UN Urges Countries To
Endorse Convention On Safety Of Staff
United
Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, has urged all UN
member-states to urgently ratify the 1994 Convention on the
Safety of UN and Associated Personnel.
In his message to mark the International Day of Solidarity with
Detained and Missing Staff Members, in New York , Ki-Moon called
on the states that had yet to ratify the convention to do so
without delay.
Arrests
Ki-Moon said that twenty-four UN civilian workers had been
arrested or detained in relation to UN-specific activities or
under circumstances where access or due process was denied.
He demanded for due process and called for action on behalf of
the two individuals, one in Eritrea and one in Somalia , who
remain missing.
The convention
Ki-Moon noted that the 2005 Optional Protocol to the convention,
which extends legal protection to other humanitarian workers,
was currently two countries short of the twenty-two
ratifications needed for its entry into force.
He promised to work with the UN staff union’s committee on
security and independence of the international civil service to
raise public awareness on the matter.
The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing
Staff Members is marked every year on March 25, the anniversary
of the abduction of Alec Collett, a former journalist who was
working for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Near
East , abducted in 1985.
NAN/Williams/Alade
