U.N. Preparing to Punish Whistleblower

Geopolitical Review ^

[Barlow Hearst]

The saga of former United Nations intelligence analyst turned whistleblower William Church is far from over. There is evidence to suggest the UN is preparing to penalize Mr. Church for exposing faults with U.N. intelligence reports in the Congo, as evidenced by information provided to GPR by Church and U.N. Security Council Committee Resolution 1533:

The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) of 12 March 2004, was recently made aware of the existence of allegations pertaining to the work of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Committee noted with concern that these allegations appear to have been circulated in breach of contractual undertakings on confidentiality and with complete disregard for the security and safety of those involved with the work of the Group of Experts, undermining future investigations by the Group.

The Committee thoroughly examined these allegations, which called into question the methodology of investigation and some of the findings of the Group of Experts. The Committee also carefully considered the response of the Group of Experts.

So what sort of retribution might the U.N. have in store for Church? The mention of "breach of contractual undertakings" in the above resolution suggests the U.N. might pursue a simple breach of contract claim. Church portrays his situation more bleakly, stating to GPR that the U.N. is preparing to "sanction me with very severe penalties." It is unclear at this point what remedies are available to the U.N. given current international law, but you can be sure all options will be evaluated to avoid other potential whistleblowers in the organization.

Looks like background info on this story can be found in an older BBC article: UN 'misled' over DR Congo crisis.

[tiamat]

This guy should be covered.

What is Coffee gonna do anyway?

Bend his dog-tags and take away his Birthday?

[Barlow Hearst]

Given recent U.N. military operations in the region (now apparently based on false intelligence), Kofi's got himself his own illegal war!

[snarks_when_bored]

The "Group of Experts"? Reminds me of the "Gang of Four". The person in charge of naming study groups (the "Namer of Study Groups"?) is perhaps nostalgic for that old-time authoritarianism...

[mcar]

This would be the "first" employee that they ever punished;
figures...

[kcar]

Yeah, they give diplomatic immunity to anyone in their circle. They don't think genocide is genocide. But for those irritating whistle-blowers, their ire is righteous and unconsolable.

[wchurch]

This is William Church.
My punishment will be in violation of the Arms Embargo and hindering a UN investigation. This will be serious. It is not a joke. They can and most probably will place a travel ban on me, freeze my financial assets, etc etc.
this is all being done without a hearing or due process
Let me be clear the Sanctions committee met in secret asked the Experts that I disputed their findings if I was wrong then people I accused said I was wrong and then found me guilty.
I was not allowed to be present. I was not allowed to present evidence. I was not allowed to call witnesses.
I was not allowed to cross examine anyone.

I have written to the Secretary General and he has not even responded.
I need help.
By the way, the head of Intel in Congo UN has expressed support for me
Another consultant on the Panel said he agrees with many of my charges and will testify if called but they will not call him
An independent researcher for the Small Arms Survey in Geneva investigated and agreed with me I have reviewed the charges with other governments and they agree
I notified the Sanctions Committee two months prior to publication that the information was wrong and they still published it
This was a moral decision
There are things you can not just walk away from

[tiamat]

I note your sign up date of 12 May. I can't tell if you are genuine or not.

If you actually ARE William Church, I trust you have already lawyered up.

Any assets you have left, you need to be dispersing to people you can trust.

You need to be screaming your head off to the media.

If you are real, I wish you Luck.

[wchurch]

Iam the real one
here is my email wchurch@sms.intranets.com

Lawyers will not help here. Oddly, there is no court that has jurisdication on the UN. Now you know why George Bush says what he says. The only court that counts is the court of public opinion and asking the US Ambassador to the UN to help. All I am asking for is a fair hearing to present the evidence. That is all. I have always said that due process has been denied to the countries and it is time that the UN follows the most basic principles of transparency and due process.
You can help by contacting your senator representative or anyone and having them shed light on this situation. It has been well covered in Africa but except for Mark Doycle the western press has ignored this.

Yes I have gone to them all CNN, Washington Post, New York Times. They called the UN and the UN slandered me and they backed off. So much for investigative journalism. So much for the UN being a moral light in the world.

articles
http://allafrica.com/stories/200505091073.html

http://allafrica.com/stories/200505040129.html

Circulate these. We need to be asking why the United Nations is afraid of transparency and due process. Why the hold secret courts and find people and nations guilty without due process.

[wchurch]

this is William Church again I adding something to my last email to clarify.

I need to clarify that I am not anti United Nations
I believe we need a United Nations
But I am anti any organization or government that believes that their charter includes naming and shaming in public without proper evidence and without due process and transparency. Sanctions when wrongly applied hurt countries by denying them of aid for development. In this case, Rwanda's aid was in jeoporady and they have consistently denied these charges without the UN ever responding.
I am asking for an open and fair hearing.