Question on the killing of De Mello

THE EDITOR: Was the slain UN envoy in Iraq a victim of superpower jealousy? I would hate to think that. But an interview with Tim Sebastian recorded in April this year and replayed Tuesday evening on BBC World may seem to suggest that this fearless Brazilian firebrand may have been not just the victim of anti Americanism as the world may wont to believe. Sebastian asked the diplomat, “is the head of the UN Human Rights bureau afraid to openly speak out against the American administration” to which De Mello replied “haven’t you heard me publicly and openly criticise President Bush for his inhumane treatment of Iraqi prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.”

I hope I am wrongly interpreting these two events. Because if it is that De Mello was simply speaking his mind as the top Human Rights advocate in the world and it embarrassed American policy and he paid the price with his life then I humbly suggest that all America tried to achieve in Iraq by dismantling the tyrant Saddam Hussein would have gone to naught. What also baffles me is the haste with which the UN itself has agreed not to leave Iraq despite the horrors of human sufferings and the repeated claims Tuesday by US officials that the coalition troops cannot guarantee safety for everyone in Iraq. Is it now that the target has been met (getting rid of De Mello) there is no need for fear among UN staff anymore?

You see I ask these questions because I travel to the US very often and I hear all this talk about democracy and so on. Why should Iraqi dissidents want to attack a man who went into their country to protect the interest of the innocent? Can anyone really answer that question. Dissidents are fighting Americans not those whom they believe are on their side. And opposers of Human Rights violations are obviously “no threat” to pro-Saddam supporters. All news channels have had people at the UN and elsewhere speaking of De Mello as a man whose death has left a huge vacuum in the UN body. His profile, it is said was more admirable than the man who holds the most powerful political office in the world. If what I am suggesting is in fact correct then I am afraid, “the last days” are really at hand.

JGNH SINGH
Port-of-Spain