The UN told employees they're not allowed to protest because it could undermine impartiality, and said they should retweet UN press releases instead

• Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres advised staff during a virtual town hall against joining George Floyd protests, since their role as international civil servants meant there were "limitations" on what they could say or do.
• Instead, staff members were told they could "spread the UN messages," by retweeting senior staff's social media posts, or sharing UN press releases.
• Clement Voule, the UN envoy on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly — an independent role created by the UN to ensure peaceful assembly is protected — condemned the UN's advice.
• In an op-ed, Voule wrote: "Like the NFL the UN should realize it's time to change."

United Nations staff members have been told not to join in protests over the killing of George Floyd, but to show solidarity by sharing UN press releases and social media posts made by senior UN officials.

Last week, the UN leadership team sent out an internal circular, and held a virtual town hall meeting to discuss how its employees should respond to protests that have swept the US and the world for two weeks.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres advised staff members to restrain themselves from joining in, since their role meant there were "limitations" on what they could say or do, according to a video recording of the UN's virtual town hall meeting on Thursday, which was obtained by Foreign Policy.

He said many of his colleagues "would like to be more vocal and active," but instead of protesting, staff were advised to repost UN press releases or social media posts from senior UN officials.

"There is one thing we can all do," he said, "which is to retweet, to spread the UN messages that have been issued already in relation to [the protests], and this can be done by everybody and multiply and amplify those messages that are messages against racism, that are messages against police brutality, that are message against inequalities and discrimination."

In the townhall, Guterres did not dismiss the racism. He said, "we are all shocked by the brutality of the murder of George Floyd." But attending protests might not be consistent with what was expected from international civil servants, according to the internal circular that he endorsed.

The circular said: "staff members should consider the consequences of participating in public demonstrations," namely of the impact joining in protests could have on the coronavirus pandemic.

'Like the NFL the UN should realize it's time to change'

On Sunday, Clement Voule, the UN envoy on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly — an independent role the UN created to ensure peaceful assembly was protected — published an op-ed calling for the UN to lift what he called the "UN ban on protest."

Voule wrote that after two years in the role, he thought he'd seen it all until he was informed about the UN's advice.

"While I understand the need to ensure the impartiality of its international civil service, it is clear that internal UN rules cannot override broad international human rights norms applied in every nation," he wrote. "Like the NFL the UN should realize it's time to change."

He wrote that the ban could be misinterpreted as turning its back on the current struggle in the US.

On Monday, the family of George Floyd and 650 human rights groups from 66 countries called on the UN to investigate racism and brutality in the US, according to The New York Times.

Philonise Floyd, George Floyd's brother, said in a statement: "I want people across the world and the leaders in the United Nations to see the video of my brother George Floyd, to listen to his cry for help, and I want them to answer his cry."

"I appeal to the United Nations to help him. Help me. Help us. Help black men and women in America," Floyd said.