BBC highlights Eric Tistounet’s corruption campaign in the documentary The Whistleblowers, which follows the story of former UN employee Emma Reilly who was ousted from her position after reporting the widespread abuse and toxic culture.

The Guardian’s TV Review of the documentary outlines how the UN has turned into ‘a source of shame as much as hope.’

The United Nations has become alike an instrument of immoral unchecked power, as opposed to the check upon power for which it was designed. The series sheds light on how even the mechanisms within the UN mandated with the purest intentions – fighting global crises from poverty and disease, climate change and minority rights – have been inextricably marred by an insatiable hunger for power.

The serious begins with Ms. Reilly’s attempt to prohibit China from accessing a list containing names of Uyghur activists, which is quashed under the leadership of Tistounet. 

In a speech by UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, this practice was delicately phrased as a mere ‘Confirmation’ in response to member state’s requests to figure out which ‘already known’ activists would be speaking. Despite denying the claims, this use of softer language nonetheless attests that they informed Beijing of the dissidents speaking, that Beijing otherwise did not know.

For unconvinced viewers, those that thought this was a one time incident or that were swayed by the UN’s statement of denial, the UN blatantly attempted to prevent Ms. Reilly attending an online meeting she organised to discuss the disclosure of the names. In footage she captured, the Swiss police are seen illegally entering her home under the ridiculous auspices that she was a ‘suicide risk’. 

The series later discusses how the UN has become a breeding ground for gross misogyny – providing impunity to rapists.