- 7.20, "Departing UN official calls Ban's leadership 'deplorable' in 50-page memo," Washington Post by Colum Lynch
- Outgoing chief auditor resigns after 5 years; dozens of posts remain unfilled in UN investigations unit
- undermining her efforts and leading the global institution into an era of decline, according to a confidential end-of-assignment report.
- the Office of Internal Oversight Services, represents an extraordinary personal attack on Ban from a senior U.N. official.
Shortly after taking office in 2007, Ban committed himself to restoring the United Nations' reputation, which had been sullied by
- revelations of corruption in the agency's oil-for-food program in Iraq.
But Ahlenius says that, rather than being an advocate for accountability, Ban, along with his top advisers, has systematically sought to undercut the independence of her office, initially by
- trying to set up a competing investigations unit under his control and then by thwarting her efforts to hire her own staff.
"Your actions are not only deplorable, but seriously reprehensible. . . . Your action is without precedent and in my opinion seriously embarrassing for yourself," Ahlenius wrote in the 50-page memo to Ban, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. "I regret to say that the secretariat now is in a process of decay."...
- The departure of Ahlenius, 72, coincides with a period of crisis in the United Nations' internal investigations division.
During the past two years, the world body has shed some of its top investigators.
- It has also failed to fill dozens of vacancies, including that of the chief of the investigations division in the Office of Internal Oversight Services.
That post has been vacant since 2006, leaving a void in the United Nations' ability to police itself, diplomats say."...
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- "A specific criticism related to Ban’s alleged blocking of the appointment of an American, former assistant U.S. attorney in Connecticut Robert Appleton, as head of the OIOS’s crucial Investigations Division (ID).
- resulting in numerous sanctions and prosecutions for fraud, corruption, money laundering and other offenses.
- list of candidates contained no women, and only Americans – a violation of
- U.N. rules on geographic and gender diversity.
- (Appleton’s application was also reportedly opposed by Russia, whose nationals were implicated in the task force’s investigations.
- Russia furthermore played a key role in ensuring that the task force’s mandate was not extended.)
- It remains empty today, and now with Ahlenius’ departure, the top OIOS position is also vacant. The U.N. General Assembly seven months ago passed a resolution urging Ban to ensure Ahlenius’ successor was chosen by the time her tenure ended...
- the secretary-general as weak and lacking in authority and charisma, and characterized his handling of crises in Sri Lanka and Burma as a failure."...
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