Media Release

For Immediate Release

Contact John M. Miller (718)596-7668; (917)690-4391

ETAN Regrets Death of Sergio de Mello

August 19, 2003 - The East Timor Action Network deeply regrets the death of former UN Special Representative for the Secretary General to East Timor Sergio Vieira de Mello in today’s bombing of the UN headquarters in Iraq. As UN administrator of East Timor October 1999-May 2002, he worked tirelessly to help that battered nation stand on its feet as an independent country. As Commissioner for Human Rights, a role at first interrupted and now cut short by his service in Iraq, he would have pursued justice for the East Timorese and many others. That a man who dedicated his career to peace should die so violently is a tragic loss. ETAN extends its deepest condolences to Mr. de Mello’s family, friends and colleagues.

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