Jakarta –
The World Health Organization (WHO) sacked a senior scientist known for his role as head of an international mission to China to investigate the origins of COVID-19, for sexual harassment offences.
The WHO said that Peter Ben Embarek, a scientist and longtime official at the UN agency, was sacked in 2022 after two complaints were upheld that took several years of investigation to resolve.
“Peter Ben Embarek was dismissed last year following findings of sexual misconduct against him proven by appropriate investigations and disciplinary proceedings,” said WHO spokeswoman Marcia Poole.
Poole said the cases leading to Embarek’s dismissal occurred in 2015 and 2017, while WHO became aware of the allegations in 2018.
In addition, there were reportedly other allegations against Ben Embarek that could not be fully investigated because the alleged victim refused to be involved in the investigation process.
“As a result no disciplinary action can be taken,” the WHO added. Even so, WHO did not provide further details regarding the alleged violations.
Ben Embarek is the most senior WHO official known to have been dismissed since the UN agency launched a series of reforms to improve its response to sexual abuse cases.
After a two-decade career at the WHO, Ben Embarek shot to prominence in 2021 when he led a team of scientists on a mission to Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus is thought to have originated.
Ben Embarek endorsed several key elements of China’s account of the outbreak, saying it was “highly unlikely” the virus leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan due to safety protocols there.
Since then, the so-called laboratory leak theory has received considerable attention among scientists and some US intelligence agencies.
Disclosure of Ben Embarek’s dismissal will add to concerns over WHO’s work culture and systems in place to deal with allegations of misconduct by employees.
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(suc/kna)
2023-05-04 02:02:22
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