Staff Union Calls for End to Arbitrary Arrest, Detention on International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, 25 March

As the United Nations marked the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff on 25 March, United Nations personnel continued to be arrested and detained by the authorities, at times without any reason given for their detention.  At the same time, they continued to be abducted by armed groups seeking to assert their power or to exert pressure.

More than 20 United Nations civilian personnel are currently in detention, of whom six are held without any explanation being given to the Organization for their arrest.  Locally recruited personnel bear the brunt, representing 94 per cent of cases involving arrest and detention by the authorities, according to the latest report of the Secretary-General on the safety and security of United Nations personnel (document A/71/395), issued September 2016, which states that there were 69 cases of arrest and detention in 2015 and 39 in the first six months of 2016.

Abductions of United Nations personnel have also continued.  Seven were abducted by armed groups in 2016, and four were held hostage before ultimately being released.  Twenty-one such personnel were abducted in five incidents during the course of 2015.

The United Nations Staff Union and its Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service, which promote the observance of the International Day of Solidarity, urge Member States to stop unlawful arrests and detention of United Nations personnel or obstruction of their freedom of movement.  In particular, Member States are urged to respect the rights of locally recruited personnel.

The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members marks the anniversary of the abduction of Alec Collett, taken by armed men near Beirut airport on 25 March 1985, while on assignment with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).  His body was eventually found and identified in 2009.  The United Nations Staff Union and the Committee pay homage to Mr. Collett and all others who have suffered a similar fate, while remembering the family members who bear the burden.