing out Mr. Baroncini, offering him advice.
But once Ms. Elizondo realized that Mr. Baroncini might, in the
course of his duties, have become aware of the improper influence in
the hiring decision, Mr. Baroncini had his email access terminated
and was told to no longer come in to UNDP.
Subsequently,
according to the complaint filed by Mr. Baroncini:
I
voiced my complete disapproval and said that I will challenge this
decision with the appropriate personnel.
I
handed to Mr. Chhibber a print-out of Alan Doss’ email to Ms.
Elizondo of April 20, 2009 and told him, “In case you do not know,
this is the way human resources selection works in UNDP.” I
repeated that I will challenge this course of events.
Within
a couple of minutes a man arrived. He asked for my UN badge and
requested that I leave the building. I began collecting my personal
belonging. The whole process took several minutes.
Three
UN Department of Safety and Security Guards approached me.
Immediately, Peter Kolonias, one of the guards, ordered me to enter
office 2312 of DC-1. I complied immediately.
I
entered the office and sat down escorted by two UN DSS Security
Guards. The door was shut. Shortly, my wife joined me (she works
elsewhere in UNDP).
After
waiting for some time, I asked the guards about the procedures in
place and why we had been waiting for so long. In several instances I
was told that Ms. Elizondo was giving a written statement and that
once she had completed it would be my turn.
I
began asking for access to a lawyer and my consulate. I repeated this
request frequently (I would say every 15 minutes) both to the guard
inside office 2312 and to other officials that entered the office.
I
asked my wife to leave office 2312 and look for Mr. Chhibber and ask
him to speak with me. I wanted to understand if he had any control
concerning what was happening, and I wanted to share my concerns
about this absurd escalation of events.
My
wife left the office, but the guards outside invited her to join Ms.
Elizondo and Ms. Jovita Domingo, a UNDP human resources advisor,
inside Ms. Elizondo’s office. There, they questioned my wife about
our private life until a UN official wearing a white uniform came in
and my wife was invited to leave by Ms. Elizondo.
Once
my wife left Ms. Elizondo’s office, they shut the door and had a
meeting. My wife returned to office 2312.
The
UN official wearing a white uniform along with the third UN DSS
guard, Peter Kolonias, joined the two other UN DSS guards inside
office 2312. They asked my wife to leave and shut the door.
The
UN official wearing a white uniform swiftly informed me that I had
two options: leave the building with them or be handcuffed.
I
felt that something very wrong was happening and again I requested
access to a lawyer, the Italian consulate and to give a statement.
The
second or third time I repeated my requested I was assaulted.
First,
Peter Kolonias put me to the floor. The two other guards followed
immediately. They tried to immobilize me using every sort of
technique. I was kicked repeatedly on the leg, stomach and neck. I
was punched repeatedly on the neck, head and face. Twice, at close
range, I was sprayed a pepper spray on the face. Immediately, and
for about two hours thereafter, I was blinded and suffered tremendous
pain on the face and eyes. Other than limited access to water, I was
denied proper medical treatment despite my repeated requests.
Eventually
I was handcuffed. UN DSS guards brought me outside office 2312 and I
waited there for about 1½ hours, handcuffed, sitting in a chair
in
RBAP Directorate area.
At
2:35 pm, NYPD officers arrived and I was officially arrested
Eventually
I was escorted outside DC1 building where an ambulance was waiting
I
waited handcuffed until approximately 7:40 pm in a waiting room of
Bellevue Hospital. After meeting with a Dr. Falck, I was immediately
discharged.
I
was brought to a police facility where NYPD took my fingerprints, and
I awaited transportation to 100 Centre Street.
After
routine procedures, I was jailed until 9:30 am of the following day.
The jail was no more than 17-18 square meters. The number of
detainees kept changing between 18 and 20 men. No restroom. Primitive
sanitation. No hygiene facilities.
My
case was reviewed, and I was immediately released without any bail
payment. I am set to appear in Court on August 10, 2009."
These
techniques
-- the pepper spraying of those who ask questions, pressing of
criminal charges as retaliation -- are the type of tactics that the
UN and officials like Alan Doss criticize in places like the Congo.
But the UN engages in them right on First Avenue in New York. What will
Ban Ki-moon, Gregory Starr and Helen Clark each do? In the case Ms.
Clark, she was officially informed of all of the above on July 27, and
her closest advisor Heather Simpson a full week before that. Now what?
Watch this site.
UNDP
has told Inner City Press first that
"There
was an unfortunate and isolated incident involving an employee of
UNDP on 23rd June 2009. UN Security and the New York Police
Department responded, and it is now being handled by the authorities
of the host government."
Then
after a follow up request by Inner City Press to UNDP spokesperson
Stephane Dujarric that UNDP "provide the requested description
of the recruitment process, the name of the post and the person
awarded, and whether they have any family or personal relationship
with the supervisor or selector," UNDP Administrator Helen
Clark's spokesperson Christina LoNigro responded that "we
cannot comment further on this case at this time as the legal process
is ongoing."
* * *
At
UN, Complaint to EU After Man Bites Man, Biter Seeks Meeting and
Consular Protection
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July 29 -- In the wake of the UN macing and calling the NY
Police Department to arrest a UN Development Program staffer who
complained and bit a UN Security Officer, the UNDP staffer has
complained to the European Commission. Click here for
Inner City
Press' first exclusive report.
Mr.
Nicola Baroncini has written to the
Legal Counsellor to EC Delegation to the UN, asking for assistance in
obtaining a meeting with the head of the UN Department of Safety and
Security, Gregory Staff.
The EC's Roland
Tricot, calling it
a "consular protection" matter, has urged Baroncini to
write to his Italian mission. Mr.
Baroncini, citing another report by Inner City
Press, which beyond reporting exclusively on the biting incident last
week continued reporting this week, says he see no reason to
meet with Starr's subordinate Bruno Henn, to whom UNDP referred him.
Baroncini writes that "Mr. Henn is under investigation and is
about to leave is position with UN DSS."
Below
is the pertinent portion of a message Mr. Baroncini has sent today to
numerous officials in the EC and Italian government, as well as to
Inner City Press.
UN's Ban and DSS' Starr, biting incident and
consular protection not shown
Subj:
Re: Asking for EU assistance
From:
Nicola Baroncini
To:
Roland.TRICOT [at] ec.europa.eu
cc's
Sent:
7/29/2009 9:26:16 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
Dear
Mr. Tricot,
Thank
you very much for your concise and very clear message. Also thank you
for confirming my position. European institutions are run and shape
their culture upon Treaty not common sense even when the two do not
get along. I also acknowledge that none of European Institutions is
willing to use their "moral suasion" for my case, i.e.
asking for a meeting with UN DSS USG or somebody senior and get down
to what really happened. UNDP told my lawyer to contact Mr. Bruno
Henn. I do not know who he is. I know however from the media that Mr.
Henn is under investigation and is about to leave is position with UN
DSS therefore I do not think he will ever reply and if he will I
doubt it has any leverage.
Still
looking forward to receive a copy of your organization policy and
procedure about how staff has to handle relation with the public.
On July
27, after publishing the first exclusive story about the biting
incident, Inner City Press asked UN Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq:
Inner
City Press: I wanted to ask you if you can either provide
information on or comment on an incident that took place last week in
which a UN security officer was apparently bitten by a staff member
who had a contract terminated in DC-1. What was the cause of that?
Associate
Spokesperson: That wasn’t last week. That was actually several
weeks ago, unless there’s a more recent biting incident. But I
assume what you’re referring to took place about a month ago,
roughly. The basic point is, yes, I can confirm that that did
happen. It had to do with a frustrated jobseeker. The only thing I
can say is the information I got from UNDP [United Nations
Development Programme] on this is that the hiring process regarding
that particular vacancy at UNDP was filled in accordance with their
rules. And beyond that, I’d refer you to UNDP.
Inner
City Press: Just to make sure we’re talking about the same biting,
was the biter maced and taken to the Seventeenth Precinct?
Associate
Spokesperson: I know that UN security, and then outside security,
handled the situation. I am not aware of any sort of use of mace. I
can’t imagine that we’re talking about more than one biting
incident. This doesn’t happen all the time!
Inner
City Press: When you say outside security, you mean like the New
York City Police Department? What do you mean?
Associate
Spokesperson: I think outside security was brought in eventually
after the initial response by UN security.
Inner City Press then asked UNDP in
writing:
Please
provide all available UNDP information on the biting incident I asked
about at noon: Farhan says UNDP tells him the biter was a job SEEKER,
and that the recruitment was transparent. Please name the underlying
job, the job seeker, and what happened.
Six
hours later, UNDP's Christina LoNigro replied:
There
was an unfortunate and isolated incident involving an employee of
UNDP on 23rd June 2009. UN Security and the New York Police
Department responded, and it is now being handled by the authorities
of the host government.
Inner City
Press, now naming the bitee, asked for confirmation and explaination:
"On the
biting
incident, while UNDP did not provide the name as requested, now I'll
ask you to confirm or deny that the the biter (and macee) was Nicola
Baroncini, and to provide the requested description of the
recruitment process, the name of the post and th person awarded, and
whether they have any family or personal relationship with the
supervisor or selector."
UNDP
responded, "unfortunately
we cannot comment further on this
case at this time as the legal process is ongoing." UNDP suggested to
Mr. Baroncini that he speak with Bruno Henn, of whom Mr. Baroncini
writes, he
"is under investigation and is
about to leave is position with UN DSS."
Henn,
after the UN's rejection of his request to become security chief
for the Capital Master Plan renovations of the UN, is said to be
seeking outside employment, on information and belief with an energy
company in New Jersey. The UN has repeatedly be requested to produce
Mr. Henn for a press conference or other Q & A, but has not. Watch
this site.
*
* *
, 
