{"id":203761,"date":"2022-01-24T12:01:04","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T12:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=203761"},"modified":"2022-01-22T06:18:10","modified_gmt":"2022-01-22T06:18:10","slug":"how-who-chief-tedros-violated-un-rules-to-advance-tplf-interests-in-ethiopia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/01\/how-who-chief-tedros-violated-un-rules-to-advance-tplf-interests-in-ethiopia\/","title":{"rendered":"How WHO Chief Tedros Violated UN Rules to Advance TPLF Interests in Ethiopia"},"content":{"rendered":"

18 Jan 2022 – In leaked audio, UN staffers accuse World Health Organization Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of violating UN code to further the objectives of his political allies in Ethiopia\u2019s conflict.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization (WHO) Secretary-General and overseer of the UN\u2019s global coronavirus response, has established a shadow relief operation that sidesteps the authority of Ethiopia\u2019s sovereign government and directly coordinates with his political allies in the country\u2019s civil war.<\/p>\n

The alleged actions by Tedros, which have come to light through leaked audio conversations of UN workers, constitute a violation of UN code, which stipulates staff maintain neutrality and refrain from intervening in the affairs of member states. A participant in the leaked discussion also states that Tedros tried to replace the UN\u2019s top coordinator in Ethiopia with someone willing to advance his political objectives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want a direct line from Tigray to the [UN] headquarters,\u201d UN Country Team-Ethiopia staffer Maureen Achieng said in a conversation with her colleague, Dennia Gayle, and Canadian Journalist Jeff Pearce, referring to Tedros and his allies.<\/p>\n

Pearce recorded the discussion in Addis Ababa in August of 2021. His digital audio recorder was stolen in the Addis airport as he was returning to Canada, and audio fragments of the conversation were leaked anonymously later that month.<\/p>\n

The contents of the discussion reveal that Tedros has levied his power as WHO Secretary-General to advance the interests of his sectarian allies, the Tigrayan People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF), within the United Nations. His actions constitute a direct attempt at undermining the authority of Ethiopia\u2019s sovereign government, which has been ensnared in a brutal civil war with the TPLF since November of 2020.<\/p>\n

In June 2021, UN officials arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and headed straight to the TPLF-controlled Tigray Regional State without making contact with UN staff already on the ground, including the Resident Coordinator, Catherine Sozi. Their goal was to establish a shadow aid network, directly linked with the TPLF, which operated beyond the authority of Ethiopia\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

In the leaked audio, which is embedded at the end of this article, Achieng and Gayle allege that Tedros even agitated for the UN to replace Sozi, who oversees the organization\u2019s operations in Ethiopia, \u201cwith somebody who will dance to their tune,\u201d rather than follow the official protocol of coordinating with Ethiopia\u2019s elected government.<\/p>\n

Tedros answers to UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, but Guterres appears to have looked the other way as Tedros violated multiple UN Codes of Conduct<\/a>, including the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, World Health Organization<\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The latter states, in Section 3.1, Article 12 that \u201c<\/i><\/b>WHO staff members are required to always act with impartiality and professionalism and to ensure that the expression of personal views and convictions do not compromise the performance of their official duties or the interests of WHO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tedros not only violated these principles by allegedly using his influence to establish direct communication between the TPLF and United Nations in secret, but by repeatedly voicing opinions about Ethiopia\u2019s civil war in public. Following President Joseph Biden\u2019s unexpected January 10 phone call with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, Tedros unleashed a series of condemnations<\/a> of Abiy\u2019s government, accusing it of \u201can insult to humanity\u201d for supposedly preventing aid from entering the Tigray region.<\/p>\n

\n

'Hell' created by Tigray blockade, 'insult' to humanity' https:\/\/t.co\/Afd5REgjXJ<\/a><\/p>\n

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 12, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n