UN Sex Harassment Case Appeal Seen Taking Years

UN Sex Harassment Case Appeal Seen Taking Years
01 Nov 2004 18:37:59 GMT
Source: Reuters

GENEVA, Nov 1 (Reuters) - A senior U.N staffer has appealed against Kofi Annan's decision to dismiss her sexual harassment accusations against refugee agency chief Ruud Lubbers, but the case could take years to conclude, her lawyer said on Monday.

The woman, a 51-year-old American, accused Lubbers earlier this year of groping her as she left a meeting at the agency's Geneva headquarters in late 2003.

But U.N. Secretary-General Annan, after ordering an internal investigation, concluded the allegations would not stand up in a court of law and announced in July that the case was closed.

The appeal was lodged on October 18, 10 days before part of the findings of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) were circulated in New York, showing the watchdog had supported the accusations and recommended "appropriate action."

Lawyer Edward Flaherty told Reuters the fact that Annan went against the conclusions of the U.N.'s own internal investigation strengthened the grounds for fighting the ruling.

But Lubbers, who denies any wrongdoing, said in New York on Friday that the OIOS report was "very weak." He added that the facts "could not be substantiated at all."

The appeal will be heard by the Geneva office of the U.N.'s Joint Appeals Board, a five-member tribunal made up of two representatives of U.N. employees, two from management and a chairman appointed by Annan.

But the board's backlog of work is such that it could be two to three years before any conclusion is reached and its findings can in their turn be referred to a higher U.N. tribunal.

"The internal U.N. system is in the Dark Ages. This could take four or five years," Flaherty said.

Lubbers, who was Dutch Prime Minister from 1982 to 1994, stands down as High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at the end of next year.

But that would not prevent the U.N. eventually agreeing to award damages to the woman, if she won on appeal, because it is the organisation that is the defendant in the case, not Lubbers, Flaherty added.