User:Joel Mc/RL

Sexual Harassment Complaint

In May 2004, Mr. Lubbers was accused by Cynthia Brzak, an American UNHCR employee, of sexual harassment following a meeting in his office that was attended by two other UNHCR staff members. The complaint was reported in the media, prompting Mr. Lubbers to inform UNHCR staff about the accusation. On this occasion, he denied any wrongdoing and rejected the allegation against him. On 2 June 2004, the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) which was tasked with investigating the accusation, sent its report to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. In its public annual report to the UN secretary general (presented to the UN General Assembly), the OIOS reported concerning the case that it had “submitted a report to the Secretary-General supporting the allegations and recommended that appropriate actions be taken accordingly.”

The OIOS report criticised

Mr. Lubbers responded to the OIOS report in a letter (a)setting out to deny acts of sexual harassment or abuse took place; (b) to establish that such evidence of the alleged misconduct as is said to exist is insufficient and flawed; and (c) to conclude that the report itself would appear to be based on an irregular statutory basis and also flawed by errors of law and reasoning."

Mr. Lubbers asked Max van der Stoel, former high commissioner for minorities, to comment on the confidential report. He concluded that: "the OIOS report is deficient in objectivity and impartiality." He added “that the only two other persons in the room did not provide evidence confirmíng the version given by the complainant.” Furthermore he accused UN officials of leaking information to the press and recommended that an investigation of the leaks be undertaken.

Complaint "not substantiated

The Secretary-General reviewed the report and the responses of the High Commissioner and the senior manager to the report, and decided that the complaint could not be substantiated by the evidence and therefore closed the matter." He is also reported to have consulted with Stephen Schwebel, an American judge and former President of the Internationa Court of Justice.

Resignation

However, in February 2005, the case was in the news again when the British daily the Independent obtained a copy of the OIOS report and published its contents. Inter alia, the report stated that:

the allegation against Mr. Lubbers is substantiated in that Mr. Lubbers did engage in unwanted physical contact with the complainant, a subordinate female staff member. New allegations that came to OIOS’ attention during the investigation, were also examined and indicate a pattern of sexual harassment by Mr. Lubbers, OIOS is also of the view that Mr. Lubbers abused his authority as High Commissioner by his intense, pervasive and intimidating attempts to influence the outcome of this Investigation.

Mr. Lubbers met with the Secretary-General on 18 February 2005, and resigned as High Commissioner on Sunday, 20 February 2005, stating to the press: "For more than four years I gave all my energy to UNHCR. To be frank, despite all my loyalty, insult has now been added to injury and therefore I resign as high commissioner." The UN secretary general's office issued a statement the same day which stated, that the High Commissioner's resignation was in the best interests of theUNHCR. In his letter of resignation, Mr. Lubbers stated that his resignation constituted no expression of guilt, but that he had become the victim of smearing, adding that he had resigned “in the interest of the organisation”. In October 2005 Kofi Annan reiterated that he had come to the conclusion that "the evidence did not support the accusation" but that because of ongoing media-pressure Mr. Lubber's resignation was in the best interests of the UNHCR.In a letter to UNHCR staff, Kofi Annan wrote, “My decision to accept his resignation should not be interpreted as a finding of guilt”.

During a farewell meeting for Mr. Lubbers as High Commissioner for Refugees he received from Acting High Commissioner Wendy Chamberlin the first annual UNHCR Achievement Award for exceptional services to UNHCR and for the world’s refugees.

Netherlands Prime Minister Balkenende in a formal statement called the departure of Mr. Lubbers “bitter” since the complaint against him had been dismissed as unsustainable.

After having filed a formal appeal against the decision of Kofi Annan to close the case against Mr. Lubbers within the UN’s internal justice system in October 2004, the complainant voluntarily withdrew her appeal shortly after its filing. Notwithstanding the withdrawal, the complainant and a colleague petitioned the United States Supreme Court and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in May 2006. In addition to Mr. Lubbers, the 2006 complaint named the United Nations, former Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Wendy Chamberlin as defendants, accusing them of sexual harassment and/or retaliation. The Supreme Court dismissed the case outright. The District Court invited the UN Office of Legal Affairs to submit its views on the threshold question of the defendants’ immunity from suit, on which a hearing was held in New York on 31 October 2007