POLITICS-UN: Relief Workers Pay Ultimate Price

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 29 1998 (IPS) - The random killing of United Nations relief workers threatens the future of humanitarian operations in conflict zones throughout the world, say U.N. officials.

The death count among U.N. civilian staff this year stands at 17 – the highest total for any single year. Additionally, eight U.N. military personnel also have died while on duty assisting relief operations.

“This is the first time the number of civilians killed have exceeded the military,” says U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard. “Their deaths are totally unacceptable.”

Eckhard revealed Tuesday that an outraged Secretary-General Kofi Annan is reviewing all U.N. humanitarian operations.

Asked if the killings would have any impact on recruiting staff for field operations, he said he thought that the high motivating factor for humanitarian work would continue to take precedence over the risks involved, “but I am only speculating.”

Since 1992, 140 U.N. civilian staff have been killed and 143 taken hostage while serving in operations worldwide. Between 1996 and 1997, the Red Cross organisation lost 23 staff in the Great Lakes Region of Africa alone – covering Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (former Zaire).

Last week Renato Ricciardi, an Italian national working for the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), was shot and killed outside his home in Bujumbura, Burundi. WPF Executive Director Catherine Bertini described him as a dedicated and outstanding professional who had worked with the United Nations for 27 years, the last 17 with the WFP.

Ricciardi was the sixth WFP staffer to die this year and the third to be killed this month. One staff member was killed in Afghanistan and a second in Uganda two weeks ago.

Last week the United Nations also mourned the killing of four members of the U.N. Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT): two military observers from Poland and Uruguay, one civil affairs officer from Japan and a Tajik interpreter. The four, who were on patrol duty, were found shot dead, with initial reports indicating they were murdered.

While condemning the killings Annan recalled that the responsibility for the safety of U.N. missions rests with host countries and parties to conflicts.

The President of the U.N. General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko of Ukraine, said reports of attacks against international aid workers were now almost routine. “But there should be nothing routine in the response of the international community to these heinous crimes,” he said.

In a report on U.N. humanitarian assistance last week, Annan said the United Nations is finding it increasingly difficult to provide effective security because of a shortage of funds. As a result, he said, the recruitment of security professionals has been limited to less than 100 persons, to support the deployment of more than 30,000 U.N. field staff.

Last week there was also two U.N. humanitarian workers killed in Afghanistan. Both had been hanged.

Asked what could be done about these killings, the president of the U.N. Staff Union Rosemarie Waters said that the United Nations must raise the security awareness throughout the U.N. system and train staff in the field. “On this particular issue, the press can be very effective by continuing to cover the situations where U.N. staff are in danger, and highlight the perils of peacekeeping missions throughout the world,” she said.

Waters also said that governments must ratify the Convention on the Safety of U.N. and Associated Personnel. “We still need 22 countries to ratify this convention and only 17 (out of 185) have done so,” she added.

Sadako Ogata, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the Economic and Social Council Tuesday that insecurity in the context of humanitarian operations obviously has an impact on the safety of staff.

She said she was deeply distressed that a UNHCR staff member, Vincent Cochetel, head of the office in Northern Caucasus, is still in captivity six months after being abducted. “We continue to make every effort, in collaboration with the Russian authorities, to secure his freedom,” she added. “This is not an isolated case…it’s part of an alarming pattern witnessed in recent years.”

“Despite our appeals and efforts, I regret to report that humanitarian staff are not working in a more secure environment. I am worried and anguished by these developments.”

Ogata said that the issue of staff safety needs to be addressed with “vigour and determination.” She said she was pleased that the recent Rome Conference on the International Criminal Court had decided that violent acts against humanitarian personnel was ” a war crime.”

Addressing a U.N. Staff Union meeting on international security earlier this year Annan said the year 1992 marked a crossroad. Before then, security was not a major issue. “It was almost unheard of for non-military staff to be killed. When it happened, it was a random act, caused by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Since 1992, however, a new climate has prevailed where government authority is nowhere to be found in many conflict zones, Annan said.

“Violence is aimed deliberately at civilians. Sanctuaries such as hospitals, schools, and places of worship are destroyed and desecrated,” he said. “Combatants fail to respect the U.N.’s impartial presence, and instead target those wearing U.N. blue for detention, extortion, robbery and murder.”