UNICEF official in sexual harassment row

An informal government inquiry has found the India representative of UNICEF prima facie guilty of sexual harassment of a female colleague, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Oct 24, 2007, 01:00:42 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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An informal government inquiry has found the India representative of UNICEF prima facie guilty of sexual harassment of a female colleague.

Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury, whose ministry conducted the probe against Cecilio Adorna, has requested External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukerjee to withdraw diplomatic immunity against law given to the UN official.

Complainant Rema (name changed) worked in the Delhi office of UNICEF till December 31, 2006 -- till two months after she formally lodged a complaint against Adorna.

Her contract was terminated after an internal inquiry absolved Adorna of all charges. Ever since she has been fighting for justice.

UNICEF India office said the allegations against Adorna had been found false. "UNICEF responded in accordance with established procedures to the allegations made by a former staff member by sending a team of experienced investigators to India," a statement issued by UNICEF, in response to

questions, said on Tuesday. "The investigation was in full compliance with established United Nations and UNICEF procedures and included a detailed analysis of all available evidence, as well as interviews of witnesses. The evidence did not support the allegations raised by the former staff member."

Adorna is currently out of the country and was not available for comment. His term in India ends in December.

In September, an informal inquiry by former WCD secretary Deepa Jain Singh found evidence against Adorna. The inquiry was conducted after Rema met Chowdhury, complaining that the UNICEF probe did not follow procedure. She complained that the immunity clause for diplomats has saved Adorna from prosecution under Indian laws.

The inquiry was conducted after Rema met Chowdhury, complaining that UNICEF did not follow procedure. She said the immunity clause for diplomats saved Adorna from prosecution under Indian laws.

After the inquiry, Chowdhury wrote to Mukerjee: "After examining accounts of some of key eyewitnesses, we believe there is reasonable cause to establish that the petitioner has suffered sexual harassment and assault." The letter also said there were anomalies in the procedures adopted by UNICEF in the probe.

Chowdhury wrote there was lack of clarity on the immunity status of UN staff who commit any unlawful action in their "personal capacity". "We are very concerned that lack of action in such cases may be interpreted as endorsing the alleged misbehavior of diplomats." She urged Mukerjee to take up the case with UN. Mukerjee replied it was being examined by his ministry.

UNICEF maintained it has zero-tolerance policy in place.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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