A UN official’s tweets about Israel have breached the UN social media guidelines and International Civil service guidance on impartiality, according to UKLFI.
UKLFI has reported Craig Mokhiber, Director and Deputy for the Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) at the UN for his alleged breaches.
Mr Mokhiber is very active on Twitter, and has used the platform to express his views about Israel.
On 28 February 2023 the online investigator GnasherJew highlighted Mr Mokhiber’s tweets about Israel here.
On 1 March 2023 UN Watch published a report regarding Mr Mokhiber’s views on Israel.
On 27 February 2023 Mr Mokhiber tweeted “the most recent pogroms in #Huwara are just the latest evidence that the international community needs to finally confront the decades long reality of ongoing #genocide in #Palestine”.
Mr Mokhiber’s tweet clearly expresses a view that genocide in Israel has been ongoing for decades.
On 4 July 2022, Mr Mokhiber tweeted, in relation to the death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh: “whitewashing the cold blooded murder of its own citizen. No accountability. Just an official cover-up. A pattern of supporting #impunity that goes back 75 years & includes covering up war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, apartheid & state terrorism.”
On 9 May 2022, Mr Mokhiber tweeted “right wing lobby organizations like @ADL that attack human rights defenders & defend militarism, racism, war crimes, apartheid, colonialism & repressive governments can’t be allowed to perfidiously masquerade as a human rights organization”. I
On 15 May 2021, Mr Mokhiber tweeted “what kind of genocide cruelty and cowardice compels the relentless bombing of 2 million civilians locked inside an imprisoned Gaza Strip with no escape, no shelters & no adequate medical faculties?#Gaza_Under_Attack # PalestineUnderAttack #bds# HumanRights #WarCrimes # Apartheid”.
“We consider these tweets to be particularly offensive because Mr Mokhiber is using his position as a civil servant at the UN to establish a narrative of the conflict which is not accepted by both sides and to isolate Israel at the UN. This is not in keeping with the UN’s main objectives of promoting peace and maintaining independence.” commented Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI.
The vast majority of Mr Mokhiber’s tweets on Twitter relate to the Israel-Palestine conflict. UKLFI could not find a single tweet in support of any Israeli position.
UKLFI has requested that the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services carry out a full investigation into Mr Mokhiber’s conduct on social media, and take the appropriate disciplinary measures if the complaints are upheld.
UKLFI has pointed out to the OIOS that Mokhiber had breached both the UN Guidelines for the personal use of social media and the Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service.
The February 2019 UN Guidelines for social media state:
“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”.
The Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service state the following:
Paragraph 8: “if the impartiality of the international civil service is to be maintained, . . . their conduct must reflect that independence”.
Paragraph 9: “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
UKLFI considers that Mr Mokhiber’s position on Israel is in breach of the UN Guidelines and the Civil Service Standards of Conduct.