James Wasserstrom je bil visoki uradnik OZN, poslan na Kosovo za boj proti korupciji. Toda kmalu po prihodu tja je ugotovil korupcijo znotraj lastne Organizacije – med kolegi in lokalnim podjetjem. Zadevo je prijavil, bil ignoriran, nato je zadevo prijavil prav na vrhu. Posledica je bila, da mu je šef zmanjšal osebje in odpravil njegovo službo, proti njemu pa so uvedli preiskavo, ga priprli, preiskali hišo in avto in uporabili vrsto ostalih metod nadlegovanja. Izgubil je službo in se nato pritožil na etično komisijo OZN. Ta je po enem letu preiskovanja ugotovila sicer morda pretiranost neprimernega ravnanja v njegovem primeru, vendar brez kakršnihkoli sankcij proti kršilcem.

Wasserstrom je nato tožil OZN in po dolgih letih dobil pravdo ter odškodnino 1 milijon dolarjev ter vrsto ostalih kompenzacij. Toda po vseh neprijetnostih se je odselil iz ZDA in zdaj živi v Grčiji. Po njegovem primeru bodo posneli film. Ta primer se je končal dobro, toda v veliki večini se ne končajo tako dobro. Sistem zaščite prijaviteljev je običajno uspešen le v teoriji, “nagrade” za prijavitelje pa so lahko zgolj obliž. Post-prijavitveno življenje žvižgačev sta večinoma pekel in beda.

Wasserstroma bomo kmalu gostili pri nas na Ekonomski fakulteti. Spodaj pa je članek iz The Economista o njegovem primeru.

On June 21st, after a long and costly legal battle that unearthed documents backing Mr Wasserstrom’s case, the UN’s new Dispute Tribunal overturned that. Without ruling on the alleged corruption, Judge Goolam Meeran, in a blistering judgment, said “any reasonable reviewer” would have spotted the clear conflicts in the UN’s evidence and demanded, at the least, more investigation of the complainant’s treatment. Now an anti-corruption officer at America’s embassy in Kabul, he stands to gain $1m in damages, plus costs. The UN must now negotiate on that, and other remedies.

Mr Wasserstrom says his main aim is to speed reform of the UN. Since the scandal around the oil-for-food scheme (which allowed insiders to profit from bypassing the sanctions regime applied to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq), progress has stalled, he says. He is particularly critical of top officials, including the secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, for “deliberately undermining what they claim is support for whistleblowers” for footdragging and for misleading the General Assembly in these respects. “They clearly never expected that I would force them into court,” he said. The UN said it would not comment on the case while talks on remedies were continuing.

Vir: The Economist