Four
Months After
Arrest of UN
Official, UN
Won't Disclose
Its Follow Up
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 19 --
Four months
after a UN
official was
arrested for
sexual abuse,
on Friday when
Inner City
Press asked
what the UN
had done, the
Organization's
top management
official Yukio
Takasu
declined to
discuss this
"individual
case" in
public.
This lack of
transparency
is not only
for "the
public." Even
after the NY Police
Department has
arrested the
head of the
UN's Emergency
Preparedness
unit for
sexual abuse,
the UN has
just refused
to tell the
complainant
what
discplinary
action it has
taken.
In a June 22
letter
obtained and
now first
reported by
Inner City
Press, the
officer in
charge of the
UN Office of
Human
Resources
Management
Martha Helena
Lopez has told
the
complainant
that despite a
June 14
request to
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon,
neither the
fact-finding
report nor
information
about the
disciplinary
measures taken
will be
provided.
The UN told
the
complainaint
"it is the
practice of
the
Organization
not to
publicly
disclose the
discliplinary
action(s)
imposed on a
given staff
member." And
the
administrative
instruction
about
releasing fact
finding
reports has
been repealed
or
"superseded"
under Ban
Ki-moon, in
UN-ese.
Inner City
Press chose
not to publish
the letter
itself, to not
identify the
complainant.
And in its
question to
Under
Secretary
General for
Management
Takasu on
October 19
Inner City
Press did not
name the
defendant,
either, but
did ask for
confirmation
or denial that
the UN
has
(merely)
demoted the
abuser from P5
to P4 level,
but with the
same job: head
of the UN's
Emergency
Preparedness
unit. But
this has not
been answered.
Instead, for
the record,
Takasu said he
wants the
Department of
Management to
take the lead,
and cited the
UN charter.
That is
appreciated.
But in a case
like this,
without naming
either party,
wouldn't it be
important to
state publicly
what steps the
UN took?
Back on June
14, after
reporting
the arrest
and after
confirmation
by NYPD the
name of the
arrestee,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
about
an incident at
380 Madison
Avenue, which
initially I
was asking
about because
of the Senior
Advisory Group
on
Peacekeeping
and General
Shavendra
Silva...
now it’s been
confirmed to
me by the New
York Police
Department, a
UN official,
who will
remain
unnamed, the
head of the
Emergency
Preparedness
Unit submitted
himself to the
17th Precinct
and was, in
fact, arrested
for sexual
abuse... So, I
wanted to
know... [if]
this
individual has
been
downgraded
from P5 to P4
at the same
salary and
with the same
job, which
some people
see as not
consistent
with the zero
tolerance
policy?
Nesirky
replied that "I
can’t comment
on what may or
may not have
transpired
at the New
York Police
Department;
that’s for
them to
comment on. I
cannot comment
on that. On
the second
part, there
was an
internal
procedure,
which is
confidential
in nature, and
therefore I
cannot comment
further on
that."
But, Inner
City Press asked,
"Is immunity
going to be
sought?"
Nesirky
said, "my
answer in two
parts will
suffice there.
And I
am just
checking on
other
questions."
No further
information
was provided;
now, USG
Takasu says he
will not
discuss
individual
cases in
public. Watch
this site.
Footnote:
As we tweeted
at the time,
hat tip to the
work on this
of UN
Justice,
including on
June 21
regarding the
June 14
request. May
the struggle
for
accountability
from the UN on
these matters,
and those like
the introduction
of cholera
into Haiti
and role
in the final
stages of the
conflict in
Sri Lanka,
report already
delayed for
months,
continue.
We'll
have more on
this. Watch
this site.
, 
