Group Of Nations Demand UN Investigative Report On WIPO Director

About a dozen members of the World Intellectual Property Organization yesterday demanded to be provided with a report conducted by the United Nations Office of Investigation and Oversight Services (OIOS) on allegations against the WIPO director general.

“The report was requested by Member States and should be available to Member States,” they said in a statement, available here, to the WIPO Coordination Committee. “We reiterate our request that the CoCo [Coordination Committee] Chair immediately formally request that OIOS produce a full version of the OIOS report, redacted only to protect witness confidentiality, and to provide this to member states no later than September 26, one week before the General Assemblies. It is imperative for organizational transparency and Member State oversight. Any further delays in releasing the report are unacceptable.”

The outcome of the closed-door Coordination Committee meeting was not known as press time. An update will be provided as soon as available.

United States Amb. Pamela Hamamoto made the statement at the one-day WIPO Coordination Committee on behalf of Algeria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Sweden, Uganda, and the US, in addition to the non-Coordination Committee delegations Albania and Fiji. The group had asked for the agenda item (IPW, WIPO, 12 September 2016).

Last spring, member states were given limited access to the report in a viewing room with no note-taking or electronics allowed, according to sources. But they are demanding copies of the report with the names of individuals blacked out to protect them. They expressed “concern” about the findings of the report.

The members also called for “significant procedural changes must be made within WIPO and across the UN system for the efficiency, independence, and transparency of investigative processes involving allegations against senior officials.”

The members urged three actions be taken. They asked that member states engage with the Independent Advisory Oversight Committee (IAOC), which has been tasked by the recent Program and Budget Committee with proposing changes to the WIPO Oversight Charter by the early October annual WIPO General Assemblies, and that the changes be approved at the Assemblies.

They also called for the IAOC, with other experts, to be asked to look into WIPO’s procurement principles.

And the group called for the WIPO Whistleblower Protection Policy and its implementation “be reviewed to ensure that the Policy takes into account lessons learned, recent developments in this area, and best practices from other organizations.”

They suggested that a statement from the Coordination Committee be sent to the General Assemblies. And other proposals might be forthcoming after governments read the withheld investigation report, they said.