[CivilSoc] Vieira de Mello, Fighter for Peace, Human Rights, and Protection of Refugees, Dies in Iraq

[Moderator]

The following item comes from RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies, Vol. 4, No. 20, 20
August 2000.
SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO: A HUMANITARIAN IN HARM'S WAY.
The bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad on 18 August,
which killed at least 17 people, dramatically demonstrated the vulnerability
of humanitarian workers to attack and exposed the fragility of efforts to
restore democracy and justice in Iraq months after major combat operations
ceased. The death toll included 14 UN staff members and the UN's top envoy
to Iraq, Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello, who also served as the UN high
commissioner for human rights.
The bombers were "enemies of the civilized world," U.S. President George W.
Bush declared, as throughout the day horrified UN employees watched
television reports first of de Mello trapped in the rubble after the blast,
calling on his cellular telephone and receiving water, then dying of his
injuries. "Sergio was not only an accomplished diplomat, but a true
humanitarian," Kenneth Roth, executive director for Human Rights Watch, said
in a statement published on the organization's website (http://www.hrw.org).
"It is tragic he should end up the victim of the kind of war crime he fought
so hard to prevent."
[In Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of
national mourning for the highly respected diplomat.  The Brazilian Foreign
Minister issued a statement saying that de Mello was "irreplaceable" and
would always be remembered for his role in "battles for peace, for human
rights, and for the defense of refugees."]
De Mello, appointed as Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative
to Iraq, had temporarily left his post as high commissioner for human rights
and assumed a mandate to "assist the Iraqi people and those responsible for
the administration of this land to achieve freedom, the possibility of
managing their own destiny and determining their own future," "The New York
Times" quoted him as saying on 18 August. Nearly a year into his job as high
commissioner and only two-and-a-half months in Iraq, at the time of his
death de Mello was working on such issues as the establishment of a justice
system to address numerous human rights atrocities.
In July, de Mello had convened a conference of international scholars and
Iraqi experts to discuss what kind of justice system should be established
to deal with war crimes, and to prosecute deposed President Saddam Hussein,
should he be caught. Wary of international courts, U.S. officials have
discussed trials in an American military tribunal for Iraqis who commit
crimes against Americans. The U.S. appeared to lean toward an Iraqi-led
process for war criminals. Concerned about both the limited effect of
"victors' justice" and the incapacity of the Iraqi system, the UN advocated
a different approach. In a briefing to the Security Council in July, de
Mello said, "I believe there is much merit in considering the establishment
of a mixed Iraqi and international panel of experts to consider in detail
the options that would best suit Iraq." De Mello stayed shy of advocating an
international tribunal, but held out for the prospect of international
participation.
While serving as the UN's envoy in Iraq responsible for coordinating
humanitarian relief and other issues, de Mello maintained a profile on human
rights. "I consider the development of a culture of human rights in Iraq as
fundamental to stability and true peace in that country," the UN's news
agency IRIN quoted him as saying in June as he headed to Iraq. "Respect for
human rights is the only solid foundation for durable peace and for
development. I shall place particular importance ... on the need to insure
women's rights and their full participation in the consultative process--at
least the political one."
Sadly, de Mello's remarks at a press conference before heading out to Iraq
were prescient. "Security has not been completely restored and it is
impossible to deal with the rest and to build what we want to
build--democratic institutions and a real culture of human rights and
political processes ... without security," he said. A charismatic diplomat
in a world where officials often hide from the public, de Mello was seen as
the "go-to guy" for assisting newly-independent states in high-risk
neighborhoods through turbulent postwar reconstruction periods.
The career of de Mello, 55, a native of Rio de Janeiro and veteran of 34
years' service with the UN, illustrates the world's worst hotspots in recent
decades. He came to work at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees in Geneva in 1969. He served in Bangladesh when it won its
independence from Pakistan; in Cyprus following the 1974 Turkish invasion;
in Cambodia; and in Kosovo following the NATO bombing to dislodge Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic. He also headed the UN office in East Timor
from 2000-2002 to prepare it for independence. UN-watchers surmised that de
Mello would eventually become secretary-general.
Some NGOs were critical of the appointment of de Mello to Iraq because they
believed he already had a full plate as high commissioner for human rights,
having to cope with challenging issues ranging from the wholesale slaughter
of civilians in Liberia to the lack of international response to the ongoing
trauma of displacement and killings in Chechnya, where the UN has had to
work more quietly. In a public statement issued at the time of his
appointment, Amnesty International said the jobs of special envoy and human
rights commissioner should not be combined. Bertrand Ramcharan, a seasoned
diplomat with 30 years of experience, had already been named acting high
commissioner and is currently remaining in the post. De Mello had intended
to return to his original position in Geneva within the next two months,
colleagues said, as the mission to Iraq was not
intended for the long term.
Dubbed a "bureaucratic black belt" by those who worked closely with him, de
Mello was known as an insider talented at navigating the troubled currents
of UN politics but quietly pushing to get things done. He had been picked
for his current position and past jobs for just that quality, and human
rights experts believed he was effective particularly in strengthening the
UN's field missions and in tackling such issues as the internally displaced
in war zones.
Some wished for a more high-profile impact. Human Rights Watch's Roth told
the "Los Angeles Times" at the time of his appointment in 2002 that de Mello
would have to "prove he could stand up to governments" and "be a clear and
resounding voice on behalf of the victims." In the end, as in so many
attacks on humanitarian workers around the world, governments and their
actions were not immediately at issue, as de Mello was most likely
victimized by non-state actors who had chosen terrorism as their method.
Some UN observers perceived de Mello as less outspoken than his predecessor
in the human rights job, former Irish President Mary Robinson, who managed
to rankle all the permanent five members of the Security Council with her
candid criticisms of human rights abuses, particularly in conjunction with
the war on terrorism following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.
While more discreet, de Mello and his staff continued to make public
criticism on human rights issues, including interventions with the Russian
government on the question of forced return of displaced persons from
Ingushetia to Chechnya, which de Mello said in a 14 April BBC interview was
being done against their will. He also arranged for Ramcharan to visit all
the Central Asian nations earlier this year due to mounting concerns about
human rights conditions in the region.
While most of the world's attention for Iraq has focused on the killing of
soldiers and journalists, humanitarian workers have also been targeted. Like
dozens of other humanitarian workers, both locals and foreigners, around the
world, they were unarmed and open to attack, especially as they began to
encounter information about massive human rights abuses. Increasingly, as
civil wars take their greatest toll on civilians, the humanitarian workers
and human rights investigators who come to aid the population themselves
fall under attack. Before the Baghdad blast, 18 workers were killed in 2003,
in Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. The UN is considering a resolution to protect such
workers, but NGOs say that unless the U.S. and other countries make a
commitment to provide overall military security, such
expressions of support will have no teeth. U.S. leaders have been reluctant
to extend security forces, not only because they are not equipped for the
job of policing but because they themselves can draw fire.
The Baghdad blast will undoubtedly call also into question whether human
rights investigations and work in reconstructing civil society can
reasonably be performed in what essentially remains a combat zone. Outright
attacks on the UN are not as frequent as those against specific countries
such as the United States or Jordan. The latter was a victim of a bomb blast
earlier this month at its embassy in Baghdad, where 11 were killed. Experts
say those who attacked the UN compound in Baghdad may have associated the UN
with the U.S. presence in Iraq, and may also have wanted to specifically
target de Mello. L. Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. civilian administrator in
Iraq, said there were indications that the truck bomb crashed deliberately
into the compound just beneath de Mello's third-floor office, "The New York
Times" reported on 18 August.
The UN is often disparaged by governments frustrated with the inaction of
its bureaucracy. Civilians in areas of armed conflict often complain that
the UN is helpless to assist them and is even forced to cooperate with their
persecutors to keep a presence on the ground in war zones. It is only at
times when humanitarians fall in the line of duty that belated recognition
comes for their sacrifices and the small but important victories they are
able to achieve under hellish circumstances. Speaking of East Timor, de
Mello once said, "You don't change it into a Garden of Eden in two years"
but added, "we have laid solid bases for the country to live in peace."
Copyright (c) 2003. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted with
permission.
"RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies" is prepared by Catherine Fitzpatrick on the
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