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U.N. Wants Sexual Abuse Reported Immediately U.N. Wants Sexual Abuse Reported Immediately
(35 minutes later)
UNITED NATIONS — Stung by a scandal at the United Nations over its failure to promptly protect child victims of sexual abuse by peacekeepers, the organization’s top human rights official said Tuesday that he had ordered subordinates to inform him immediately when allegations of such abuse first arise.UNITED NATIONS — Stung by a scandal at the United Nations over its failure to promptly protect child victims of sexual abuse by peacekeepers, the organization’s top human rights official said Tuesday that he had ordered subordinates to inform him immediately when allegations of such abuse first arise.
The official, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the high commissioner for Human Rights, said his order applied to everyone down to the lowest-ranking field officers in his branch of the United Nations. It obliges them to jump the customary chain of command and communicate directly with him concerning instances of possible sexual abuse, even before all the facts are known.The official, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the high commissioner for Human Rights, said his order applied to everyone down to the lowest-ranking field officers in his branch of the United Nations. It obliges them to jump the customary chain of command and communicate directly with him concerning instances of possible sexual abuse, even before all the facts are known.
“They write straight to me,” Mr. Hussein said at the United Nations headquarters in New York. “Then the business of substantiating it, investigating it further, that can come, and I’m not going to interfere, but the thing is, I need to know right away.”“They write straight to me,” Mr. Hussein said at the United Nations headquarters in New York. “Then the business of substantiating it, investigating it further, that can come, and I’m not going to interfere, but the thing is, I need to know right away.”
Mr. Hussein said he did “not want to be in a situation where I read somewhere in the press, or I hear from another part of the U.N., that a human rights officer has begun to look into an allegation and I don’t know about it.”Mr. Hussein said he did “not want to be in a situation where I read somewhere in the press, or I hear from another part of the U.N., that a human rights officer has begun to look into an allegation and I don’t know about it.”
He spoke in an interview five days after an independent panel appointed this year by his boss, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, issued a scathing report over how the office for the high commissioner for human rights, along with other United Nations agencies, had failed to protect children after allegations of sexual abuse by French soldiers in the Central African Republic.He spoke in an interview five days after an independent panel appointed this year by his boss, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, issued a scathing report over how the office for the high commissioner for human rights, along with other United Nations agencies, had failed to protect children after allegations of sexual abuse by French soldiers in the Central African Republic.
Instead, the panel found that United Nations officials appeared more concerned with questioning the conduct of a senior staff member in the high commissioner’s Geneva office who had leaked a confidential report about the allegations to the French government in July 2014.Instead, the panel found that United Nations officials appeared more concerned with questioning the conduct of a senior staff member in the high commissioner’s Geneva office who had leaked a confidential report about the allegations to the French government in July 2014.
That senior staff member, Anders Kompass, the director of field operations, was suspended later by Mr. Hussein, who said Mr. Kompass had violated protocols because the confidential report had contained the names of victims. The episode gained widespread attention in April when details were leaked to The Guardian and the French authorities confirmed they were investigating the allegations. Mr. Kompass was restored to his post. That senior staff member, Anders Kompass, director of field operations, was suspended later by Mr. Hussein, who said Mr. Kompass had violated protocols because the confidential report included the names of victims. The episode gained widespread attention in April when details were leaked to The Guardian and the French authorities confirmed they were investigating the allegations. Mr. Kompass was restored to his post.
The independent panel exonerated Mr. Kompass of improper behavior.The independent panel exonerated Mr. Kompass of improper behavior.
Mr. Hussein, a Jordanian prince with two decades of United Nations diplomatic experience who was chosen for the top human rights job last year, has acknowledged shortcomings in the organization’s accountability system that were pointed out by the independent panel’s 111-page report. “It’s quite clear that the report entrusts much of the fixing of this problem to the O.H.C.H.R.,” he said in the interview, referring to his office’s initials. Mr. Hussein, a Jordanian prince who was chosen for the top human rights job last year, has acknowledged shortcomings in the organization’s accountability system that were pointed out by the panel’s 111-page report. “It’s quite clear that the report entrusts much of the fixing of this problem to the O.H.C.H.R.,” he said in the interview, referring to his office’s initials.
But he also said he had no intention of resigning over the scandal, just one of many challenges he is confronting in a chronically underfunded agency. He also said he had “no animus” toward Mr. Kompass, who remains a close working colleague. Efforts to reach Mr. Kompass for comment were not immediately successful. But he also said he did not intend to resign over the scandal. He also said he had “no animus” toward Mr. Kompass, who remains a close working colleague. Efforts to reach Mr. Kompass for comment were not immediately successful.
“I felt at the time that he did the right thing wrongly, in effect,” Mr. Hussein said.“I felt at the time that he did the right thing wrongly, in effect,” Mr. Hussein said.