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UN appeals ruling in favor of whistleblower
The United Nations is appealing a U
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he United Nations is appealing a U.N. tribunal's ruling in favor of a whistleblower who accused senior colleagues of retaliating after he alleged corruption in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.
Last week, representatives of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon filed an appeal challenging the finding by the U.N. Dispute Tribunal and the $65,000 award to James Wasserstrom, an American who was the lead anti-corruption officer at the Kosovo Mission in 2007.
Wasserstrom said that in appealing the tribunal's judgment "the secretary-general made it clear that he not only condones retaliation, but also engages in it himself."
"None of the U.N. officials who retaliated against me ' acts which the U.N.'s own judge described as 'egregious' and 'appalling' ' have ever suffered any consequences," he said.
U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey, asked for a response, said Friday: "We're not going to comment on anything that's under appeal."
Wasserstrom says that when senior colleagues found out that he was collaborating with the U.N.'s internal watchdog on an investigation of misconduct and corruption involving three top U.N. officials in the Kosovo mission as well as officials in the Kosovo government with a potential payoff of $500 million, they took "drastic retaliatory action." He said his office was closed, his post abolished, his home searched without a warrant, his property was seized and "Wanted" style posters were posted at the gates of all U.N. buildings to restrict his entry.
False charges were also made against him, leading to a Kosovo criminal investigation which ended quickly with no charges and a U.N. administrative investigation which cleared him of wrongdoing, Wasserstrom said.
In June 2007, Wasserstrom said he sought whistleblower protection from the U.N. Ethics Office, which commissioned a full investigation by the Office for Internal Oversight Services. The agency called the actions against him "extreme" and "disproportionate" but found no evidence of retaliation. As a result, he said, his whistleblower protection ended in April 2008, and seven months later he was terminated, ending a 28-year U.N. career two years before retirement.
Wasserstrom then went to the U.N.'s Dispute Tribunal which upheld his complaint, ruling that he was subjected to "wholly unacceptable treatment" and "appalling" acts in violation of the rule of law and human rights. The judge ordered a hearing on damages and Wasserstrom asked for $2.2 million for losses in wages, benefits and pension as well as mental distress, defamation, damage to his professional reputation and violations of his rights.
In a March 15 decision, Wasserstrom was awarded $65,000. Last week, his attorney filed an appeal claiming the amount was insufficient.
After the damage award was announced, Wasserstrom, now a senior anti-corruption adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry asking the U.S. government to withhold 15 percent of its payments to the United Nations. According to the U.S. Mission, the U.S. assessments for 2013 are $618.9 million for the regular U.N. budget and $997.9 million for the peacekeeping budget.
