UN Elections Chief Charged with Breaking Rules
August 18, 2005
The New York Times
Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-un-perelli.html?pagewanted=print
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. elections unit has been charged with violating U.N. staff rules following accusations she made unwanted advances toward a male employee and created a sexually charged workplace, the United Nations said on Thursday.
The U.N. human resources office gave Carina Perelli, the highly praised Uruguayan director of the Electoral Assistance Division, a letter setting out the charges against her on August 4, U.N. chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
``The charges relate to management and harassment issues'' and do not involve any allegations of financial misconduct, Dujarric told reporters.
Perelli faces disciplinary action ranging from a reprimand to dismissal -- or no action at all, depending on her written response to the charges, which were due on Thursday but would not be made public, he said.
A report prepared earlier this year by Swiss consulting firm Mannet S.A.R.L. said election unit staff had accused her of sexual and workplace harassment and mismanagement.
The report also said her division may have misused money for travel expenses, particularly to Latin America, for an ''inner circle'' of staff members.
``The work environment within the division is considered offensive by many of those interviewed and has contributed to emotional harm,'' the report said.
The review was ordered after complaints about the unit's operations surfaced during a 2003 staff retreat.
The allegations were more bad news for Secretary-General Kofi Annan as the United Nations faced findings of impropriety and mismanagement in the $67 billion oil-for-food program for Iraq and sexual abuses by U.N. peacekeepers.
Perelli, known at the world body as a rising star with an outspoken manner, has helped stage difficult elections in Iraq and Afghanistan and her unit is now involved in planning a constitutional referendum in Iraq.
But staff turnover has been high in the unit of 13 professionals she has run for nine years.