MOSUL TIME RADIO
The Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Iraq for Political Affairs and Electoral Assistance, Claudio Cordone, said yesterday , Monday, that 2023 was the deadliest year for humanitarian workers ever, and he expected that 2024 would be even worse .
Cordone said during his speech on the anniversary of the bombing of the Canal Hotel in the capital, Baghdad, “We of course have a special reason to commemorate this day here in Baghdad, as the memories of that attack on the Canal Hotel are still fresh in our minds and its wounds, some of which are not visible, have not yet healed.” We lost twenty-two (22) colleagues on that day in 2003, five days after the Security Council announced the formation of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) .
The then Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was among those who lost their lives. More than one hundred (100) others were injured or otherwise affected .
He continued, “Some of the survivors of the Canal Hotel bombing are with us today, and are still serving in the United Nations, working for their country .”
He pointed out that “Humanitarian workers from the United Nations, along with others from local and international non-governmental organizations, are exposed to killing, injury, and kidnapping, along with the civilians whom these workers support, as civilians – as is always the case – bear the brunt of conflicts everywhere .”
He continued, “International humanitarian law is being trampled underfoot. More than ever, atrocities are being documented, sometimes proudly by the perpetrators themselves, and yet impunity reigns almost everywhere .”
He added, “In our region, in Gaza, we witnessed the killing of the largest number of United Nations employees in any conflict, and among them were (207) of my former colleagues in (UNRWA), who were killed alongside more than (40,000) Palestinians in a fierce war in which All parties comply with international law, and it is a war that may escalate into igniting the fuse of a regional war .”
Cordone called on all parties involved in conflicts to stop attacks against humanitarian workers and all civilians, calling for those who order or commit violations of international law to be held accountable.
