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| Kofi Annon Fires Top UN Elections Chief 10 Days Before Iraqi Elections | |
| 2005-12-07 | |
| The United Nations fired its highly regarded electoral chief Tuesday, just 10 days before Iraq's election by Kofi Annon. Carina Perelli was considered a rising star within the UN for her successful monitoring of elections in dangerous places such as Afghanistan and Iraq. MORE: The United Nations' top elections official, Carina Perelli, was fired Tuesday after complaints that she sexually harassed subordinates and presided over a department that permitted such abuses to flourish, senior U.N. officials said. Perelli, 48, was notified by letter Tuesday morning that she was "summarily dismissed" without pay for engaging in "sexual and professional harassment" of her staff. U.N. officials changed the lock in her office, froze her e-mail account and barred her from entering the U.N. headquarters without special permission and an escort. The United Nations has never publicly detailed specific charges against the Uruguayan election expert. But the U.N.'s chief spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said they include "allegations of harassment, including sexual harassment and abuse of authority." He said the U.N. feels "very strongly" about their veracity. "Otherwise we wouldn't have gone ahead with the case." Perelli denied harassing her workers in an interview Monday and vowed to challenge the decision through the U.N.'s appeals process. "We're going to fight this one, we're going to appeal," Perelli said. She said her lawyers are also considering filing a lawsuit against the United Nations. Perelli said that the United Nations has denied her due process and that the allegations -- which are contained in a confidential report by the U.N.'s personnel department -- were vague and unsubstantiated. Perelli said that no staff member filed a formal harassment complaint against her and that the United Nations has never conducted a formal investigation to test whether the allegations are true. The timing of the decision, coming about one week before the Iraqi election, was criticized Monday by John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who said nothing should be done to disrupt Iraq's Dec. 15 election. "Why make a decision 10 days before the election in Iraq?" Bolton asked. "If you're going to make a decision, make it at an appropriate point." Perelli had been lauded for her work as the U.N.'s election chief, overseeing successful elections in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Palestinian territories. President Bush has singled out Perelli for her role in preparing Iraqi elections. Perelli said that some members of the Iraq election unit are "in disarray right now. I hope that they can pull through it. I'm going to be cheering for them. But obviously, the timing (of the dismissal) is not the best suited to contribute to their work." Dujarric said that the action would have no impact on Iraq's election. He said that another U.N. electoral official, Craig Jenness of Canada, has been overseeing the U.N.'s role in the elections since Oct. 23. "He is the lead person for the U.N. on the Iraqi elections," Dujarric said.
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| Posted by:RG |
| #5 She was locked out of her office on Tuesday. As well as her email taken from her. What did they do, call her on her cell? |
| Posted by: RG 2005-12-07 23:22 |
| #4 I wouldn't jump to her defense too quickly. From WaPo: The United Nations' top elections official, Carina Perelli, sharply criticized U.S. military forces in Iraq Wednesday for distributing material urging Iraqis to vote in the country's elections Sunday. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-12-07 23:20 |
| #3 We had this last week as a "she's about to be fired" story. Now she has been. The timing is rather interesting, isn't it? |
| Posted by: Steve White 2005-12-07 21:21 |
| #2 She was good in Afghanistan and would probably have signed off on the Iraqi elections coming up. I suspect more than one UN leader - not to mention other leaders - don't want this election to be seen as legitimate. |
| Posted by: lotp 2005-12-07 19:10 |
| #1 OK, let me see if I understand UN "morals": o Rape children, force women into sex-for-food trades: OK, they'll even cover it up for you. o Make inappropriate comments at the office, with no one complaining: YOU'RE OUT!!! |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-12-07 19:07 |