[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 91 (Tuesday, June 6, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1155-E1156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 THE UNITED NATIONS' INSPECTOR GENERAL

                                 ______


                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 6, 1995
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, many Members have been concerned about 
improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the United Nations. That 
concern was reflected in section 401 of the Foreign Relations 
Authorization Act for fiscal years 1994 and 1995 (Public Law 103-236). 
In that law, the Congress withheld significant funds from the U.S. 
contribution for the United Nations until the United Nations 
established an independent office of inspector general.
  The Office of Internal Oversight Services was established by the 
United Nations in the fall of 1994. The first report of that office was 
issued recently. On May 5, I wrote to U.N. Secretary-General Boutros 
Boutros-Ghali raising my concerns about this report. I would ask that 
my letter, his reply, and the reply of Mr. Karl Paschke, the Under-
Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, be included in the 
Record.
                                                     May 18, 1995.
     Mr. Lee H. Hamilton,
     Ranking Democratic Member, Congress of the United States, 
         Committee on International Relations, House of 
         Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Hamilton: Thank you for your letter of May 5, 1995 
     with reference to the MINURSO report issued on April 5, by 
     the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services 
     (OIOS).
       I immediately transmitted your remarks about the report to 
     Under-Secretary-General Paschke and requested him to reply to 
     them. The resolution establishing OIOS stipulates that his 
     office has operational independence. The Secretary-General 
     may comment on, but may not change the contents of OIOS 
     reports.
       In assessing the MINURSO report it should be borne in mind 
     that MINURSO must carry out its mission in a politically 
     sensitive and difficult environment. Some of the operational 
     problems which have been alleged are political in nature and 
     cannot be dealt with in an audit report. Such charges are not 
     a matter for Internal Oversight, but must be weighed by the 
     Security Council. In this context, I want to emphasize that 
     Mr. Erik Jensen, my Special Representative for MINURSO, has 
     my full confidence for his performance in a delicate and 
     complicated mission.
       With regard to the issuance of other OIOS reports, which 
     you raise in the last paragraph of your letter, delays have 
     been caused by the UN requirement to translate every document 
     addressed to the General Assembly into all six official 
     languages prior to
      release. In view of the volume of some of the OIOS reports 
     and the unusual workload the UN translating services have 
     been facing because of the non-proliferation treaty 
     conference, it has taken an unusually long time to 
     complete the required translations. The reports you 
     mention are being published this week and should reach you 
     shortly.
           With best regards, yours sincerely,
     Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
                                                                    ____



                                               United Nations,

                                                     May 19, 1995.
     Reference: 4615a/95.
     Mr. Lee H. Hamilton,
     Ranking Democratic Member, Congress of the United States, 
         Committee on International Relations, House of 
         Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Hamilton: Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali 
     has transmitted your letter of 5 May 1995 to me for a reply 
     to the points which you have raised about this office's 
     report on MINURSO.
       I directed one of my most senior auditors to carry out this 
     investigation, a man whose professional credentials and 
     expertise are beyond question. He was instructed to address 
     Mr. Ruddy's allegations in parallel to a follow-up on an 
     audit mission which my office had performed in MINURSO during 
     the fall of 1994. The report on this work is at present being 
     prepared for transmittal to the General Assembly. I am 
     attaching an advance copy for your confidential information.
        The investigation was confined to Mr. Ruddy's allegations. 
     As pointed out in paragraph 3 of the report, some of the 
     information provided by Mr. Ruddy was based on hearsay. This 
     made the task of the auditors more difficult.
       The allegation that applicants who were to be identified 
     were not allowed free access to the MINURSO centre was 
     examined in the context of ensuring the credibility of the 
     identification process. The lack of free access could have 
     been verified if specific cases of obstruction had been made 
     available to the auditor. This was not, however, the case. 
     Further investigation was not feasible as it would have 
     involved an inquiry into political and diplomatic activities 
     of certain Member States, which is not within the purview of 
     an audit investigation.
       As regards the specific cases concerning transport and 
     procurement mentioned by Mr. Ruddy, these were carefully 
     looked into and the outcome reported in paragraphs 22, 23, 
     26, 27 and 29. Certain inadequacies in the 
     [[Page E1156]] management of procurement of spare parts for 
     vehicles and irregularities in regard to staff costs were 
     earlier noted in the internal audit during September-October 
     1994 and followed up during the February visit (see copy of 
     the audit referenced above).
       Complaints of anti-Americanism were lodged only against the 
     Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of MINURSO. When the 
     auditors met with a number of officials and queried them on 
     anti-Americanism, they were informed that the CAO had used 
     such expressions against certain other nationals as well. No 
     evidence was found of discriminatory practice against either 
     Americans or other nationals. The CAO has in the meantime 
     left the mission.
       In my view, this MINURSO report effectively addresses the 
     allegations made by Mr. Ruddy. I have found every statement 
     to be well documented in the working papers of the auditor-
     in-charge and I have personally seen to it that the final 
     version of the report was worded with the discretion and 
     caution which the political sensitivity of the matter, as 
     well as Mr. Ruddy's interests, require. In short, I stand 
     firmly behind this OIOS report on MINURSO.
       Let me take this opportunity to inform you about the start-
     up phase of OIOS in general. I tackled this important task as 
     of 15 November 1994 and have worked hard over the past six 
     months to establish Internal Oversight as an independent and 
     credible component of the management culture of the Unit 
     Nations Organization. This was not easy, because an effective 
     internal control mechanism had never existed in the UN 
     before. I had to strengthen the Audit Division and redefine 
     its scope. The Investigation Unit had to be created. The 
     working and reporting procedures for the entire office had to 
     be developed, and a mechanism to monitor compliance with our 
     recommendations had to be established. General Assembly 
     Resolution 48/218B also mandated me to move this office from 
     a mere control function to a more proactive role to 
     ``advise'' and ``provide assistance to programme managers''. 
     Such a profound change in the corporate culture of an 
     international organization requires more than six months, but 
     I am encouraged by clear signs that OIOS is beginning to have 
     an impact on the UN, in its deterrent as well as its advisory 
     capacity. It is my hope that the United States Congress will 
     understand the complexity of my task and not judge the 
     success of this new office on the basis of one rather 
     atypical report.
       Shortly after the publication of the MINURSO report, two 
     in-depth evaluation reports were issued which I am attaching 
     to this letter for your reference. Two more reports were 
     issued on 16 May which are also enclosed.
       Regarding the issuance of reports, let me assure you that 
     the time needed between submission and release of reports is 
     not a reflection of any lack of independence of my office. 
     The reports to which you refer in your letter had to be 
     published in six languages after being edited and translated, 
     a process which is necessarily dependent upon the length of 
     the report and the workload at the time of submission. As you 
     will note from the attached reports, the time was also taken 
     to include a status report on the implementation of 
     recommendations, as the original reports were done some 
     months ago.
       I am quite confident that my work will be beneficial to the 
     UN and will eventually be appreciated also by those in the 
     United States Congress who, like you, believe in the 
     usefulness of the World Organization. In a recent speech at 
     Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, I have laid 
     out the philosophy I bring to this office. Please find a copy 
     of this speech enclosed. It would be my pleasure to come to 
     your office at your convenience to tell you more about my 
     mission.
           Very sincerely yours.
                                                 Karl Th. Paschke,
     Under-Secretary General.
                                                                    ____

             House of Representatives, Committee on International 
                                                        Relations,
                                      Washington, DC, May 5, 1995.
     Hon. Boutros Boutros-Ghali,
     Secretary General, United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY.
       Dear Mr. Secretary-General: I write to express my 
     disappointment at the first report of the United Nations 
     Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), issued on April 
     5, 1995 (A/49/884, ``Review of the Efficiency of the 
     Administrative and Financial Functioning of the United 
     Nations'').
       As you know, funding for the United Nations is under severe 
     pressure in the United States Congress. A key element to 
     maintaining Congressional support for U.S. contributions to 
     the United Nations is the oversight performance of OIOS.
       Because this is the first report released from OIOS, it 
     will be scrutinized closely by the Congress as an indicator 
     of the level of U.N. reform. In addition, MINURSO has already 
     received considerable unfavorable attention in Congress due 
     to serious allegations of mismanagement, operational 
     problems, and anti-Americanism.
       It was my understanding that this report was intended to 
     examine those allegations. In my view, this report is not 
     likely to convince Congress that OIOS is performing the kind 
     of professional, careful oversight of U.N. operations 
     intended by the establishment of this office. Let me detail 
     some of the reasons why.
       First, the report does not examine carefully the serious 
     allegation that applicants desiring to be identified as 
     voters are being intimidated and denied free access to the 
     MINURSO center. It merely quotes (paragraph 12) MINURSO's 
     Deputy Special Representative as stating that if such 
     intimidation is occurring, ``there will be ample opportunity 
     for such individuals to present themselves at later stages in 
     the process''.
       Second, regarding allegations of ``padded payrolls'', 
     irregular transportation practices and costs, and improper 
     procurement in MINURSO, the report makes reference to a 
     previous internal audit which had identified 
     ``irregularities'' nor the ``remedial actions'' are 
     specified. So far as I know, the previous internal audit has 
     not been made available to Member States.
       Third, as for changes that some MINURSO officials were 
     anti-American, supported by several written complaints 
     (including one by the head of U.S. military troops serving in 
     MINURSO), the report essentially dismisses these charges by 
     quoting observers who stated that ``whenever the Chief 
     Administrative Officer saw any problem with an individual, he 
     was in the habit of adversely referring to the individual's 
     nationality'' (paragraph 31). Based on this information, the 
     auditors state that they ``did not sense any discrimination 
     based on any particular nationality''.
       I could cite numerous other deficiencies in the report, but 
     these examples highlight my concerns about this OIOS report. 
     I can only state that the work reflected in this report does 
     not begin to meet demands in the United States Congress for a 
     tough, credible U.N. ``Inspector General'' and will not be 
     helpful to those of us working to maintain support for the 
     United Nations and its funding levels.
       Finally, I would like to express my concern at the 
     Secretariat's failure to release several prior reports 
     completed by the OIOS office. It is my understanding that the 
     release of these reports was requested in writing more than a 
     month ago by the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United 
     Nations, but that their release has not yet occurred. It will 
     be difficult to explain to Members of Congress why reports 
     completed by a U.N. office which is presumed to be 
     independent have not been released by the Secretariat. I urge 
     you to ensure that these reports are released expeditiously.
       Thank you for your attention to and cooperation in these 
     matters.
       With best regards,
           Sincerely,
                                                  Lee H. Hamilton,
                                        Ranking Democratic Member.
     

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