| In Corrupt UN of Guterres UNESCO
Pushes Its Investigator Out Installs Yes Man
Keuppens
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video
UN GATE, Feb 27 –
For
several months
now, several
pending cases
failing to go
under
investigation
in
UNESCO have
been duly
exposed by
Inner City
Press. Those
concern mainly
fraud,
mismanagement,
embezzlement,
harassment of
staff and
abuse of
power.
As
member states
started asking
unpleasant
questions
following our
publications,
the French DG
Audrey Azoulay
felt seriously
jeopardized
especially in
the period of
re-election
she is
entering into.
This is
why Azoulay
decided to get
rid of the
Director of
IOS prior to
the normal
termination of
the Director’s
term-in-office
later this
year. Thus,
the Director
IOS from
Germany Ms
Susane Frueh,
who has
handled several
complicated
cases, is
prevented from
pushing
further her
team of
investigators
in the orbit
of corruption
coined by the
French
Administration
of DG Azoulay.
On 17
February,
regarding the
sex-scandal in
France with
Benjamin
Griveaux, the
candidate for
Mayor of Paris
supported by
President
Macron, Inner
City Press
wrote the
following :
“It is a
question of
days before
member states
request this
week an
investigation
to find out
the exact
responsibilities
and
immediately
fire those
accountable
for this
unprecedented
fiasco so as
to ensure at
least one
bright spot in
the otherwise
murky sea of
impunity at
UNESCO.”
It
happened
indeed, and an
investigation
was launched
by IOS on the
conditions of
hiring
Alexandra de
Taddeo, the
recipient of
the sex-tapes,
at UNESCO’s
Education
Sector. The
risk
immediately
became too big
of having a
conclusive
investigation
that could
shed a bright
light on DG
Audrey
Azoulay’s deep
involvement in
French
politics.
Exposing
her
political
games with
their
long-term
consequences
that totally
undermine the
credibility of
UNESCO as a
depoliticized
organization,
could be
devastating
for her image
now that
Azoulay is
starting
lobbying
member states
in desperate
hopes for
reelection
next
year.
The evident
decision for
putting an end
to that
catastrophic
scenario for
the plans of
Azoulay, was
to get rid
straightaway
of the
Director of
IOS and to
replace her ad
interim by a
former, now
retired UNESCO
staff member,
Bert Keuppens,
who has the
reputation of
being the
yes-man of
previous
administrations.
This
provoked a
turmoil in
some Nordic
capitals as
clearly the
short-term
mission of
Bert Keuppens
will be to
shelve the IOS
dangerous for
Azoulay
investigations.
The requested
clarification
by member
states
regarding the
involvement of
DG Azoulay in
national
politics in
France will be
consequently
buried down in
the coming
weeks. Then,
she can resume
her
participation
in French
political
machinations,
while getting
a fat UN
salary paid by
all member
states’
tax-payers.
Member
states,
unless they
are are flaccid
as with
Antonio
Guterres at UNHQ, must
insist and
request
information on
disciplinary
actions taken
by the
Azoulay’s
administration
in the
following
cases
:
1) The
first-time
ever in the
history of
UNESCO
undercover
surveillance
operation that
was
coordinated by
Flavio Bonetti
from the
Cabinet of
Audrey Azoulay
and former
deputy prefect
of the
Centre-Val de
Loire region,
with the
assistance of
the expert in
dirty work, Mr
Sachin
Bath. 2)
The promotions
given last
month to both
Flavio Bonetti
and Sachin
Bath for those
scandalous and
lawless
services. 3)
The
administrative
deviation of
giving to the
Director of
Cabinet
Nicolas
Kassianides
(nicknamed by
his staff
“Ka-cyanides”
because of the
toxic
environment
created in the
Cabinet)
unprecedented
power to
control and
supervise the
Deputy
Director
general of
UNESCO and the
Assistant
Directors
general of the
program
sectors. 4)
The cases lost
in Geneva
where UNESCO
got sentenced
by the ILOAT
to pay
hundreds of
thousands of
taxpayers’
money. IOS
must
investigate
the work of
the senior
staff members
in HRM dealing
with contested
cases, namely
A. Grisar and
A. Duganis. A
sanction that
would
certainly put
an end to this
persisting
detrimental
situation in
dealing with
personnel
files, is an
automatic wage
withholding of
HRM managers
so as to
reimburse the
financial loss
for the
Organization
provoked by
their
incompetence
in dealing
with contested
files.
5) The
Director of
the Cabinet
Nicolas
Kacyandes, is
still using an
official car
without being
entitled to do
so. Even more
unacceptable
is the fraud
with petrol
orchestrated
by the French
driver of
Audrey
Azoulay.
6) The
appointment of
dozens French
officials in
the Cabinet of
the DG Azoulay
in an effort
to turn UNESCO
into a branch
of Quai
d’Orsay and
the
consultancy
contracts for
the children
of several
Ambassadors to
UNESCO.
7) The
misuse of
tax-payers
money in large
proportions.
The financial
services of
Azoulay
authorized a
payment of
some 450,000
US dollars to
an unknown
financial
institution in
London. After
effecting the
payment, those
funds vanished
in someone’s
pocket. Still
no
disciplinary
measures taken
in the
corrupted
UNESCO of
Audrey
Azoulay.
8) The special
internal
arrangement by
the Cabinet of
D-G Azoulay
granting
impunity to
those
accountable
for the
unjustifiable
and
speculative
spending of
some 2 million
dollars by
UNESCO without
compensation.
In two
separate
contracts, one
for 1.536.000
EURO, and
another one
for 180.000
EURO, UNESCO
contracted a
French company
to do the core
redesign of
the
organization’s
financial and
administrative
systems and
tools.
Subsequently,
those amounts
had been paid
to the French
enterprise
without
getting the
expected
deliverables.
Anyone will go
to jail or the
responsible
officer will
rather get
promoted?
9) The Culture
sector was
poorly
reformed by DG
Audrey Azoulay
and her
assistant
director
general for
Culture, the
Chilean
Ernesto Ottone
Ramirez.
Staff in the
Culture sector
are blaming
openly the
arrogant and
heavy-handed
management
style of
Ottone Ramirez
with even some
dark and very
UN talks of a
"baby-Pinochet."
Will IOS
evaluate
(after the
departure of
the Director
IOS) the
negative
impact for
UNESCO of this
reform of the
Culture
Sector?
10) Another
calamity for
UNESCO was the
appointment of
the French
Shamila
Nair-Bedouelle,
in the
position of
Assistant
Director-General
(ADG) for
Natural
Sciences.
Shamila
Nair-Bedouelle.
What happened
since her
appointment is
the total
disruption in
the work of
the Sciences
sector. Staff
are suffering
from and
alarmed by her
blatant
incompetence,
her lack of
any managerial
skills and her
total absence
of political
connotation.
Will IOS
investigate
and propose
ways for
removing her
from office?
11) UNESCO
launched the
“Revive the
Spirit of
Mosul”
initiative
ostensibly to
participate in
the
reconstruction
of this city,
after years of
war and
destruction.
This seemingly
noble
initiative was
in fact a
cover up
operation of
reinforcing
French
influence in
Iraq in order
to secure
markets and
work for
French
companies. The
Director of
the UNESCO
office in
Baghdad,
Louise
Haxthausen,
was removed
straight away,
since she was
considered by
Kassianides
too close to
the government
of Iraq after
her several
years of
experience in
the country,
and too
independent in
her dealing
with issues
that
progressively
became
sensitive for
French
national
interests.
Would all that
be ever
investigated
in the
corrupted UN
of
Guterres?
12) Several
cases of
sexual and
moral
harassment
have been
reported to
IOS but
because of the
smokescreen by
the Cabinet of
DG Azoulay, no
sanctions were
imposed and
disciplinary
measures are
yet to be
taken against
the
perpetrators
of those
criminal
deeds.
Since her
election, DG
Audrey Azoulay
disregarded
for two years
the
Constitution
of UNESCO as
well as her
oath
pronounced as
per the usual
ritual at the
beginning of
her
mandate.
The big
question is
what will the
president of
the General
Conference
(Turkey) and
the chairman
of the
Executive
Board
(Equatorial
Guinea) do in
order to bring
to an end this
anti-constitutional
behavior or
the
Director-General.
The
Constitution
of UNESCO does
not provide
legal basis
for an
impeachment
process.
Still, member
states
consider
constitutionally
unbearable to
allow the
continuation
of DG’s
politically
biased
Administration.
Therefore,
in the
specific case
of DG Azoulay,
after all the
collected and
duly exposed
evidences with
respect to
her
unreserved
allegiance to
the French
national
authorities, a
specific
mechanism will
have to be
established by
the Chairs of
the two main
governing
bodies in
order to
ensure that
French DG
Audrey Azoulay
is subject to
the utmost
disciplinary
sanctions and
consequently
removed from
office before
the end of her
mandate in
2021. In
the case of DG
Azoulay, there
is no danger
whatsoever of
a partisan,
politically
motivated
impeachment
that would
lower the bar
for imposing
the ultimate
sanction – the
political
equivalent of
the death
penalty – on
future
Director-generals.
But at the UN,
after all the
cases of Heads
of Agencies
successfully
revoked, the
impeachment
case of DG
Azoulay must
set an example
internationally.
It is
obvious that
the French
Government and
the rich club
countries will
flip-flop on
those
impeachment
principles and
try to protect
the French DG,
since they are
all aware that
getting the
UNESCO top
position again
by one of them
in the near
future is a
mirage. Will
that
short-sighted
strategy work?
The future
will tell.
This is where
UNESCO stands
today. We will
have more on
that.
***
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