Posted on 10/29/2004 10:43:26 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. watchdog revised its annual report to state that its investigation supported a sexual harassment allegation from an employee made against U.N. refugee chief Ruud Lubbers, a conclusion the secretary-general later rejected.
The revised report from the Office of Internal Oversight Services, which was circulated Thursday, revealed for the first time that U.N. investigators not only supported the allegation but recommended that "appropriate actions" be taken.
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard, pressed on why Secretary-General Kofi Annan rejected the investigators' recommendation, said Annan "sought legal advice and on the basis of that advice he concluded that the allegations were not sustainable."
"He did not say there was no evidence," Eckhard said. "He said he found the charges unsustainable on a legal basis."
The U.N. watchdog said it investigated reports from a female staff member at the U.N. High Commission for Refugees who alleged she was sexually harassed by the high commissioner and subsequently on two occasions by a senior manager at the refugee agency who was not identified.
The original report said only that U.N. investigators "submitted a report to the secretary-general on the allegations." The revised version said the watchdog "submitted a report to the secretary-general supporting the allegations and recommended that appropriate actions be taken accordingly."
A note on the revised report said it was "reissued for technical reasons."
Eckhard said "nothing should be read into the wording" that was changed, saying it was "perfectly normal," especially in lengthy documents like the watchdog's 54-page report.
In mid-July, Annan rejected the sexual harassment allegation against Lubbers, a former Dutch prime minister, but raised strong concerns about the incident and possible attempts to influence the investigation.
However, Annan said in a letter to staff of the Office of the U.N. High Commission for Refugees that he had written to Lubbers "conveying in the strongest terms my concerns about the incident which gave rise to the complaint."
He also sent Undersecretary-General for Management Catherine Bertini to Geneva to consult Lubbers and the agency's management on ways to "rebuild mutual trust and confidence."
Lubbers said in a statement in early May that the case was filed on April 27 and related to a meeting that took place in his office on December 18, 2003, that was also attended by five other staff members.
He acknowledged making "a friendly gesture," which he said was misunderstood by the woman. "There was no improper behavior on my part," he said.
The 51-year-old woman who made the complaint has been described as a senior American staffer who had worked for the refugee agency for about 20 years.
Lubbers, 65, was appointed to head the refugee agency by the U.N. General Assembly in 2000. His original three-year term was extended last year and now runs until Dec. 31, 2005.
Bubba would fit right in at the UN. ;-)
Let's get this over with, finally. Start drilling the holes in the structure for the explosives, issue the deadline for these losers to get off of our soil, set the charges with the timers, and let's all get some popcorn.
Well, I can dream.
Should we use HMX or RDX ? ;-)
The guy's name is "Ruud Lubbers"... for that alone they should lock him up and throw away the key.
Is Kofi a lawyer?
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