[A2k] IP-Watch: Investigation Finds WIPO Head Repeatedly Misreported His Age

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D543&res=3D1024_ff&print=3D0

20/2/2007

Investigation Finds WIPO Head Repeatedly Misreported His Age

By William New

Over the past 24 years, World Intellectual Property Organization
Director General Kamil Idris repeatedly signed official documents
showing his birth date to be nine years earlier than it is, and may
have moved up the ranks at WIPO based on the error, according to the
report of an independent internal WIPO investigation.

At least 12 official UN travel and identification documents issued for,
and signed by, Idris since 1983 showed his birth date as 26 August
1945, according a copy of the confidential report obtained by
Intellectual Property Watch. But Idris moved last year to change WIPO
records to show he was actually born on 26 August 1954.

The report was prepared by the WIPO Internal Audit and Oversight
Division at the request of the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit in
June 2006, after press reports that Idris=92 age had been changed in the
UN system. The report was dated 29 November and signed by Marco
Pautasso, senior internal auditor and acting director of the division.
It is unclear what, if any, action WIPO member states may take as a
result of this report, according to government sources.

WIPO declined to comment for this story.

The series of erroneous dates began with Idris=92 1982 application for a
position at WIPO, the report said. On Idris=92 request, WIPO=92s records
were changed in early 2006, on the grounds that a typographical error
had been made. But despite assertions by WIPO that Idris would lose
significant pension by fixing the error, the report found the
possibility that he could stand to gain from the correction.

Idris joined WIPO in 1982 at a relatively senior P4 level of the UN
system, in a post that required 10 years of experience. The report of
the Internal Audit and Oversight Division found that the application
form stated that Idris=92 age in the 1982 application was recorded as 26
August 1945. It stated that he held part-time and full-time posts at
the national level from 1967-1970. If born in 1954, he would have been
aged 13 to 16, the report noted.

Two competitors for Idris=92 first job were both 37 years old (one
short-listed for the job), and the transposed date put Idris at 37
years old also instead of 28 years old. The panel considering
candidates at the time stated that all three candidates were 37 years
old.

=93Had Mr. Idris=92s 1954 birth date been taken into account, he would have
been nine years younger, i.e. 28 years old,=94 the report said. =93As such
he would not have fulfilled the general requirement of 10 years of
professional experience for a P4 post and, being considerably younger,
would have appeared as having considerably less experience,
particularly at the international level, than the other short listed
candidate.=94

 From the first WIPO job, Idris moved up the organisation ranks to
director general on 1 December 1997, with re-election in 2003 until
2009. The report suggests that Idris might have had a harder time
reaching the next levels if his unusually young age had been known.

Idris told investigators that he was told by the preceding director
general that the issue was of low importance, and indicated that he
perpetuated it for =93consistency.=94 He also appeared to indicate that
questions about his age differences were part of an attack intended to
discredit him, the report said.

Would Idris Gain From Age Change?

Questions were raised last year as to whether Idris would gain in his
retirement from correcting the age after so much time, but WIPO issued
an email to all WIPO employees, and informed media, that the change
=93will result in a considerable financial reduction in the pension of
the director general,=94 according to the report. WIPO added that it
would not, contrary to reports, result in an extension of the duration
of his appointment as director general. That process is decided by
member states and the director general post has no age limit, the WIPO
secretariat said, according to the report.

The report agreed with the secretariat=92s calculation of a reduction in
pension, but speculated on ways that the reduction could be made up.
For instance, if Idris found a way to stay in the employ of WIPO or
elsewhere in the UN system for five years after his current term ends
in 2009. It also could be partially compensated by a termination
indemnity payment if he left for some reason, such as health or
unsatisfactory conduct, before 2009.

The report also noted a clause proposed to the June 2006 WIPO
Coordination Committee which would have provided an indemnity to
permanent staff who because of political appointments in the
organisation complete their term before the age of retirement. The
clause was withdrawn at the start of the meeting by the director
general, the report said.

Finally, the report said that Idris=92 wife and children gained Swiss
nationality in February 2004, and said that if he also wanted Swiss
nationality, he would have to change his birthdate to align all his
documents.

Separately, another possible inconsistency is a third variation of
Idris=92 birthdate which occurred at the University of Ohio, where Idris
received a Master of Arts degree, which had his birthdate recorded as
26 August 1953.

Idris=92 1982 job application states employment in the Sudanese Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in 1977 to 1978, at the same time he was studying at
University of Ohio (US). According to the report, Idris explained that
during this time he studied at Ohio University for about one year and
also had short assignments in Khartoum. In later CVs for Idris, these
work dates were changed, the report added.

Oddly, Idris acknowledged using two different signatures for documents
containing the 1945 birthdate and those with the 1954 date, such as his
Swiss driver=92s licenses, according to the report.

UN rules explicitly state the duty of employees to abide by principles
of integrity, and to notify =93promptly=94 any change which might affect
their status and entitlements under staff regulations, the report said.

William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.

---------------------------------
Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru@keionline.org