UNDT/2010/175

UNDT/2010/175, Bekele

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

The UNECA Administration did not comply with the procedures which prescribe how to handle issues related to the arrest and detention of staff members. The UNECA Administration did not act to protect the applicant in a manner consistent with UN international legal instruments on human rights. The UNECA Administration failed to safeguard the applicant’s privileges and immunities as a staff member of the United Nations and to protect the interests, standards and values of the Organization.The OIC of the UNECA SSS at the time, in his actions and inactions, fell far short of many of the core values and competencies required of a United Nations Staff member and Manager with regard to how he dealt with the applicant’s arrest and detention. The said OIC did not report the matter of the applicant’s arrest and detention to UN authorities in New York as he was required to do. The UNECA Administration constructively treated the applicant as having abandoned his post even though they did not initiate procedures for doing so in accordance with ST/AI/400.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

The Applicant was arrested, detained and mistreated by the Ethiopian police. The Applicant contests his subsequent treatment by the ECA, in particular the denial of his subsequent request to relocate him to a duty station outside of Ethiopia.

Legal Principle(s)

N/A

Outcome

Judgment entered for Applicant in full or in part

Outcome Extra Text

The respondent is ordered to pay the applicant’s salary from the date it was withheld until the date when the applicant was informed of the Secretary-General’s decision to take no further action in respect of his complaint, with interest at 8% per month for the said period and the applicant shall also be paid six months’ net base salary for the respondent’s various due process failures.

OAJ prepared this case law summary for informational purposes only. It is no official record and should not be relied upon as an authoritative interpretation of the Tribunals' rulings. For the authoritative texts, please refer to the judgment or order rendered by the respective Tribunal. The Tribunals are the only bodies competent to interpret their respective judgments, as provided under Article 12(3) of the UNDT Statute and Article 11(3) of the UNAT Statute. Any inaccuracies in the publication are the sole responsibility of OAJ, which should be contacted directly for any correction requests. To provide comments, don't hesitate to get in touch with OAJ at oaj@un.org.

The judgment summaries were generally prepared in English. They were translated into French and are being reviewed for accuracy of the translation.

Full judgment

Applicants/Appellants

Bekele

Entity

UNECA

Case Number(s)

UNDT/NBI/2009/056

Tribunal

UNDT

Registry

Nairobi