| UN Volker Turk
Collaborated in Banning
Press Now OHCHR Staff Union
Questions Ethics
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
UN GATE,
June 4 – How corrupt and
decrepit has the UN system
become under Antonio Guterres,
in this case due to Guterres?
Today's example is again from
the Office of the High
Commission for Human Rights,
to which Guterres appointed
his unqualified crony Volker
Turk more than two years ago.
From OHCHR
staff: "Dear Mr Lee The staff
in OHCHR says basta to abuse
by corrupt senior management.
Two weeks ago High
Commissioner Volker Turk and
his chief of operations Maarit
Kohonen, unable to control her
anger, openly threatened us
“accept relocation or be
fired”. Yesterday, in another
pointless townhall we made
clear to Volker Turk that we
will not accept barbaric
threats.
Now this: ".Dear
OHCHR
colleagues,
Like you we attended last
week’s townhall where High
Commissioner Volker Turk
presented his latest plans for
moving staff out of
headquarters. We note that
this project has been carried
out without adequate
consultation with the staff
union. The key points we
learned and which we are
concerned
about:
It’s
expensive: It will involve the
move of 120 staff. We
conservatively estimate the
cost of relocation or
indemnities at $12 million. We
did not hear any figures to
show whether the moves will
justify the cost in the long
run. Its mandate is unclear:
Volker Turk claims that the
General Assembly backed his
project. Reading the relevant
resolution it is not clear how
he inferred this. The
justification is questionable:
The main reason given was
increased demand for OHCHR’s
physical presence within
countries.
We would like to
see the letters from
governments requesting this.
Instead we hear from you that
governments are generally less
keen on OHCHR presence, are
delaying visas and
discouraging meetings on the
ground with civil society.
It’s being rushed
unnecessarily: Staff may have
mere months to move. One
Director told her staff that
if they didn’t like it they
could leave, despite the
initial management rhetoric of
‘moving posts not people’. We
don’t understand the urgency.
For UN 80 the current plan is
for moves to take place in
summer 2026. In addition, if
UN 80 results in human rights
activities from other entities
being merged with OHCHR, new
changes might be necessary and
such moves might prove
premature and unjustified...
Questions
about conflicts of interest
persist: There will be
expansion at the Vienna
regional field office, which
has triggered allegations of
favoritism. We have received
concerns from you and would
appreciate clarification from
management on the ethical
guardrails used."
Spoiler alert: no
ethical guardrails.
This is the UN of
Guterres.
Turk as a staffer
on Guterres' 38th floor did
nothing when his boss Guterres
had the critical Press roughed
up and thrown out. There
has been no due process since,
not even a response to Guterres'
Melissa Fleming to a pro bono inquiry
for Inner City Press from the
law firm Quinn Emanuel. Some
human righters.
***
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