UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The resignation of U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers following allegations of sexual harassment comes at a critical time for the United Nations, itself reeling from accusations of sexual abuse by Congo peacekeepers and mismanagement and corruption related to the Iraq Oil-for-Food Program.
First off, the not unexpected demise Sunday of Lubbers, 65, who was the longest-serving prime minister in the Netherlands, came following a "long-planned" meeting Friday with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his 38th floor office at U.N. World Headquarters in New York and a later
, bizarre, lobby news conference by the high commissioner which then was followed by a terse statement from the secretary-general.
Coincidentally
, perhaps, London's The Independent Friday morning published the until-then secret findings of a U.N. investigation into the harassment allegations.
Lubbers said the harassment charges
, which he denied
, were among several problems he discussed with Annan. He said the topic was under discussion briefly.
"This of course was not pleasant for the secretary-general. He is not happy with this, of course
, so we spoke about that," Lubbers told reporters, saying that he told Annan that since the official report was leaked, then his (Lubbers') response also should be released.
Annan's two-sentence statement following the lobby encounter said, "While some other issues were discussed ... their main focus was Lubber's future in the organization" and that Annan "does not want to elaborate further."
According to The Independent's account of the initial incident with the woman, "She alleged Lubbers placed his hands on her waist, pulled her back towards him and pressed his groin into her at the end of a meeting with male colleagues in Geneva Dec. 18, 2003."
But no one could be found to corroborate the story from the alleged victim, since identified as a 51-year-old U.S. citizen.
She filed her complaint last spring and Annan was handed a 15-page report on the allegations by the Office of Internal Oversight Services this past summer.
"Lubbers did engage in unwanted physical contact with a subordinate female staff member," the OIOS report said, according to the newspaper. "New allegations that came to the OIOS's attention during the investigation were also examined and indicate a pattern of sexual harassment by Lubbers.
"OIOS is also of the view that Lubbers abused his authority by his intense, pervasive and intimidating attempts to influence the outcome of this investigation," The Independent continued, quoting the report.
The newspaper did not carry Lubbers' nine-page detailed response, which was released Tuesday by Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard
, saying it was "in the interest of fairness." Lubbers' account was backed up by a five-page legal defense from Dutch jurist Max van der Stoel.
Lubbers said he did not even recall touching the woman but offered it could have happened when she returned a borrowed pen or he ushered her through a doorway, placing his hand on the small of her back.
At the Friday encounter with reporters, Lubbers demonstrated, using a tall male reporter, what he thought could have been mistaken as sexual harassment, by placing his hand briefly on the burly reporter's back.
Asked if he had changed his ways, Lubbers, said, "I have become more cautious, but I must admit when I would see Mrs. (Nane) Annan tomorrow, who is a good friend, if she would visit me, I would lead her out of the room the same way that I did, but I am very cautious now with women that I do not know. But her I know and I will continue to be the gentleman that I was."
After the secretary-general studied the OIOS report and consulted legal experts, he concluded that since Lubbers denied the charge and neither the original accusation, nor four subsequent anonymous allegations could be corroborated
, there was no course of action prescribed.
However, Annan cautioned Lubbers on his behavior and sent a letter to UNHCR staffers assuring them of their right to report misdeeds without fear of retribution.
Sunday, the spokesman issued a statement which said Annan accepted Lubbers' resignation and thanked him "for the devotion and the commitment he has shown to refugees and the office of the high commissioner over the past four years.
"However, the secretary-general is convinced that it is in the best interest of the United Nations, UNHCR, its staff and the refugees it serves that the page be turned and a new chapter be started," said the statement from Eckhard.
"While the secretary-general had accepted legal advice that the original allegations made against Lubbers could not be substantiated, the continuing controversy has made the high commissioner's position impossible. He is therefore pleased that Lubbers has made this decision in the wider interest of UNHCR."
Asked whether Annan's new Chief of Staff Mark Malloch Brown played a role in Lubbers' resignation
, the spokesman said the secretary-general had struggled with this decision from the beginning.
Annan, Eckhard added
, is by nature not aggressive.
"He moved slowly and steadily to see that a situation that was increasingly painful for UNHCR was resolved in the interests of its staff," said the spokesman.
Asked when a replacement for Lubbers would be named, Eckhard said he could not predict, and added that the process would be transparent and rapid.
Following the appointment by Annan of Malloch Brown, still briefly holding his post as U.N. Development Program chief, the respected and long-serving Eckhard offered his own resignation the week before last and it was accepted last Friday, although he was expected to stay on a few more months.
The first one to leave after Malloch Brown's appointment as "chef de cabinet" was Annan's long trusted and well-liked special assistant Elisabeth Lindenmayer, who abruptly resigned effective immediately, without explanation.
