(Washington, DC) – Earlier today, Transparency International UK’s Defence and Security Programme released a new report, Corruption & Peacekeeping: Strengthening Peacekeeping and the United Nations. Government Accountability Project (GAP) client and pioneer UN whistleblower James Wasserstrom is available to the media to comment on the report’s findings that need additional focus, and make recommendations about how the international body can take steps to achieve real accountability.

Wasserstrom made the following statement:

Transparency International has done a fine job in highlighting many of the issues of corruption in UN peacekeeping missions. This report is just the latest strong piece of evidence in a string that proves the United Nations lacks basic measures of real accountability in its peacekeeping missions and institutional headquarters, and continues to pay nothing more than lip service to transparency and accountability.

As one who has personally fought corruption in one such mission – the UN Mission in Kosovo – and paid the price for whistleblowing, I take an even firmer stance on the paramount issue of stemming wrongdoing in these critical tasks. The United Nations’ failure over decades to seriously address its own obvious and long-standing deficiencies in fighting internal corruption is absolutely unacceptable. The band-aid approach to solving problems, all superficial acts for public consumption or appeasement of the international community, fall well short of real progress that achieves real accountability for international taxpayers and the billions they have provided to this just cause.

Wasserstrom is available to comment to members of the media on the report. Please contact GAP Communications Director Dylan Blaylock at [email protected], 202.457.0034 ext 137 or 202.236.3733 to arrange a phone interview. Please note that Wasserstrom is based in Asia.

Background on Wasserstrom’s Case

From 2002-08, Wasserstrom served with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations as a senior official at UNMIK. In 2007, he alleged internal corruption involving UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative (SRSG) Joachim Ruecker, Principal Deputy SRSG Stephen Schook, and UNMIK Legal Advisor Alexander Borg-Olivier. After his whistleblowing came to light, he was detained by UNMIK police officers on trumped-up charges, his home and person were illegally searched, his photograph was posted on all UNMIK premises barring his entry, and the United Nations and UNMIK subjected him to criminal and administrative investigations.

In 2008, Mary Dorman, Wasserstrom’s attorney, filed a case against the Secretary General in the UN’s internal justice system. Specifically the complaint alleged that the UN Ethics Office, which has the responsibility to protect whistleblowers, and the Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which investigates claims of retaliation referred to it by the Ethics Office, failed in their responsibilities. In a June 2012 decision, the UN Dispute Tribunal agreed, calling his treatment “appalling.” In a decision issued in March 2013, the judge concluded that it is “difficult to envisage a worse case of insensitive, highhanded and arbitrary treatment in breach of the fundamental principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” However, the Tribunal awarded a paltry $65,000 in damages and costs, or 2% of the amount sought by Wasserstrom. This amount does not address the full consequences of retaliation experienced by Wasserstrom.

In April, GAP orchestrated a press conference for Wasserstrom in New York City, at which he announced he was sending a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry requesting the US government to withhold 15% of its funding to the United Nations in accordance with federal law requiring such if the organization fails to protect whistleblowers from retaliation. Later that month, the State Department said there would be no formal review.

After the Wasserstrom press conference, the Secretary-General announced a review of whistleblower protections at the United Nations. Although the announcement was a step forward, the Secretary-General’s appeal of Wasserstrom’s case in May shows that the organization is still reluctant to protect whistleblowers or to enforce decisions that vindicate them.

Contact: Dylan Blaylock, GAP Communications Director
Phone: 202.457.0034, ext. 137
Email: [email protected]

Government Accountability Project

The Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, GAP’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, GAP is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

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