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On #MeToo, ICP Asked of UNFPA India, UN Claimed There's No Immunity, But UNFPA Cites It

By Matthew Russell Lee, Video here, doc here   / 17117970  

UNITED NATIONS, February 20 – UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says he has a "zero tolerance" policy for sexual harassment, and for retaliation. But his chief of "Global Communications" Alison Smale argued that all UN staff including victims should "speak with one voice" which several staff told Inner City Press they took to mean, Don't make the UN look bad. On February 20, Inner City Press asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric if the UN system would waive immunity in India where the head of the UN Population Fund UNFPA is accused of #MeToo-style sexual harassment. Dujarric repeatedly claimed that the UN is not citing immunity, video here. But this is contradicted by what UNFPA filed with India's foreign minister, here.   / 17117970  

So the UN is lying about its defenses to sexual harassment, right in its own UN Press Briefing Room from which it had Inner City Press removed for covering UN corruption. Today's UN is corrupt. February 19 Periscope video here, the UN transcript here and below. Haq said he would check with UNFPA - but the written answer he came back with was not given to Inner City Press or even read out at the February 20 briefing, until Inner City Press asked Haq's boss Stephane Dujarric about it, video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: in India, a consultant of UNFPA [United Nations Population Fund], Prashanti Tiwari, has asked that immunity be waived as to Diego Palacios, who she accuses of sexual harassment. Given statements that… and I was trying to figure out yesterday whether this "we don't cite immunity" statement by the UN only applies to peacekeeper sexual abuse or to sexual harassment alleged in this context? Is immunity going to be waived in this case? And if not, why not? Spokesman: I will… hold on a second. Let me see. I need better glasses. I have… I don't have the details of the case with me, but what I can tell you is that sexual abuse is a crime, and immunity is not there to protect people who commit crimes. And immunity… so it's not even a question that needs to be asked. It does not apply to crimes. Inner City Press: So if this person sues a UN official in court? Spokesman: I don't… I'm not going to talk to you about the specifics of a case that I don't have that much detail about, unless somebody provides… Inner City Press: But, I thought immunity exists unless you waive it, unless the UN chooses to waive it. Spokesman: No, immun… most… the vast majority of UN staff have functional immunity. If you commit a crime… to cover what they do for work. If you commit a crime, that is, by definition, not part of your function. UNFPA tells us that they're aware of some claims by a former employee of one of the Fund's contractors, an NGO [non-governmental organization] in Bihar, India. The person is not, and has never been, employed by UNFPA. Unless her claims… nevertheless, her claims will, like any others, be looked into according to UNFPA policies and procedures. Inner City Press: Right, but that doesn't answer the immunity question. Spokesman: I think I've answered it to the best of my ability. So, it does not… if you have functional immunity and you commit a crime, it is clearly not part of your function, so the issue of immunity does not arise." Then why does Ms. Tiwari have to ask her country's foreign minister? From the UN's February 19 transcript: Inner City Press: I'd wanted to ask you about UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) and India. There's a complaint to the Foreign Minister of the country by a contractor, Prashanti Tiwari, that the head of UNFPA in India, Diego Palacios, sexually harassed her. And they've asked the UN system, or they've asked India to ask the UN to waive immunity so that she can pursue these "Me Too"‑related charges. The not asserting of immunity, I'm not sure what it applied to. What's the UN's system response to a case like this? Spokesman: Well, we'll need to check with our UNFPA colleagues." Hours later, nothing. Meanwhile Inner City Press hears that UN staff in Vienna have sexual harassment issues to raise when Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has lunch with the Directors General of CTBTO, IAEA, UNIDO, UNOV and UNOOSA on February 20. We aim to have more on this.