PRESS RELEASE

No.  22/03

The President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) sent a letter today to Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, in which he expressed  his “deep regret and outrage over the death of Dr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN’s Special Envoy to Iraq, following the violent attack on the UN headquarters in the City of Baghdad” that occurred yesterday.

In this regard, the IACHR Chairman indicated that “during the time that Dr. Vieira de Mello served as High Commissioner for Human Rights, he demonstrated a great sensitivity and commitment to advancing and defending human rights.  This commitment, together with his ample and outstanding experience at the UN, including his service as the United Nations interim administrator in East Timor and as the special representative of the Secretary General in Kosova, bore promise of future important contributions to the cause of human rights.”

The Inter-American Commission indicated that it also regretted the death of other UN employees as a result of the same attack, and expressed “its most forceful condemnation of such acts, against persons who were performing the important humanitarian work that was entrusted to them.”

Washington, D.C., August 20, 2003