August 21, 2003
Mr. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General
and
Mr. Bertrand Ramcharan
Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the High Commissioner
Dear Honorable Secretary-General and Acting High Commissioner:
I am writing to express my sincere condolences of our staff members to mourn our great loss, the High Commissioner Sergio Vieira de Mello, who dedicated himself to protect and promote human rights for all the peoples in the world.
Upon reaching such a tragic news about him, I could not help recalling his resistance against the war in Iraq last March. He appealed the parties in Iraqi conflict to respect humanitarian law immediately after the breakout of the war against Iraq, by emphasizing that fundamental human rights norms must be respected at all times.
His death is more lamentable and personal to me because I shared the common concern over the sufferings of the Iraqis under the armed conflicts and my Commission also opposed to such an inhumane war at that time. Unfortunately and ironically, he was in the mission of helping the Iraqi people whom he was very much concerned about when he faced his last moment.
We will not forget his great achievements and commitment for the world peace and settlement of conflicts every where. Therefore, I convey our deepest sorrow and sympathies to you and the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Chang-Kuk Kim
President
National Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea
