Officer at UN Women referred to UN’s Investigations Department

A UN officer has been accused of breaching the guidelines for UN staff and international civil servants relating to the impartiality following her public endorsement of dozens of anti-Israel tweets.

UKLFI has written to the Investigations Division, Office of Internal Oversight Services (ID/OIOS) to complain about the anti-Israel bias of Sarah Douglas, the Deputy Chief of Peace and Security at UN Women.

Ms Douglas has been accused of “liking” 153 anti-Israel and anti-Zionist tweets, according to UN Watch.

The “paramount consideration” in employing staff at the UN is “securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity” according to Article 101(3) of the UN Charter . UKLFI believes that Sarah Douglas’ overt political activity, including her public endorsement of extreme statements by politicians and political organizations, amounts to a material breach of her UN obligation to be neutral and impartial.

Examples of Ms Douglas’s extreme anti-Israel bias

She repeatedly liked Tweets accusing Israel of genocide by the fringe anti-Zionist group, Jewish Voice for Peace and others. One said “stop funding and arming the genocide in Gaza”.

Another extolled the shutting down of public highways and bridges in the USA, again falsely accusing Israel of genocide.

She liked a Tweet by the Palestinian Feminist Collective which accused Israel of annihilating the Palestinian people and of genocide.

She liked the Tweet by UN Women chief Sima Bahous which falsely implied that Israel attacked the Al Ahli Arab Hospital on 17 October 2023 and “strongly condemned” the strike that “killed and injured hundreds of civilians.” In fact, the rocket was from Islamic Jihad; it did not hit the hospital but the car park in the courtyard, and the actual casualties were a fraction of those originally announced by Hamas. The tweet was never deleted and remains on Douglas’ feed of liked tweets.
She also liked many tweets accusing Israel of “war crimes against the people of Gaza” and indiscriminate bombing of Gaza.
By contrast, according to UN Watch’s report of 18 December 2023, Ms Douglas failed to like a single tweet condemning Hamas for its open calls for genocide of Israelis, including its pledges to repeat the 7 October mass murder, torture and rape of Israelis.

UKLFI pointed out in its letter to the UN that Ms Douglas was in breach of the UN guidelines relating to the impartiality, objectivity and independence of UN staff.

UN Guidelines for the personal use of social media

The February 2019 guidance states “As international civil servants, staff members are required to be mindful at all times that their conduct on social media must be consistent with the principles set out in the United Nations Charter”.

In addition “staff must ensure that the expression of their personal views and convictions on social media does not adversely affect their official duties, reflect poorly on their status as international civil servants or call into question their duty of loyalty ,impartiality and responsibility to the Organization” (our emphasis).

Given the overwhelming number of anti-Israel tweets, it appears that Ms Douglas is in breach of the UN Guidelines for social media.

Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service

Paragraph 8 states: “if the impartiality of the international civil service is to be maintained, . . . their conduct must reflect that independence”.

Paragraph 9 continues: “While their personal views remain inviolate, international civil servants do not have the freedom of private persons to take sides or to express their convictions publicly on controversial matters . . irrespective of the medium used.”

Paragraph 10 clarifies: “This does not mean that international civil servants have to give up their personal views or national perspectives. It does mean however that they must at all times maintain a broad international outlook and an understanding of the international community as a whole”.

It is clear from the above, that Ms Douglas’s anti-Israel position is in breach of the Standards of Conduct. She has failed to remain independent as can be seen by her one-sided likes of anti-Israel tweets.

Caroline Turner, a director of UKLFI commented: “The purpose of the UN is to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation and to be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations. In order to achieve those objectives UN staff must strive to maintain objectivity, impartiality and independence. The UN guidelines highlight the importance of all staff and civil servants exercising restraint on expressing their personal views and maintaining impartiality in order to work towards those objectives.

It is significant that UN Women failed to issue any statement condemning the rape of women in Israel by the Hamas terrorists on 7 October until a considerable time had elapsed, and only after there was considerable external pressure for them to do so. This shows that bias, such as that from Ms Douglas, has had a detrimental effect on the UN’s work.”

UKLFI previously reported senior UNHRC official, Craig Mokhiber, to the Investigations Division of the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services. Mr Mokhiber retired shortly after the investigation was stepped up.

Officer at UN Women referred to UN’s Investigations Department

A UN officer has been accused of breaching the guidelines for UN staff and international civil servants relating to the impartiality following her public endorsement of dozens of anti-Israel tweets.

UKLFI has written to the Investigations Division, Office of Internal Oversight Services (ID/OIOS) to complain about the anti-Israel bias of Sarah Douglas, the Deputy Chief of Peace and Security at UN Women.

Ms Douglas has been accused of “liking” 153 anti-Israel and anti-Zionist tweets, according to UN Watch.

Examples of Ms Douglas’s extreme anti-Israel bias

She repeatedly liked Tweets accusing Israel of genocide by the fringe anti-Zionist group, Jewish Voice for Peace and others. One said “stop funding and arming the genocide in Gaza”.

Another extolled the shutting down of public highways and bridges in the USA, again falsely accusing Israel of genocide.

She liked a Tweet by the Palestinian Feminist Collective which accused Israel of annihilating the Palestinian people and of genocide.

She also liked many tweets accusing Israel of “war crimes against the people of Gaza” and indiscriminate bombing of Gaza.

By contrast, according to UN Watch’s report of 18 December 2023, Ms Douglas failed to like a single tweet condemning Hamas for its open calls for genocide of Israelis, including its pledges to repeat the 7 October mass murder, torture and rape of Israelis.

UKLFI pointed out in its letter to the UN that Ms Douglas was in breach of the UN guidelines relating to the impartiality, objectivity and independence of UN staff.

UN Guidelines for the personal use of social media

The February 2019 guidance states “As international civil servants, staff members are required to be mindful at all times that their conduct on social media must be consistent with the principles set out in the United Nations Charter”.

Given the overwhelming number of anti-Israel tweets, it appears that Ms Douglas is in breach of the UN Guidelines for social media.

Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service

Paragraph 8 states: “if the impartiality of the international civil service is to be maintained, . . . their conduct must reflect that independence”.

Paragraph 9 continues: “While their personal views remain inviolate, international civil servants do not have the freedom of private persons to take sides or to express their convictions publicly on controversial matters . . irrespective of the medium used.”

Paragraph 10 clarifies: “This does not mean that international civil servants have to give up their personal views or national perspectives. It does mean however that they must at all times maintain a broad international outlook and an understanding of the international community as a whole”.

It is clear from the above, that Ms Douglas’s anti-Israel position is in breach of the Standards of Conduct. She has failed to remain independent as can be seen by her one-sided likes of anti-Israel tweets.

UKLFI previously reported senior UNHRC official, Craig Mokhiber, to the Investigations Division of the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services. Mr Mokhiber retired shortly after the investigation was stepped up.