Jeannine Hennis-Plasschaert: Dutch Official Involved in Iraqi Bloodshed Becomes UN Coordinator in Lebanon

"The Devil's Old Lady, Um Fadak, Instigator of Corruption" — all these titles are attributed to Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Baghdad and head of the UNAMI mission to Iraq, who has currently been appointed as the Special Coordinator for the same organization in Lebanon.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on May 21, 2024, the appointment of Dutch diplomat Hennis-Plasschaert as the Special Coordinator for the United Nations in Lebanon, following her tenure in Iraq, which she served since 2018.

Defense Minister

Born in 1973 in Heerlen, the Netherlands, Jeanine Antoinette Hennis-Plasschaert pursued her secondary education at St. Anthony College in Gouda and studied at the European Secretarial Academy in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Married to Dutch economist Erik-Jan Hennis since 2003, she resides in Nederhorst den Berg in the Netherlands. As a politician and diplomat, she is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.

Hennis-Plasschaert was a civil servant and was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) after the 2004 European Parliament elections, winning again in 2009.

After the 2010 general elections, she was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives, resigning from the European Parliament on the same day on June 17, focusing on Dutch police matters, equal treatment, and LGBTQ+ rights.

Following the 2012 elections, in Prime Minister Mark Rutte's second cabinet, Hennis-Plasschaert became the first female Minister of Defense in the Netherlands, overseeing the Central Staff, Logistics Command, Defense Material Organization, and the Royal Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force, Military Police, and Border Guard.

She also oversaw the Dutch role in military operations in Mali, Afghanistan, and Iraq, in cooperation with the European Union, NATO, and UN partners.

In 2014, Hennis-Plasschaert oversaw the Dutch mission consisting of six F-16 fighter jets conducting airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq, expanding to Syria in 2016. She was awarded the title of the most influential woman in the Netherlands in 2015.

In the 2017 Dutch elections, she ranked second on the list of candidates for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.

In the same year, the Dutch Safety Board published a report on serious failings at the Ministry of Defense related to a fatal artillery training accident in Mali, resulting in the deaths of two Dutch soldiers and the injury of a third.

Facing ongoing criticism regarding this report, Hennis-Plasschaert eventually announced her resignation after a discussion in the House of Representatives in October 2017.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Hennis-Plasschaert as his Special Representative in Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) in August 2018, assuming her position on December 17 of the same year.

In 2019, Dutch Minister of Defense Ank Bijleveld-Schouten stated that an airstrike in Hawija, Kirkuk province, Iraq, carried out by a Dutch F-16 fighter jet in June 2015, resulted in approximately 70 casualties, including civilians.

Ank Schouten clarified that former Defense Minister Hennis-Plasschaert provided incorrect information when she informed Parliament shortly after this airstrike that no civilians were killed, and an airstrike targeting the Iraqi city of Mosul on September 20, 2015, resulted in the deaths of four civilians.

‘Um Fadak’

Approximately a year into her tenure in Iraq, protests erupted in October 2019, marking the largest wave of popular demonstrations in Iraq's history against the ruling political class since 2003.

At the onset of the 2019 protests, Hennis-Plasschaert called for renewed efforts to restore civil balance and protect freedom of expression, strongly condemning the killing of activists in attacks against others in the southern city of Basra. She urged increased efforts to bring perpetrators to justice.

However, during the protests, she sparked outrage with a tweet on November 6, 2019, suggesting an attempt to quell the unrest in the country, stating that disruption of vital infrastructure is also a major concern and protecting public facilities is everyone's responsibility.

“Threats to block roads leading to oil facilities and ports result in losses of billions. This harms Iraq's economy and undermines meeting the legitimate demands of the protesters,” she added.

On October 2, 2020, Hennis-Plasschaert stirred controversy again in Iraq after announcing a meeting with one of the prominent leaders of the Hezbollah Brigades militia, Abou Fadak al-Muhammadawi, known as Abu Fadak, designated on the U.S. terrorism list.

The Popular Mobilization Forces, comprising militias loyal to Tehran, issued a statement on October 2, 2020, stating that Abu Fadak welcomed Plasschaert at the headquarters of the organization in Baghdad and discussed security developments with her.

Abu Fadak is a member of the Consultative Council in the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, a field commander involved in many battles of these brigades, and widely believed to manage one of the militia's detention centers in Jurf al-Sakhar, north of Babil province, predominantly Sunni.

The U.S.-funded channel Alhurra reported on October 2, 2020, that Abu Fadak is the same man dubbed "The Uncle" whose name was inscribed on the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad following the attack on it in December of the same year, by elements of Iran-affiliated militias.

Responding to being nicknamed Um Fadak ( a nickname that reflects her relationship with Abu Fadak) by Iraqis, Hennis-Plasschaert said in a televised interview on March 5, 2024, that she is not bothered by this title. She met a man leading the Popular Mobilization Forces, officially linked to the Iraqi government, and she would meet with all figures influential in Iraq.

On January 28, 2021, the Independent High Electoral Commission in Baghdad met with Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, discussing the Iraqi parliamentary elections in October of the same year.

In response to Plasschaert's visit, Iraqi politician Osama al-Nujaifi harshly criticized the UN envoy, saying, "She has no right to go to Tehran for consultations on a purely Iraqi issue, especially since Iran is the main cause of our internal problems."

Al-Nujaifi stressed during a TV interview on February 3, 2021, that "these matters [elections] should be discussed within the international community, such as the Security Council or the General Assembly of the United Nations. This is the most appropriate, just, and balanced."

On August 16, 2023, Hennis-Plasschaert faced an attack from the al-Sadiqoun parliamentary bloc in Iraq, affiliated with Asa'ib Ahl al-Haqq militia led by Qais al-Khazali, describing her as "The Devil's Old Lady."

This came after Hennis-Plasschaert refused, during her meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, to endorse the decision of the Iraqi Media and Communications Commission to ban a set of terms, including gender and homosexuality.

The mission stated that Turk emphasized that these terms are globally accepted, necessary, among other things, to combat discrimination, and that their use does not contradict any culture, religion, or tradition.

Accused of Corruption

On February 16, 2024, The Guardian published an investigative report accusing United Nations employees in Iraq of accepting bribes from businessmen and investors in exchange for granting them reconstruction contracts and aid channeled through the United Nations and donors.

In response, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani requested that the country's Integrity Commission launch a separate investigation into this scandal.

The Guardian revealed in a shocking report the existence of significant irregularities in the management of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), allocated for the reconstruction of liberated (predominantly Sunni) areas in Iraq.

This program was launched following the announcement of the defeat of the Islamic State in the country, with £1.5 billion allocated for the reconstruction project.

According to the investigation conducted by the newspaper, UN staff working on the aid project demanded kickbacks from businessmen to facilitate their winning of reconstruction project contracts after the war.

Sources confirmed that the bribery rate reached 15% of the contract value, and investigations showed that these bribes were not limited to UN employees only but were also directed to Iraqi officials and contractors.

According to the British newspaper, Hennis-Plasschaert’s resignation from her position at the end of May 2024 comes as part of escalating pressures and increasing criticism faced by the UN Development Programme in Iraq amid growing allegations of corruption and mismanagement in project implementation.

The reasons for Hennis-Plasschaert’s resignation remain under investigation, along with the future of the UN Development Programme in Iraq. The public awaits further details on this decision and possible investigations into the allegations against the mission and its officials, according to The Guardian.

In response, the United Nations Mission in Iraq issued an official statement in February 2024, clarifying the context and reasons related to Hennis-Plasschaert’s departure from her position in Iraq.

It was mentioned that Hennis-Plasschaert’s departure from her position follows the official practices within the United Nations, including the customary rotation of senior officials.

In turn, the Iraqi Commission of Integrity announced that it had initiated investigation procedures into the corruption allegations published in the British press regarding the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Iraq.

The government media and communications office at the commission stated that the team formed by the commission had begun investigation and auditing procedures based on the information published in an article by The Guardian.

On May 11, 2024, Iraqi political analyst Abdul Qader al-Nayel accused Hennis-Plasschaert during a TV interview of advising the coordination framework to request the termination of the mission because her replacement, German diplomat Volker Perthes, has different views from hers, which aligned more closely with the framework.

According to the Iraqi affairs expert, Hennis-Plasschaert is accused of financial corruption as she obtained arms deals from the framework powers through Dutch civilian companies that manufacture weapons because the current UN representative was the Minister of Defense in the Netherlands before coming to Iraq to represent the United Nations.