VZCZCXYZ0034
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #8065 1761239
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251230Z JUN 07
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHMS/AMEMBASSY MUSCAT PRIORITY 9168
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 6465

UNCLAS STATE 088065 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD KIPR MU
SUBJECT: INFORMATION ON WIPO DG ACTIONS FOR GOO 
 
REF: A) MUSCAT 626 B) STATE 80345 
 
¶1.  This is an action message in response to ref A.  Please 
deliver points below to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economic 
and Technical Cooperation Department contacts as appropriate. 
 
¶2.  Summary: In November 2006 WIPO Internal Auditor (IA) 
completed the report of his investigation, made at the 
request of the UN's Joint Inspection Unit, into the use of 
two different dates of birth by WIPO Director General (DG) 
Kamil Idris (Sudan).  The salient points of the report are 
summarized below for post's use with host country 
interlocutors.  A Fox News report on this can be found at 
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,255098,00 .html.  The full 
text of the WIPO IA report (labeled confidential by WIPO) can 
be reached through a link in that story 
(http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/Idris.pd f).  End Summary. 
 
¶3.  During the period 1982 to 2006, WIPO DG Idris used the 
date of birth (DOB) of 1945 in all employment matters related 
to WIPO, including Swiss diplomatic carnets, UN 
laissez-passers, visas to several countries including the 
U.S., and WIPO benefit forms.  In 2006 he changed his DOB in 
all official documentation, including the UN pension system, 
to 1954.  Although he admitted that he was aware of the 
discrepancy since his first year of employment, he failed to 
take any action for 24 years to rectify the discrepancies. 
While Idris tried to pin blame for the discrepancies on 
others' mistakes, the IA found that some of the applications 
were filled out and signed by Idris in his own handwriting. 
 
¶4.  The report found that the evidence strongly points 
towards the conclusion that Idris's use of the 1945 DOB 
enabled him to procure a position at WIPO that he most likely 
would not have obtained if his DOB had been recorded as 1954. 
 By claiming to be 37 years old at the time of application to 
WIPO, he became eligible for a P-4 senior program officer 
position requiring ten years of experience.  The other two 
short-listed candidates were 37 years old.  On his 
application and c.v., Idris claimed to have held several 
national positions which, if his actual DOB had been recorded 
as 1954, would mean he held some of those national positions 
when he was only 13-16 years old.  His subsequent promotions 
to Director and then to Director General would also have been 
highly unlikely if his true age and experience had been 
known.  An examination of the evolution of Idris's c.v. over 
the years also shows a pattern of questionable 
representations of past educational and employment 
experience. 
 
¶5.  If 1954 is the correct DOB, Idris violated WIPO staff 
rules and regulations, including regulation 4.11.1, by not 
taking steps to correct the error.  He also violated the 
ethical  standards for international civil servants by 
perpetuating the use of the 1945 DOB which he now claims is 
incorrect, while continuing to use it to his benefit in WIPO. 
 In addition, the IA asserts that annotations supposedly made 
by Idris in his employment record indicating that he tried to 
change the DOB early in his career could only have been made 
by Idris himself after he became DG, when he took possession 
of his own personnel file, a practice that is not allowed in 
WIPO.  The IA also noted that the Swiss authorities concluded 
that a 1954 birth certificate submitted by Idris to the Swiss 
Government in connection with his request for a change of DOB 
appeared to be false. 
 
¶6.  Although Idris claims he will not benefit from the change 
in DOB and may be disadvantaged by it, the opposite is in 
fact the case.  He stands to gain additional benefits at the 
end of his term as DG in 2009 based on the 1954 DOB that he 
would not be eligible for if born in 1945.  Under the 1954 
DOB, he would have the right at the end of his term to revert 
to a senior D-1 position in WIPO or WIPO would have to pay 
him a termination indemnity of 18 months' salary.  He could 
also seek future employment elsewhere in the UN system. 
 
¶7.  The United States believes that Idris should be held 
accountable for acting in a manner that is inconsistent with 
his responsibility to maintain the highest standards of 
integrity, as stipulated in the WIPO Convention and Rules and 
Regulations, and for undermining the credibility of WIPO as 
an institution. 
RICE