UN suspension of sexual abuse report whistleblower is unlawful, tribunal rules

Judge orders UN to lift suspension of Anders Kompass, who leaked internal UN report on alleged abuse of children by French troops in Central African Republic

A French soldier in Bangui in December 2013. Photograph: Andreea Campeanu/Reuters

Sandra Laville-Wednesday 6 May 2015

An appeal tribunal has ordered the United Nations to immediately lift the suspension of a whistleblower who disclosed the alleged sexual abuse of children by peacekeeping troops in Africa to the French authorities.

A judge said on Wednesday the decision to suspend Anders Kompass, the director of field operations for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, was “prima facie unlawful”. He ordered his employers in the UN to lift his suspension immediately to prevent further damage to his reputation.

The decision is a blow to senior UN officials who have repeatedly defended their treatment of Kompass, claiming he breached strict protocols about the passing on of confidential information to outside authorities.

Kompass leaked an internal UN report on the alleged sexual abuse of children by French troops in Central African Republic to French prosecutors last summer. The French immediately mounted an investigation and revealed last week they were investigating up to 14 soldiers for alleged abuse. The French authorities wrote to thank Kompass for passing on the internal report detailing the abuse, the Guardian has revealed.

In his statement to the UN dispute tribunal, published on Wednesday, Kompass stated that he informed his boss – the deputy high commissioner – last July that he had leaked the report in order for the French to mount an investigation. The UN disputes this.

Nine months later on 17 April this year, he was suspended by the high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, and put under investigation for leaking confidential information – including the names of victims and staff members who conducted the interviews with the children.

The confidential internal report leaked by Kompass contained interviews by a UN official and a member of Unicef with a number of children, aged between eight and 15, who say they were sexually abused at a camp for internally displaced people in Bangui, the capital of CAR, by French troops last year. The interim report identified about 10 children effected but the UN said it was possible many more children had been abused.

In his statement to the dispute tribunal, Kompass said he had suffered damage to his reputation as a result of the suspension and allegations being made against him by the UN.

His lawyers state: “The applicant [Kompass] has an unblemished employment record and his competence and integrity, which have never been questioned throughout his career, are cast into doubt by the contested decision; the publicity of the process resulting from him having been placed on administrative leave leads to an exacerbation of the reputational damage … each day the administrative leave continues.”

The order of the dispute tribunal on Wednesday means Kompass’s suspension will be lifted temporarily while an internal management review takes place into the handling of the case. Kompass was due to return to work in his office in Geneva on Wednesday afternoon.

In his judgment, the judge, Thomas Laker, said there were serious and reasonable doubts around the “substantive legality” of the decision. He said the tribunal had found it was “prima facie unlawful” to suspend Kompass and if the decision was not reversed the damage to his reputation could be irreparable.

Ian Richards, head of the staff union at the UN, said the treatment of Kompass could have lasting impact on the investigation of serious allegations of human rights abuses.

He said: “Some colleagues are worried now of passing on any information to the authorities in case the UN suspends them too.” He added that within the OHCHR rules on human rights monitoring there was an expectation that reports may be passed on to national prosecutors.

What was passed on would depend on the judgment of the human rights officer on how that information would be used. In the case of a prosecutor, Richards said, passing on the names of victims and details of allegations would be a way of providing useful information for the prosecutor to follow up.