Wanted: Savvy Ex-Statesman for Top U.N. Rights Job
Wed Jul 17,10:56 AM ET
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA (Reuters) - WANTED: Savvy former statesman from a developing or transition country --
preferably Asian or East European -- who knows when to step aside and let United Nations ( news -
web sites) boss Kofi Annan ( news - web sites) take the lead on sensitive issues.
POST: U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, succeeding former Irish president Mary Robinson,
whose last day in office is Sept. 11.
DUTIES: Convince governments to allow fundamental freedoms, release political opponents, and
re-educate their rogue police and military forces.
SEX/RELIGION: Woman preferred, Muslim would be a plus.
Although Secretary-General Annan is playing his cards close to his chest, he is considering a
field of candidates, mainly from developing or emerging countries, to be his top human rights
officer, according to diplomats and U.N. sources. He is also eager to appoint a woman, they add.
Robinson steps down in September after five years, leaving a larger staff, more field offices and
a mixed legacy. She won praise from activists but irked big powers like China, Russia and the
United States with criticism of their records.
Annan must weigh each candidate's profile -- gender, religion, passport and track record --
against the demands of geopolitics. All five regional groupings covet jobs for their nationals as
heads of U.N. agencies.
Former Filipino President Corazon "Cory" Aquino, Leticia Ramos-Shahani, sister of Fidel Ramos who
succeeded Aquino as head of state, and former Thai foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan, are among
favored Asians. Other names emerging in the behind-the-scenes race are former Polish dissident
Bronislaw Geremek, Sergio Vieira de Mello, a U.N. veteran from Brazil who ran the administration
in East Timor ( news - web sites), and Mali's former president Alpha Oumar Konare, backed by
France.
[...]
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