Cablegate: Arrival of Second Monuc Deputy Special

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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8643
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
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RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

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

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