SECRETARY-GENERAL PAYS WARM TRIBUTE TO MARY ROBINSON FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT SHE WILL COMPLETE TERM AS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER IN SEPTEMBER 2002

SECRETARY-GENERAL PAYS WARM TRIBUTE TO MARY ROBINSON FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT

SHE WILL COMPLETE TERM AS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER IN SEPTEMBER 2002

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General wishes to pay a warm tribute to Mary Robinson who announced this morning, at the opening of the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, that she would be completing her term as High Commissioner for Human Rights in September 2002.

During her time as High Commissioner, Mrs. Robinson has achieved remarkable progress in raising the profile of human rights and making them a central issue in all societies.  She has travelled far and wide to promote respect for human rights and has never been afraid to take up the cause of the victims of human rights abuses, wherever they occurred.  Nor has she ever tired of lending her powerful voice to the cries of these victims, which otherwise might not have been heard.  The Secretary-General deeply appreciates her invaluable contributions to the United Nations and to the human rights programme.

The Secretary-General extends to Mrs. Robinson his very best wishes and looks forward to her continued support for the cause of human rights.

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