Election unit director fired over claims of sexual harassment

NEW YORK - The director of the UN election unit has said she would fight allegations of sexual harassment after she was fired officially without pay.

Carina Perelli, a 48-year-old Uruguayan sociologist, told reporters after being escorted from her office that she had been "fired. My contract has been terminated".

Perelli, known for her plain speaking, became a rising star at the world body for supervising polls in dangerous places such as Afghanistan and Iraq, the Palestinian territories and East Timor.

"There are a lot of inconsistencies and ironies in this case, that I hope that the (UN) administrative tribunal will appreciate," Perelli said. "And I hope they have a sense of humour. Otherwise we will all be crying.

"These charges are false because there has been no due process in this whole exercise," she said.

In August, a report by a Swiss consulting firm accused her of fostering an abusive and sexually offensive environment in her department, the Electoral Assistance Division.

Two UN officials said Secretary-General Kofi Annan had decided to fire her and a dismissal letter told her "that you be summarily dismissed for serious misconduct".

"You engaged in sexual and professional harassment of your staff and abused your authority as a manager."

US ambassador John Bolton criticised the timing of the firing, days before polls in Iraq that Perelli helped organise.

"The question here is how management conducts its business that in a way that is least disruptive to its programmes," he said. "One has to ask why after a year of inquiry a decision was made nine days before elections in Iraq."

Perelli said she hoped her dismissal would have no impact on the "state of mind" of the Baghdad electoral team but expressed concern for how her office would handle growing requests for assistance around the world from other nations.

- REUTERS