INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH DETAINED UN STAFF MEMBERS TO BE OBSERVED ON 27 MARCH

                                                      Note No. 5657

                                                      23 March 2001

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH DETAINED UN STAFF MEMBERS

TO BE OBSERVED ON 27 MARCH

The International Day of Solidarity with Detained United Nations Staff Members will be observed on Tuesday, 27 March, with a panel discussion from 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Conference Room 7 at United Nations Headquarters.

The Day marks the abduction, on 25 March 1986, near Beirut Airport, of Alec Collett, a staff member of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) whose fate has never been determined.  The observance of the Day intends to draw attention on the United Nations staff members who have been arrested, detained, abducted or "disappeared" while in the service of the Organization.

Invited speakers include Norberto Svarzman, President of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA), of which Mr. Collett is Honorary President; United Nations Staff Union President Mampela Mpela; Richard John Moon, Counsellor at the United Kingdom Permanent Mission at the United Nations; and Richard Manlove, Office of the United Nations Security Coordinator.

The event is organized by the Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service and the United Nations Staff Union.

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