[A2k] WIPO General Assembly 2007 document: Brief note on allegations against the Organization and its Director General

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.keionline.org/index.php?option=3Dcom_jd-wp&Itemid=3D39&p=3D81

WIPO General Assembly 2007 document: Brief note on allegations against
the Organization and its Director General

September 24th, 2007 by Thiru Balasubramaniam

The outgoing General Assembly Chair, Enrique Manalo (Ambassador,
Philippines) commenced the 43th session of the WIPO General Assembly at
10:23 AM (Central European Time). Ambassador Manalo highlighted the
success of Development Agenda negotiations as a hallmark of his tenure
as Chair over the course of 2 years.

It is a full house today with non-governmental organizations
sequestered into Room B. Given the political significance of the WIPO
General Assembly, many Ambassadors are here in person heading their
respective delegations. One advantage of watching the proceedings from
Room B is all speakers can be viewed under the sharp gaze of the WIPO
video cameras. The Director-General, Kamil Idris, sporting a
non-confrontational, blue =93ton sur ton=94 tie and shirt ensemble duly
congratulated Ambassador Manalo for his outstanding work over the
course of his 2 year term.

The Nigerian Ambassador, Martin Ilhoeghian Uhomoibhi was nominated by
acclamation after being nominated by Poland and seconded by the
Brazilian Ambassador Clodoaldo Hugueney and the US Ambassador Warren
Tichenor.

One interesting document handed out (but not yet available online on
the WIPO website) is a paper entitled =93Brief note on Allegations
against the Organization and its Director General=94 (A/43/INF/8)=94. It is
a 3 and a half page document with 22 paragraphs. Choice extracts are
included below.

Currently there is an impasse on the agenda. The African Group and Iran
want to delete item number 12 =93WIPO Internal Audit Report Number
IAOD/INV/2006/2 of November 2006, and Appropriate Follow-up Thereto=94
while the United States is insisting on its inclusion on the agenda as
the US maintains that =94 are allegations of violation of staff rules and
ethical rules that need to be addressed=94 within the Assembly. The Chair
(Uhomoibhi) has called for a recess meeting with group coordinators to
resolve this problem. Delegates, NGOS, industry lobbyists and
journalists are waiting in the corridors waiting to see how this drama
unfolds.

     A/43/INF/8

     1. The present note provides clarifications pertaining to a series
of reported allegations and rumors concerning the Organization and its
Director General. It is established at the request of a number of
Member States.

     2. Some are vesting relentless efforts in their attempts to
destabilize this Organization and derail it from the substantive issues
it is intended to pursue. This campaign started some three years ago.
Since that time, WIPO has had to face one enquiry after another=85

     9. =85.At that time, there were rumor circulating, including one
about the Directo General=92s non-existing swimming pool allegedly
financed by WIPO; a mysterious story of an unnamed, corrupt staff
member that the Director General is said to have protected; another
perplexing one about an employee on WIPO=92s payroll at the private
service of the Director General; and some others. The external
investigation report of Ernst & Young categorically stated that it
could not conclude that certain employees of WIPO and third parties
concerned committed fraud or dishonest acts.

     10. Nevertheless, the deliberate intention to harass the
Organization and its Director General remained on the agenda of a few.
This was conducted without distinction and even to the extent of
attempting to associate the Organization with the United Nations =93oil
for food=94 question.

     12. As regards the age of the Director General, he was born in 1954
and not in 1945=85

     14. The allegations that the Director General would have sought to
=93profit=94 from this error are unfounded=85

     15. As to the academic credentials of the Director General, in
order not to leave room for further doubt or speculation, the Director
General has obtained all the academic degrees he had declared to have
received at the time of his recruitment by WIPO and subsequently=85It is
very saddening that these credentials were in turn called into question
and indeed pointless when the facts are most easy to establish.

     22. Most recently, the Director General was informed that he had
apparently sent an envoy, from among WIPO staff, to approach Permanent
Missions in Geneva to advise them that he intended to step down by the
end of the year 2007. To date, the Director General is not aware of the
identity of this envoy, nor of the circumstances that led to this
misrepresentation.



---------------------------------
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