UN Refugee Chief Dismisses Report by UN Watchdog Supporting Sex Harassment Allegation Against Him

UN Refugee Chief Dismisses Report by UN Watchdog Supporting Sex Harassment Allegation Against Him
EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer
Friday, October 29, 2004
(10-29) 20:32 PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) --

U.N. refugee chief Ruud Lubbers insisted Friday the secretary-general found no evidence he sexually harassed an American woman in his agency and dismissed a report by U.N. investigators supporting the allegation.

The Office of Internal Oversight Services, the U.N. watchdog, disclosed Thursday that its investigation supported an allegation of sexual harassment against Lubbers, but Secretary-General Kofi Annan later rejected that conclusion on grounds it could not be sustained by the evidence.

"The report was miserable. It was not well-founded by OIOS," Lubbers told The Associated Press, using the initials of the U.N. watchdog.

The revised annual report of the U.N. oversight agency circulated Thursday revealed for the first time that U.N. investigators supported the allegation by the 51-year-old woman, who had worked for the agency for about 20 years, and recommended that "appropriate actions" be taken.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard, pressed Thursday on why Annan rejected the investigators' recommendation, said the secretary-general "sought legal advice and on the basis of that advice he concluded that the allegations were not sustainable."

"He did not say there was no evidence," Eckhard said. "He said he found the charges unsustainable on a legal basis."

When this statement by Eckhard was put to Lubbers, the refugee chief shot back saying: "Fred Eckhard is wrong. There was no evidence that was concluded by the secretary-general. It's as simple as that."

Eckhard declined to respond.

Lubbers, a former Dutch prime minister, spoke to the AP outside a meeting chaired by Annan for senior U.N. staff.

In July, Annan rejected the sexual harassment allegation against Lubbers but raised strong concerns about the incident and possible attempts to influence the investigation.

The secretary-general said in a letter to staff of the Office of the U.N. High Commission for Refugees that he wrote to Lubbers "conveying in the strongest terms my concerns about the incident which gave rise to the complaint."

He also sent Undersecretary-General for Management Catherine Bertini to Geneva to consult Lubbers and the agency's management on ways to "rebuild mutual trust and confidence."

Lubbers said in a statement in May that the case was filed April 27 and related to a Dec. 18, 2003, meeting in his office that also was attended by five other staff members.

He acknowledged making "a friendly gesture," which he said was misunderstood by the woman.

"There was no improper behavior on my part," he said.

The woman who made the complaint has been described as a senior American staffer.

Lubbers, 65, was appointed to head the refugee agency by the U.N. General Assembly in 2000. His original three-year term was extended last year and now runs until Dec. 31, 2005.

Lubbers was the longest-serving postwar premier of the Netherlands, serving from 1982 until he retired from politics in 1994. He is married and has three children.