By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, April 13 -- When Inner City Press asked about the UN's ostensible protection of whistleblowers nearly two years ago, on May 21, 2013, it was told that "the UN Secretariat has engaged Justice Louise Otis of Canada to conduct an independent review of the Organization's protection against retaliation policy.. and her final report is expected to be delivered to the Secretary-General later in the year."
But when Inner City Press on April 10, 2015, asked about the status of Justice Otis' report, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, "I'm not aware of any Judge Otis report." Three days later, no answer; no update was inserted into the UN transcript, here:
Inner City Press: I'm assuming that you've seen this letter from nine whistle-blowers including Mr. [James] Wasserstrom, [inaudible] and others saying the Secretary-General current protections are totally either unimplemented or unsatisfactory and calling for the release of this report that was done by Judge [Louise] Otis some time ago. It was said that he'd commissioned an outside report by a Canadian jurist and it hasn't been released or he doesn't think it's been released. What's the response that? And can it be released now?
Spokesman Dujarric: I'll check. I'm not aware of any Judge Otis report. We obviously recognize and value the whistle-blower protection. They have been… I think it comes… it's a bedrock of accountability and being able to address serious wrongdoing of the organization. There have been protections put in place since 2005, which was in accordance with best practice at the time. We obviously conduct any serious review of any allegations having to do with whistle-blower protection. And I would say that we're obviously looking to actively strengthen the protection against retaliation specifically by reforming the policy so that it enhances how the UN encourages the reporting of misconduct and protects whistle-blowers from retaliation and facilitates retaliation prevention.
Inner City Press: What do you think of their proposal of external arbitration? These are nine individuals who have all apparently had a pretty…
Spokesman Dujarric: Obviously, I'm not going to go into the details of the individual cases that were brought up, but I think the point is that we're always looking and we are… we're actively currently working on strengthening the protection. Obviously, any proposal would be looked at seriously.
Spokesman Dujarric: I'll check. I'm not aware of any Judge Otis report. We obviously recognize and value the whistle-blower protection. They have been… I think it comes… it's a bedrock of accountability and being able to address serious wrongdoing of the organization. There have been protections put in place since 2005, which was in accordance with best practice at the time. We obviously conduct any serious review of any allegations having to do with whistle-blower protection. And I would say that we're obviously looking to actively strengthen the protection against retaliation specifically by reforming the policy so that it enhances how the UN encourages the reporting of misconduct and protects whistle-blowers from retaliation and facilitates retaliation prevention.
Inner City Press: What do you think of their proposal of external arbitration? These are nine individuals who have all apparently had a pretty…
Spokesman Dujarric: Obviously, I'm not going to go into the details of the individual cases that were brought up, but I think the point is that we're always looking and we are… we're actively currently working on strengthening the protection. Obviously, any proposal would be looked at seriously.
For the UN transcript they looked up and added the name "Louise" before Otis - maybe because the whistleblowers'letter specifically asked Ban to "publicly release the external study of whistleblower protections at the UN conducted
by Justice Louise Otis" -- but no update on the report that was due more than sixteen months ago.
by Justice Louise Otis" -- but no update on the report that was due more than sixteen months ago.
Currently the UN Secretariat says doubts are being unfairly raised about, for example, its UN Joint Staff Pension Fund - but it refused again and again to answer even if Investment Committee chair Ivan Pictet had resigned.
More tellingly, the UN Secretariat has allowed an Under Secretary General to openly and repeatedly say that he won't and doesn't have to answer questions from specific media (video here, Vine here). After that, why would parts of the UN like the Pension Fund, or the constellation around whistleblower protection, feel a need to answer any question? But how it is working?
The whistleblower signatories included James Poole, Miranda Brown, Aicha Elbasri, James Wasserstrom, Vesna Dzuverovic, Cynthia Brzak, Rasna Warah, Nasr Ishak and Mahan Amarnath.
Back on May 21, 2013 Inner City Press asked the UN Office of the Spokesperson about protections for UN whistleblowers. Minutes after the (very short) noon briefing, Inner City Press was sent this response:
Subject: Re: Your question at the noon briefing
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Tue, May 21, 2013 at 12:27 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Tue, May 21, 2013 at 12:27 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
The UN Secretariat has engaged Justice Louise Otis of Canada to conduct an independent review of the Organization's protection against retaliation policy for the purpose of issuing recommendations to the Secretary-General to enhance policy effectiveness. Justice Otis is an expert in international administrative law, and formally served on the Redesign Panel on the United Nations Administration of Justice System.
Justice Otis' review is currently underway, and her final report is expected to be delivered to the Secretary-General later in the year.
Sixteen months after that deadline, nothing. Watch this site.
