WHO accuses its own staff members of sex abuse during agency’s Ebola response

Published

3 years ago

September 28, 2021

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Twenty-one World Health Organisation (WHO) staff members were allegedly involved in sexual abuse during the agency’s response to the Ebola crisis in central Africa, according to an official report.

The allegations, which include nine of rape, were identified by a special panel commissioned by WHO to look into claims involving the UN’s health agency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

It found a total of 83 perpetrators were involved in alleged sex abuse during the two-year response period, including the 21, in what has been called the biggest scandal of sexual wrongdoing linked to a UN institution in years.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the report produced by the panel made for “harrowing reading”.

Apparently referring to the victims, he said: “I am sorry by what was done by people employed by the WHO to serve and protect you.”

He said the findings would require “wholesale reforms of our structure and culture” and all known sex abuse perpetrators would be banned from working for the WHO in future, with four people already fired.

Western diplomatic sources who attended a closed-door briefing with WHO officials have said another two people have been placed on administrative leave.

WHO’s Africa director Matshidiso Moeti said the agency was “humbled, horrified and heartbroken” by the findings.

Both foreigners and Congolese nationals were among the 83 alleged perpetrators identified.

The majority were Congolese staff hired on a temporary basis who took advantage of their apparent authority to obtain sexual favours, the report said.

News agencies AP and Thomson Reuters Foundation, which worked with the New Humanitarian, published separate allegations claiming that aid workers from WHO and leading charities misused their position during the 2018-2020 Ebola crisis in the country.

Among those accused was a WHO doctor and two other agency officials, who were said to have promised to buy land for a young woman who had got pregnant.

WHO chief Mr Tedros made 14 trips to the DRC during the outbreak period and publicly commended the work of at least one of those who was accused by AP.

Nearly 50 countries, including Britain, the US and Canada later issued a statement expressing their “deep concerns” about WHO’s handling of sex abuse claims.

AP has since obtained recordings of meetings during which WHO emergencies chief Dr Michael Ryan acknowledged that the DRC sex abuse allegations were likely to be “the tip of an iceberg” and were part of a problem that “does reflect a culture as well”.

A member of the Congolese Union of Media Women (UCOFEM), Julie Londo, applauded WHO for punishing staff members involved in the abuse allegations but said the agency needed to go further.

She said: “WHO must also think about reparation for the women who were traumatised by the rapes and the dozens of children who were born with unwanted pregnancies as a result of the rapes.

“There are a dozen girls in Butembo and Beni who had children with doctors during the Ebola epidemic, but today others are sent back by their families because they had children with foreigners…We will continue our fight to end these abuses.”

WHO has faced criticism from a variety of sources in recent years, with the US cutting ties with it over its relationship with China, and from others over its failure to fully investigate the origins of and response to COVID-19.

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Helicopter carrying Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi involved in ‘hard landing’ – state media

Published

5 hours ago

May 19, 2024

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Helicopter carrying Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi involved in 'hard landing' - state media

A helicopter carrying Iran’s president has been involved in a “hard landing” during bad weather, Iranian state media has said.

President Ebrahim Raisi was travelling across the far northwest of Iran following a visit to Azerbaijan.

Rescue teams are trying to reach the scene but are reportedly being hampered by fog and heavy rain in a mountainous area.

State media initially said it happened near Jolfa, about 375 miles (600km) northwest of Tehran, but then put it further east near the village of Uzi.

The president was said to be travelling with foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan province and other officials.

However, Iranian interior minister Ahmed Vahidi didn’t confirm whether Mr Raisi was on board the helicopter involved, saying he was travelling in a convoy of three aircraft.

Mr Raisi had been in Azerbaijan for the inauguration of a dam with the country’s president, Ilham Aliyev.

“The esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog,” the interior minister said on state TV.

“Various rescue teams are on their way to the region but because of the poor weather and fogginess it might take time for them to reach the helicopter.”

He added: “The region is a bit [rugged] and it’s difficult to make contact. We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and give us more information.”

Many of Iran’s military aircraft date back to before the 1979 revolution and international sanctions can make it hard to obtain parts.

Mr Raisi, 63, is a hardliner and former head of the judiciary who some have suggested could one day replace Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He was elected in 2021 at the second time of trying.

Mr Raisi’s time in charge has included major protests over Mahsa Amini – the woman who died after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

Iran also took the unprecedented decision in April to launch a drone and missile attack on Israel.

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Shooter in assassination attempt on Slovak PM may not have been ‘lone wolf’, minister says

Published

5 hours ago

May 19, 2024

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Shooter in assassination attempt on Slovak PM may not have been 'lone wolf', minister says

Officials in Slovakia are investigating whether the attacker who shot the prime minister was not a “lone wolf”.

The interior minister Matus Sutaj Estok issued the update on Sunday, after the suspect was previously believed to be a “lone wolf”.

Robert Fico’s condition is no longer life-threatening but is still very serious, his team said on Sunday.

Deputy prime minister Robert Kalinak issued the update four days after the assassination attempt on the populist leader.

Speaking to reporters outside the Banska Bystrica hospital, where Mr Fico is being treated, he said: “The worst that we feared had passed, at least for the time being.

“We are all a little calmer. When we were saying that we want to get closer to a positive prognosis, then I believe that we are a step closer to that.”

The prime minister, 59, was shot multiple times on Wednesday in an attack that raised fresh concern over the polarisation of politics in the central European country of 5.4 million people.

Follow live: Ukraine ‘destroys Russian Black Sea minesweeper’

Mr Fico was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters – the first major assassination attempt on a European political leader for more than 20 years.

Video footage showed the Slovak premier approach people gathered at barricades and reach out to shake hands as a man stepped forward, extended his arm and fired five rounds before being tackled and arrested.

Mr Estok has previously said the suspect objected to the government’s Ukraine policy.

Mr Fico’s government has ended official military support for Ukraine and taken a more pro-Russian line on the conflict than most European Union partners.

The Slovak Specialised Criminal Court ruled on Saturday that the suspect, identified by prosecutors as Juraj C, should remain behind bars until the trial charged with attempted murder.

Prosecutors said they feared he could flee or commit other crimes if freed, a court spokesperson said.

The suspect can appeal the order, but so far no statement has been published by him or a lawyer on his behalf.

Little information about the would-be assassin has been made public, after prosecutors told police not to identify him or release details about the case.

Unconfirmed media reports said he is a 71-year-old former security guard and an amateur poet.

Meanwhile, Mr Kalinak, who is also Slovakia’s defence minister, said Mr Fico’s condition was still too serious to consider transferring him to a hospital in the capital.

Milan Urbani, deputy director of the Banska Bystrica hospital, told reporters that, as of Sunday morning: “The patient is currently out of a life-threatening condition”.

He added: “His condition remains very serious, and he needs a long time to rest to recover. We firmly believe that everything will go in a good direction.”

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Ukrainian soldiers reveal how they were secretly moved ahead of new Russian invasion

Published

9 hours ago

May 19, 2024

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Ukrainian soldiers reveal how they were secretly moved ahead of new Russian invasion

Members of a Ukrainian brigade have described how they were secretly relocated to help defend a section of the country’s border with Russia a few days before a new invasion began.

The commander of an artillery unit from 57 Brigade said his guns were even firing at Russian troops the day before the ground incursion into the northeastern region of Kharkiv, which started on 10 May. He said the forces had been “brazenly” amassing on the Russian side of the border.

“We were hitting tanks on the border… it was already a real war,” said Sasha, 26, who uses the callsign “black”.

Follow latest: Ukraine ‘destroys Russian Black Sea minesweeper’

The commander of a second artillery unit similarly confirmed the brigade had been moved early to bolster defences in this direction.

The troops had previously been defending the city of Kupiansk, also in Kharkiv.

The comments offer a sense of how Ukraine attempted – ahead of time – to scramble forces to counter a Russian build-up along its long, northeastern border.

But the move was nowhere near enough to prevent the largest assault into Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion almost two and a half years ago.

A Ukrainian source, describing the first few days of the Kharkiv offensive just over a week ago, said there had been moments when he feared “we had lost the frontline”.

The source said the situation had since stabilised but warned: “We don’t know how long it could be like this”.

Sky News on Saturday tried to visit an artillery position, manned by soldiers from 57 Brigade, just outside the town of Vovchansk – a key target of the Russian offensive.

As we approached at speed by road, a soldier travelling with us said we had to pull over because he needed to communicate via radio with troops on the gunline.

Suddenly a voice over the radio could be heard saying: “Don’t come here. Don’t come at all.”

We were told it was too dangerous to travel further and we had to leave. It was not immediately clear what was happening on the ground.

At a makeshift base, safely back from the frontline, the artillery unit commander Sasha uses electronic maps on a tablet and laptop to confirm targets for his guns to attack.

He said he and his team relocated from the Kupiansk front on the 4 to 5 May.

“We were indeed moved here earlier,” Sasha said. But he signalled he would have liked longer to prepare.

“I don’t know all the situation and why it happened like this. But I know for sure that to better repel [an attack], we might need either more time or better-prepared positions,” he said.

“Ahead of the assault, we were already hitting targets on Russian territory because we knew they were gathering there. They were brazenly assembling.”

Sasha described the moment the Russians started to advance.

He said it began with three hours of artillery fire against Ukrainian targets before ground troops crossed the border.

“I would love that they [the Russians] had been stopped at the border,” he said.

Instead, a fierce battle erupted, as Russian infantry, backed by airstrikes, drone attacks and artillery fire, pushed forward.

“For the first few days, they [the Russians] were storming our positions – columns of 30 to 50 soldiers. We were hitting them.”

In the chaos, Sasha said he worked to gather information to ensure his troops were able to operate.

“I am proud that my guys managed to do their best,” he said. “All credit to those who stayed on their artillery positions.”

He described the frontline as initially being “fragile” but said reinforcements were now in place. The commander said Russia had lost the opportunity to make a significant breakthrough.

“Until now they had a chance. Even in my area, I knew where we had gaps where they could have slipped through. Now we don’t have such gaps,” he said.

“I am satisfied that we have managed to stabilise the situation.”

At a second artillery position, on a different section of a frontline that has expanded by some 40 miles in the wake of the new attack, a Soviet-era gun, hidden under netting and tree branches, points in the direction of Russia.

Soldiers here said they would be able to inflict a lot more damage on the invaders if they had more ammunition and better weapons.

Nicknamed “grandma”, their D-20 Howitzer artillery piece, which fires 152mm shells, was built in the 1970s.

“We’re saving our artillery shells right now. We fire one, they fire back five,” said one of the servicemen, who – at 50 years old – has the callsign “Grandpa”.

A second soldier said Russia has more weapons than his side.

Asked what difference additional munitions would make, he said with a laugh: “It would increase the number of dead Russians – 100%”.

Additional reporting by Azad Safarov, Ukraine producer