FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON – The Government Accountability Project is concerned with the decision of the Dutch Government to award the 2018 Human Rights Tulip to outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on September 3 in The Hague. The Government Accountability Project’s concerns are based on Mr. Al Hussein’s ferocious retaliation against whistleblowers in his own office who sought to address human rights abuse.

First, staff members in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Anders Kompass and Miranda Brown disclosed the child sexual abuse and pedophilia perpetrated by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR) and the failure of the United Nations to respond effectively. This failure was in part attributed to Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein by an independent panel established by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to review the debacle.

Second, Emma Reilly disclosed that OHCHR provided the names of Chinese human rights defenders and dissidents to the Chinese Government ahead of Human Rights Council meetings. Ms. Reilly sought to stop the practice, arguing that names should be given to the government only after the dissidents were safely departed from the country; OHCHR was recklessly endangering these dissidents and subjecting them to potential detention. She has been subjected to ongoing retaliation since then, and the High Commissioner failed to act on her behalf, even as he publicly denied the practice she reported.

Third, in March 2018, it came to the Government Accountability Project’s attention that the spokesperson for Mr. Al Hussein had engaged in a concealed campaign of defamation and blacklisting against Anders Kompass and Miranda Brown for their disclosures about child sex abuse.

The Government Accountability Project has repeatedly called for Mr. Al Hussein to be placed under investigation for his systematic mistreatment and retaliation against whistleblowers.

The Government of the Netherlands’ decision to award Mr. Al Hussein the Human Rights Tulip, together with 100,000 euros in taxpayer funds, affects the OHCHR whistleblowers directly. As they sought to protect the human rights of others, their own human rights were violated by OHCHR under the direction of Mr. Al Hussein. By awarding Mr. Al Hussein with the Human Rights Tulip, the Dutch Government is implicitly sanctioning the retaliation and ongoing violation of UN whistleblowers’ human rights.

Government Accountability Project client and UN whistleblower Miranda Brown has requested formally that the Dutch Government refrain from proceeding until he resolves outstanding cases of retaliation against the publicly vindicated whistleblowers in his own office. The Government Accountability Project joins Miranda Brown in objecting to the Dutch Government’s decision to award the Tulip to Mr Al. Hussein.

Contact: Andrew Harman, Government Accountability Project Communications Director
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202-457-0034 ext. 156

Government Accountability Project

The Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, GAP’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, GAP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

###
Author:
Staff