by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
UN GATE, April 11 – How corrupt is today's United Nations, under Antonio Guterres?
Well, consider UNRWA, under Philippe Lazzarini. Inner City Press for two days has asked Guterres' spokespeople Stephane Dujarric and Melissa Fleming -- the second day cc-ing Lazzarini himself - about complaints and evidence that whistleblowers have provided to Inner City Press about what is formally knowns as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
No response at all, while Dujarric laughs and services state media and his partners in censorship, with whom he worked to target and now ban Inner City Press.
And consider ESCWA, on which Guterres has refused to answer Press questions, now receiving (along with his equally censoring cronies) this from ESCWA staff:
From: ESCWA UNRWA Staff Data: April 11, 2023 Subject: Appeal from ESCWA Staff To: ag@un.org Cc: Lopez22@un.org, rola.dashti@un.org, makhmudov@un.org, pollardc@un.org, mounir.tabet@un.org, ndiyae@un.org, armstronge@un.org, courtenay.rattray@un.org, Noun@un.org, Ali.aldabag@un.org
Secretary-General, We, a group of ESCWA staff, fear retaliation from the ESCWA Executive Secretary, Ms. Rola Dashti, and are sending you this email anonymously since the Ethics Office and OIOS have failed to take action and protect us. Today, the Executive Secretary (supported by the ASG/OHR, Ms. Martha Helena Lopez, and the EOSG) has requested the processing of the resignation of Mr. Ahmad Dik, Director of Resources Management and Services Development Division, effective 14 April 2023 (in 3 days from now) which was approved personally by your ASG for OHR Ms. Martha Helena Lopez following a deal between her and the Executive Secretary of ESCWA who visited UNHQ for this purpose a few weeks ago. An OIOS investigation has established that Mr. Ahmad Dik committed sexual harassment, misconduct, and fraud. Instead of being dismissed, he was put on special leave with full pay for a year, and now he is being rewarded with a resignation without a single disciplinary measure issued against him. He is also negotiating the payment of his three months of annual leave. We, the ESCWA staff, are shocked that the Office of the Secretary-General and the ASG for OHR, ms. Martha Helena Lopez would approve such a course of action instead of enforcing the accountability framework and dismissing Mr. Dik. We ask that you hold your ASG, OHR, accountable for her lack of integrity and for facilitating the reward of sexual predators and thieves. Mr. Ahmad Dik and Mr. Akmal Makhmudov (Chief, People Management Central) have been facilitators of the Executive Secretary’s wrongdoings for the past three years. Mr. Dik and the Executive Secretary have promised Mr. Makhmudov a promotion from the P-4 to the P-5 in return for him facilitating and approving the appointment of several of the ES’s relatives and the irregular promotion of several of Mr. Dik’s cronies, such as Ms. Hanadi Baltagi and Ms. Carla Ziade. The Chief of HR, Mr. Akmal Makhmudov, approved all these appointments and promotions. The ESCWA staff are all aware of this situation. In addition, Mr. Makhmudov and Mr. Dik have previously engaged in intimidation of staff at ESCWA to prevent them from reporting misconduct to UNHQ. Several ESCWA staff have reported such misconduct, and an OIOS investigation has occurred. Unfortunately, instead of enforcing accountability, your office is doing the opposite: encouraging the wrongdoers and sexual harassers to continue their misconduct and get rewarded for it. Mr. Dik should be dismissed and terminated for misconduct instead of being allowed to resign in compliance with the rules and regulations of the United Nations. Mr. Makhmudov, who aided the ES and Mr. Dik, should be investigated for all his misconduct and cover-up schemes during the last three years and prevented from continuing his duties as Chief of HR. We ask you, as Secretary-General, to remove the Executive Secretary of ESCWA from office as she has lost the trust of all ESCWA staff whom she keeps retaliating against. This toxic culture must end now."
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