A panel of International Jurists hired by UN employees reports "UN is in breach of human rights standards." The pot that calls the kettle black finally gets its own just deserts. Benny Avni of the New York Sun reports:

Far from a beacon of justice to the countries of the world, the United Nations is "in breach of its own human rights standards because of the unfair way it treats its own employees," according to a report due to be released today by an independent panel of three international jurists hired by Turtle Bay's Staff Union to investigate the United Nations's internal justice system.

As the panel condemned the lack of transparency in the U.N staff complaints system, the chairman of a congressional body that may play a key role in approving American funds to refurbish the crumbling U.N. landmark building, Senator Coburn, a Republican of Oklahoma, said that before they send more money for the renovation project legislators would need to see more "transparency and sunshine" at the United Nations.

The three—man panel, headed by a British jurist who played a key role in such cases as last year's decision to send former Argentinian [sic — actually Chilean] dictator Pinochet to stand trial in his homeland, Justice Geoffrey Robertson, was appointed after U.N. staffers repeatedly complained about abuse by their superiors in the organization and the lack of accountable bodies in which to air their grievances.

Ed Lasky   6 13 06