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
disciplinary
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
disciplinary
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been repealed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"superseded"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, Dushyant Joshi,
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.
