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Columbia Alumnus Gambari Leads UN Mission to Myanmar
By Zaki Raheem
October 10, 2007
“The world is not what it was 20 years ago, and no country can afford to act in isolation from the standards by which all members of the international community are held. It is therefore essential for Myanmar’s leadership to recognize that what happens inside the country can have serious international repercussions.” These are the strong words by the UN’s Special Mission to Myanmar, Columbia alum Mr. Ibrahim Gambari (MA ‘70), at a debriefing to the Security Council, delivered on Friday in New York.
Mr. Gambari recently returned from a four day visit to the country where he held meetings with the government officials and detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. As a representative of the Good Offices Mandate of the Secretary General, his mission was designed to: 1) Assess the situation on the ground in the wake of recent demonstrations; 2) To deliver clear messages from the Secretary General to the Myanmar authorities at the highest level; and 3) To try to promote dialogue between the government and the opposition as to the best path to ending the present crisis and achieving a humane reconciliation.
Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari has had a long and established history with the United Nations, as Nigeria’s longest serving Ambassador. He also served as President of the Security Council on two occasions and was most recently the head of the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa. He was born in Nigeria in 1944, and holds degrees from Kings College and London School of Economics. In addition, he attended the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in 1969, received his MA in 1970 and his Ph.D. in 1974 in Political Science/International Relations from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
It is clear that Mr. Gambari’s perspective will be taken seriously by the Security Council as they debate this week as to how best to respond to the protests. Though the authorities initially exercised restraint in dealing with the protests, in the past two weeks the tensions have escalated through violent repression by the authorities against peaceful demonstrations, with over a dozen people confirmed dead and over 2,000 arrests.
Mr. Gambari declares that his message to the Burmese authorities were clear: putting an end to night raids and arrests during curfews, lifting the curfew as soon as possible, releasing all those that were arrested during the demonstrations, allowing access to care for those injured during the demonstrations, withdrawing military forces from the streets, ensuring a respect for human rights and the rule of law, and putting an end to raids on ministries. He also called upon the authorities to move in a credible and inclusive manner towards democratic reform, human rights and national reconciliation.
Though the initial protests were sparked by drastic oil price hikes, the peaceful demonstrations by Buddhist monks and thousands of citizens were fueled by decades of anger and frustration at the oppressive military junta that has continued to violently quell democratic aspirations since 1988, in the name of security and stability.
Mr. Raheem is the Program Assistant for the Associate Dean for External Relations and Communications. He is a second year SIPA student with a concentration in Economic and Political Development.