Sérgio Vieira de Mello
Sérgio Vieira de Mello | |
---|---|
Governor of East Timor) | |
Succeeded by | Xanana Gusmão (as President of East Timor) |
Personal details | |
Born | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 15 March 1948
Died | 19 August 2003 Baghdad, Iraq | (aged 55)
Cause of death | Killed in the Canal Hotel bombing |
Spouse |
Annie Personnaz
(m. 1973–2003) |
Domestic partner | Carolina Larriera (2001–2003; his death) |
Children | 2 |
University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne | |
Awards | Order of the Two Niles (1973)[1] |
Sérgio Vieira de Mello (Portuguese pronunciation:
He was killed in the
Biography and professional career
Vieira de Mello was born in
From UNHCR, Vieira de Mello moved to the field in
These early assignments were operational, rather than political; he was helping to organize food aid, shelter and other types of aid to refugees. Vieira de Mello remained in the field, with a posting in Mozambique to assist refugees fleeing white rule and civil war in Zimbabwe (at the time, still Rhodesia) where he was deputy head of the office. Due to the absence of his boss, he was effectively running the mission.[11]
Early in his career, he also completed an
Vieira de Mello spent three years in charge of UNHCR operations in Mozambique during the civil war that followed its independence from Portugal in 1975, and three more years in Peru. Vieira de Mello also served as Special Envoy for the UNHCR for Cambodia, being the first and only UN Representative to hold talks with the Khmer Rouge. He became senior political adviser to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon between 1981 and 1983. In 1985, he returned to Latin America to serve as head of the Argentina office in Buenos Aires.[15]
He spent the 1990s involved in the clearing of land mines in Cambodia, and then in Yugoslavia. After working on the refugee problem in central Africa, he was made Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees in 1996 and became Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator two years later. He would hold this position simultaneously with others until January 2001. He was a special UN envoy in Kosovo after the UN took control over the Serbian province in 1999.[16]
Vieira de Mello was instrumental in dealing with the issue of boat people in Hong Kong. In mid-2000, he visited Fiji together with Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth of Nations' Secretary-General, in an attempt to assist in finding a negotiated settlement to the hostage situation, in which Fiji's Prime Minister and other members of Parliament were kidnapped and held as hostages during the 2000 Fijian coup d'état.[17]
Before becoming the
In May 2003 Vieira de Mello was appointed as the Special Representative of the
Death
Vieira de Mello was working as United Nations Special Representative for Iraq when he was killed[19] in the Canal Hotel bombing. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the blast.[20] A communiqué from al-Qaeda said that de Mello was assassinated because he had helped East Timor become an independent state, thereby stealing territory from the Islamic caliphate.[21]
He had been mentioned in some circles as a suitable candidate for UN Secretary-General.[22] His death was widely mourned, largely on account of his reputation for effectively working to promote peace. Despite his stated wishes to be buried in Rio de Janeiro, his hometown, the place he lived for 34 years, and where he was given a state funeral with full military honors that was attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and other international dignitaries, his body was taken away from Brazil and he was buried at the Cimetière des Rois in Geneva, Switzerland.[23] He was survived by his two sons, Adrien and Laurent.[24]
Personal life
In 1973, he met and married Annie Personnaz, a French staff member at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, with whom he had two sons, Laurent and Adrien.[19] They lived in the French town of Thonon-les-Bains, before moving a few years later to a permanent home in the French village of Massongy, near the Geneva border.[25]
Despite still being married, the couple was separated prior to Sérgio's death, with a divorce lawsuit filed on 9 January 2003, which was never executed.[26]
From 2001 onwards, he was in a relationship with Carolina Larriera , whom he had met in East Timor where she worked as part of the General Service support staff of the UN mission.
Sérgio and Carolina had a union that lasted until his death.[27][28][29][30] The civil union -only valid in Brazil despite bigamy being illegal- was the result of a lawsuit won by Larriera against his wife, heirs and the estate, after a process of more than ten years.[26]
The UN failed to recognize officially the union between Sérgio and Carolina. Carolina claims that she was excluded from the list of survivors of the Canal Hotel bombing, and her comments were not taken into account for the report regarding the attack.[31] After his death, she was not invited to any of the United Nations celebrations of his life, while the ex-wife Annie was recognized by the UN as Sérgio's widow.
Annie still lives in France, and has co-founded a Swiss charity – the Sérgio Vieira de Mello Foundation – with his two sons and close friends and colleagues to honor his name and memory.[32]
Awards and recognition
Vieira de Mello received a number of posthumous awards and honours, chief of which was the
Following the initiative of the Villa Decius Association, the Polish Prize of Sérgio Vieira de Mello was established in the year 2003 with the aim to promote human rights, democracy and tolerance and had its first edition in 2004.[33]
Sérgio Vieira de Mello Center
The Sérgio Vieira de Mello Center was founded by his mother, Gilda Vieira de Mello, and Sérgio's surviving spouse Carolina Larriera, also a former UN diplomat and Harvard trained professional, to honor his legacy, and works with a network of supporters out of Brazil, Sergio's country of nationality and Timor-Leste, the country he helped create – around the world.[34]
The Sérgio Vieira de Mello Center works through a nationwide network of universities specialized in international relations and the future generation of world ambassadors. Specifically, the Sérgio Vieira de Mello Center focuses on the use of technology, entrepreneurism, and networks to mobilize mentors and disciples and build a sustainable peace model that can be easily replicated. It engages Harvard and MIT engineers and education professionals to empower local communities and schools. The Center matches ivory tower professionals with base of the pyramid and disenfranchised youth, identifying easily obtained opportunities. With ANAPRI, the National Association of International Relations Professionals is mobilizing Congress for more resources for the professionalization of the sector.
The Center engages and actively supports a network of more than one hundred schools and institutions bearing Sérgio's name in Brazil and abroad, and provides teaching tools and in-kind material. It also runs the Gilda Vieira de Mello for her Son Sergio Vieira de Mello awarded annually in Geneva.[clarification needed]
Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation
The Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation was created in 2007 to honor his memory, pursue his ideals and continue his unfinished mission. The Foundation was established in Geneva, at the initiative of his two sons and his estranged wife, with some friends and colleagues.
On 11 December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly made history when it adopted Swedish-sponsored GA Resolution A/63/L.49 on the Strengthening of the Coordination of Emergency Assistance of the United Nations,[36] that amongst other important humanitarian decisions, decided to designate 19 August as the World Humanitarian Day (WHD). The Resolution gives for the first time, a special recognition to all humanitarian and United Nations and associated personnel who have worked in the promotion of the humanitarian cause and those who have died in the cause of duty and urges all Member States, entities of the United Nations within existing resources, as well as the other International Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations to observe it annually in an appropriate way. As a background to this landmark resolution, the family of Sérgio Vieira de Mello resolved to work towards having 19 August recognized as a befitting tribute to all humanitarian personnel. Early April 2008 the Board of the Sérgio Vieira de Mello Foundation prepared a draft Resolution to be sponsored and adopted by the General Assembly designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day. France, Switzerland, Japan and Brazil, contacted with the draft Resolution, agreed to co-sponsor it.
Sérgio Vieira de Mello founded the United Nations Housing Rights Programme, currently a part of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, aims to "assist States and other stakeholders with the implementation of their commitments in the Habitat Agenda".[37]
After his death, the Italian city of Bologna dedicated to Sergio Vieira de Mello a square (Piazza Sérgio Vieira de Mello) situated in a modern part of the central quartiere Navile.
Vieira de Mello's life was the subject of the 2020 biopic Sergio, starring Wagner Moura in the title role.
Career chronology
- 1969–1971: French Editor, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
- 1971–1972: Project Officer, UNHCR, Dhaka, East Pakistan
- 1972–1973: Programme Officer, UNHCR, Juba, Sudan
- 1974–1975: Programme Officer, UNHCR, Nicosia, Cyprus
- 1975–1977: Deputy Representative and Representative, UNHCR, Maputo, Mozambique
- 1978–1980: Representative, UNHCR, Lima, Peru
- 1980–1981: Head of Career Development and Training Unit of Personnel Section, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
- 1981–1983: Senior Political Officer, DPKO, Lebanon
- 1983–1985: Deputy Head of Personnel, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
- 1986–1988: Chef de Cabinet and Secretary to the executive committee, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
- 1988–1990: Director of Asia Bureau, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
- 1990–1991: Director of External Affairs, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
- 1991–1993: Director for Repatriation and Resettlement Operations,
- 1993–1994: Director of Political Affairs, Bosnia-Herzegovina
- 1994–1996: Director of Operations and Planning, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
- October–December 1996: Special Envoy of Secretary-General to the Great Lakes Region
- 1996–1998: Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
- 1998–2002: Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, UN, New York, US
- June–July 1999: Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Kosovo
- 1999–2002: Transitional Administrator, UNTAET, DPKO, and Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dili, East Timor
- 2002–2003: High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland
- May–August 2003: Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Iraq
See also
- List of peace activists
- Luiz Carlos da Costa
- World Humanitarian Day
- Sergio (2009 film)
- Sergio (2020 film)
Further reading
- Jean-Claude Buhrer et ISBN 2-84205-826-7.
- Leon Hartwell. 2022. Sergio Vieira de Mello: Lessons on Negotiating with the Devil. In Buffon, D., Hostetter, D., Howlett, C., and Peterson, C. Oxford Handbook of Peace History. Oxford University Press: Oxford. https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/42641/chapter-abstract/375100825?redirectedFrom=fulltext
- George Gordon-Lennox et Annick Stevenson, Sergio Vieira de Mello : un homme exceptionnel. – ISBN 2-8293-0266-4. – En appendice, choix de textes de Sergio Vieira de Mello.
- Jacques Marcovitch – USP – Sergio Vieira de Mello – pensamento e memória. 1 Edição | 2004 | Brochura 344p. | Cód.: 167075 | ISBN 978-85-314-0867-0 (pt)
References
- ISBN 978-0-14-192110-5.
- ^ "Medalha Sergio Vieira de Mello". 1 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d Power (2008), p. 16
- ^ Power, Samantha (30 March 2010). Sergio: One Man's Fight to Save the World. Penguin Books. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ Power (2008), pp. 16–17
- ^ "Maison de l'Argentine". Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Power (2008), p. 20
- ^ Power (2008), p. 22
- ^ Power (2008), pp. 26–27
- ^ Power (2008), pp. 25–33
- ^ Power (2008), pp. 26 (Bangladesh), 27 (Sudan), 31 (Cyprus) & 32 (Mozambique)
- ^ Power (2008), pp. 25–31
- ^ Power (2008), p. 31
- ^ Power (2008), p. 71
- ^ "Fundación ACNUR Argentina | Agencia de la ONU para refugiados". Fundación ACNUR Argentina. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ Thakur, Ramesh (19 July 2013). "Is the United Nations racist?". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
- ^ "AM Archive – Fiji Chiefs' decision still unknown". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ Gourevitch & Morris (2008), p. 34
- ^ ISBN 1-59420-128-5
- ^ Benson, Pam, "CIA: Zarqawi tape 'probably authentic' Archived 3 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine", CNN World, 7 April 2004.
- ^ Hitchens, Christopher (3 October 2005). "Don't bother looking for explanations for terrorist attacks". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ Power 2008, p. 8.
- La Nacion. 21 August 2003.
- ^ "Structure of the Foundation – Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation". Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-14-192110-5.
- ^ a b "Ordonnance de Non Conciliation" (PDF). Tribunal de Grande Instance de Thonon Les Bains.
- ^ "La batalla que la pareja de comisionado de DDHH le ganó a la ONU". The Clinic. 30 August 2018.
- ^ "Uma voz para as vítimas". O Globo. 19 August 2018.
- ^ "Uma voz para as vítimas". Publico. 19 August 2018.
- ^ "Carolina Larriera quebra o silêncio após 14 anos de injustiças". Claudia. 18 October 2017.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ASIN B0035APW6E.
- ^ [1] Polish Prize of Sergio Vieira de Mello
- ^ "Sergio Vieira de Mello Center – English". sergiovieirademello.org. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ "Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation – Humanitarian action through dialogue". Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ United Nations General Assembly Session 63 Resolution A-63-L.49. World Humanitarian Day A/63/L.49 11 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
- ^ "Housing rights". UN-HABITAT. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-85-359-1365-1.
- ISBN 978-1-59420-128-8.
External links
- The Economist – "A brave man's journey"
- BBC News – Obituary: Sergio Vieira de Mello
- CNN – Sergio Vieira de Mello: A Rising Star
- Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation
- En Route to Baghdad directed by Brazilian journalist Simone Duarte[permanent dead link]
- USP "Sergio Vieira de Mello: pensamento e memória" . (Portuguese language).
- Sergio Vieira de Mello [Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator]
- UNHCHR Sergio Vieira de Mello
- PBS Independent Lens pages on "En Route To Baghdad" Archived 10 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- UNHREP. The Final Project of the Man of Peace
- UN Special Nº671. DEAR FRIENDS OF SERGIO
- TED Talks Samantha Power: Shaking hands with the devil
- "Unsung Heroes of the Battlefields" by Laurent Vieira de Mello, president of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation – The Washington Post, 19 August 2009
- Sérgio Vieira de Mello at IMDb
Interviews
- Interview with Human Rights Features
- Interview on Democracy Now!
- Interview on BBC News
- Can Kosovo recover? Archived 30 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine – Interview on PBS
Films
- Documentary film, Sergio (2009 film): En Route to Baghdad directed by Brazilian journalist Simone Duarte
- Biographical film Sergio, by Netflix, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 28 January 2020, released in US on 17 April 2020.