Benon Sevan

Benon Sevan

Benon Vahe Sevan (born December 18, 1937 Nicosia, Cyprus) was the head of the United Nations' Oil-for-Food Programme, established in 1996 and charged with preventing Iraq's government from using the proceeds from oil exports for anything but food, medicine and other items to benefit the civilian population.

Born into an Armenian family in Cyprus, Sevan was educated at the prestigious Melkonian Educational Institute in Nicosia. He obtained a BA in History and Philosophy at Columbia College, New York, and a further degree from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

He joined the United Nations in 1965 and worked, among other places, for a U.N.-administered plebiscite in West Irian, as well as on issues related to prisoners of war in the Iran-Iraq conflict. From 1982 to March 1988 Sevan was Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Council. In April 1988 he was appointed director and senior political advisor to the Secretary-General's representative on the Afghan conflict. In January 1991 the Secretary-General appointed him to head the Office coordinating humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. In July 1992 he was named Assistant Secretary-General in the UN Department of Political Affairs.

But Sevan came to world attention as investigations began into the Oil-for-Food Programme. Sevan reportedly accepted bribes from Saddam Hussein in the form of oil vouchers, and allowed Saddam to garner $11 billion for military and other uses which violated the UN sanctions against his regime, even as Sevan tried to persuade the United Nations Security Council to make concessions to the Iraqi regime. In August, 2003, he was wounded in the Canal Hotel Bombing

On 7 February 2005, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan suspended Sevan and another UN official with pay ($1 per year plus benefits, including diplomatic immunity from prosecution) because of their roles in the fraud. On 8 August 2005, a UN-appointed panel, led by Paul Volcker, published a [http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/Third%20Interim%20Report.pdf report] on its investigation into the scandal. In the report the panel concluded that Sevan had accepted bribes from the former Iraqi regime and recommended that his UN immunity be lifted, to allow for a criminal investigation [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4131602.stm] . Sevan had resigned from the UN on 7 August 2005, just one day before the report was due to be published.

In October 2005 it was reported he had fled the US and returned to his native Cyprus. The extradition treaty between the US and Cyprus does not require Cyprus to send Sevan to the US. [http://www.internationalextradition.com/cyprus_bi.htm]

Sevan is married with one daughter.

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4015907.stm BBC: The scam could have topped 21 billion dollars]
* [http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20041012-084750-1427r.htm]
* [http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/12/news/edsevan.php Oil-for-food: Far from a failure] by Benon Sevan


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Oil-for-Food Programme — The Oil for Food Programme (OFF), established by the United Nations in 1995 (under UN Security Council Resolution 986)[1] was established with the stated intent to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and… …   Wikipedia

  • Hafizullah Khaled — 100px|right|thumb|HASCO founderHafizullah KhaledHafizullah Khaled حفیظ الله خالد is an Afghan humanitarian, poet, writer and founder of the Help Afghan School Children Organization HASCO based in Vienna (Austria).HASCO is a not for profit, non… …   Wikipedia

  • Democratic Republic of Afghanistan — ← …   Wikipedia

  • United Nations Headquarters — Location map Earth label = label size = position = background = lat = 40.75 long = 73.968 marksize = 10 border = caption = Location of the UN Headquarters float = right width = 320The United Nations Headquarters is a distinctive complex in New… …   Wikipedia

  • Liste von UN-Sonderbotschaftern — UN Sonderbotschafter sind Prominente, die ihre Berühmtheit dazu nutzen, für die Anliegen der UN Spezialorganisationen zu werben. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 UNESCO 2 UNFPA 3 UNHCR 4 UNIDO …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • UN-Sonderbotschafter — sind Prominente, die ihre Berühmtheit dazu nutzen, für die Anliegen der UN Spezialorganisationen zu werben. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 UNESCO 2 UNFPA 3 UNHCR 4 UNIDO 5 WHO 6 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Oil-for-Food Program Hearings — The Oil for Food Program Hearings were held by the U.S Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations beginning in 2004 ostensibly in order to investigate abuses of the United Nations (UN) Oil for Food Programme in which the economically… …   Wikipedia

  • Foundation for Defense of Democracies — Not to be confused with Defense of Democracies The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a neoconservative [ [http://www.amconmag.com/11 17 03/article1.html Most Favored Democracy: The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies goes on… …   Wikipedia

  • Mohammad Najibullah — Dr. Mohammad Najibullah نجيب الله 7th President of Afghanistan In office September 30, 1987 – April 16, 1992 Prime Minister …   Wikipedia

  • Nicosia — Λευκωσία (Greek) Lefkoşa (Turkish) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”