STAFF COMMITTEE PRESIDENT DEPLORES ôVICIOUS KILLINGSö OF UN STAFF

Press Release
ORG/1291

STAFF COMMITTEE PRESIDENT DEPLORES “VICIOUS KILLINGS” OF UN STAFF

Says United Nations and Agencies Not Doing Enough To Protect Personnel

The following is the text of a statement issued by the President of the United Nations Staff Committee, Mehri Madarshahi, upon learning of the killings of United Nations staff in Kosovo and Burundi:

It is with deep sadness and shock that we have learned of the deaths on 12 October of United Nations staff member Valentin Krumov, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative Luis Zuniga and a World Food Programme (WFP) staff member whose identity we are still seeking to determine.

Newly arrived in Kosovo, staff member Valentin Krumov, 38 years old, a Bulgarian national assigned to the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) was brutally assaulted by a crowd of thugs and then shot dead in the centre of the capital of Pristina.

In Burundi, the UNICEF Representative to that country, Luis Zuniga, age 52, of Chile, and the chief WFP Logistics Officer were killed, along with seven others, when a United Nations team was ambushed during a visit to a displaced persons camp. A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) staff member was also seriously injured.

These vicious and senseless killings of our colleagues underscore the difficult conditions under which all United Nations personnel serve. Again, as too often has happened, staff members have paid the ultimate price in the service of the high ideals of the United Nations.

These deplorable actions reinforce the need for effective protection for all UN staff serving worldwide, whether local or international. We call on the international community to bring their killers to justice.

Our sincerest sympathies go out to all the bereaved relatives and colleagues.

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