ARRIVAL OF SECOND MONUC DEPUTY SPECIAL

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000909 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC PGOV PREL MOPS KPKO CG SUBJECT: ARRIVAL OF SECOND MONUC DEPUTY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL ¶1. (SBU) Algeria native Leila Zerrougui has recently assumed the position of MONUC Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General (DSRSG). She will join DSRSG Ross Mountain as one of two deputies to MONUC SRSG Alan Doss. DRSG Mountain serves as the development and humanitarian coordinator for MONUC. According to MONUC contacts, DSRSG Zerrougui will most likely serve as a political advisor and rule of law coordinator for SRSG Doss, although her dossier is not yet completely finalized. ¶2. (U) DSRSG Zerrougui has had a distinguished career in the legal field, particularly in strengthening the rule of law and in protecting human rights, culminating in her appointment to the Supreme Court of Algeria in 2000. She has served on several human rights working groups, including the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. An associate professor of law at the Law College of Algeria, she has authored numerous publications on justice administration and human rights. Ms. Zerrougui has participated in official UN missions in Bahrain, Iran, Latvia, Belarus, China, Canada, South Africa, Ecuador, Honduras, Turkey, Norway, Angola, and Mauritania. ¶3. (U) The official announcement of Zerrougui's appointment and biographic information from the UN Department of Public Information follows: Begin UN announcement SG/A/1152 dated August 28, 2008: SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS LEILA ZERROUGUI OF ALGERIA DEPUTY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Leila Zerrougui of Algeria as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Deputy Head of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). Ms. Zerrougui has had a distinguished career in the strengthening of the rule of law, in particular through the administration of justice, and in human rights. Before her appointment to Algeria's Supreme Court in 2000, she served as a judge on the Tribunal of First Instance from 1980 to 1986, and on the Court of Appeals from 1986 to 1997. From 1998 to 2000 she was legal adviser to the Cabinet of the Ministry of Justice. Since 2000, she has also held the position of "Charge de mission" in the Presidency of the Republic of Algeria. Ms. Zerrougui has been a member of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention under the United Nations Human Rights Council since 2001, and served as the Working Group's Chairperson-Spokeswoman from 2003 until May 2008. She has previously served as an expert member of a number of working groups and committees under the Commission on Human Rights. She graduated from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (Algiers) in ¶1980. Since 1993, she has held various academic positions at law schools in Algeria, and is now associate professor of the Ecole Superieure de la Magistrature ( Algiers). She has published extensively on the administration of justice and human rights. Ms. Zerrougui was born in 1956 in Souk-Ahras, Algeria. End UN announcement. BROCK