SINCE THE BOMBING OF THE UN OFFICE IN BAGHDAD
BY SEBLE DEMEKE, UN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT IN AFRICA
1948 to 2008 – sixty years of UN Peacekeeping
legacy has a mixed history of tragedy
and successes. One of its sad days, which
shocked the world, was the bombing of the
UN office in Baghdad on 19 August 2003.
This day will never be forgotten.
The UN lost twenty-two of its staff and many
others were injured. Among those killed in
service of the United Nations was the Special
Representative of the UN Secretary-General,
Sergio Vieira de Mello. Five years later the
sorrow and sadness is still fresh in the hearts
and minds of families and colleagues of the
deceased and will remain so for many more
years to come. The murder of innocent staff
members continues and since 2003 several
UN staff members were targeted and killed in
vain. One of the latest deadliest bombing of
the UN premises took place in the city of Algiers
where at least eighteen UN employees
died when a car bomb blasted the facade of
the UN refugee agency.
Below is the conversation I had with Nina
Kebede, the widow of Mr. Christopher Klein
Beekman, one of the victims of the Baghdad
tragedy, who was a staff member with the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His wife Nina was
working with the Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA), also in Addis Ababa.
It is a great pleasure for me to meet
you and have the opportunity to discuss
with you the Baghdad tragedy.
My heart felt condolences to you for
the loss of your husband. Five years
later, how do you cope with your day-to-day life?
First of all I want to say thank you for bringing
it out. You are the first person to do such
an article from ECA, which I appreciate very
much. It is a very sad and tough incident for
the whole family. It is something that we
have to live with, and which is still fresh
every single day. But with the power of God
I manage to cope with it.
Tell me about Christopher, what kind
of a person was he? What were the
things that he liked most?
Chris was a very hard working person, very
enthusiastic. The work of UNICEF was not
merely a job for him but it was something
deeply inculcated in him. He used to talk
about the work of UNICEF. He used to cry
when some of the projects were not successful.
He was a very lovely person. He
used to enjoy his friends and his social life
around him. At one point, international staff
were stopped at the boarder in Baghdad;
but he was the first person, in violation of the
rule, to enter the city without clearance.
How and where did you meet your husband? He was a Canadian and you
an Ethiopian?
We met in a social gathering in Addis Ababa.
How long were you been married?
We were together for almost five years.
What are the moments you remember
most during the period you were together?
Everything.
Do you have any children?
No.
Since the Baghdad bombing the massacres
of innocent UN civilians and
military personnel continues. In 2004
and 2005, fifteen staff members were
killed; in 2006, thirty-one; and in 2007
alone, fourty staff members were murdered.
What do you think the UN
should do about this continuous loss
of its staff?
There should be a strong committee inspecting
the safety of personnel before staff are dispatched
and also while they are on duty there.
Any words of support you wish to
give to those families in the same
situation as you?
I kept walking every day by being close to
God and if we all keep closer to the things we
love in life we will be able to walk the extra
miles.
Nina, thank you so much for your time and may the love of God help you through the days ahead.
