MIME-Version: 1.0 Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 13:35:43 -0400 Reply-To: Tribunal Watch List Sender: Tribunal Watch List From: elizabeth neuffer <100337.2010@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: helicopter crash Comments: To: TWATCH-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu To: TWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU {HJ {FT {MS {BYneuffe;09/13/97 00:57{STNEWS {KE {REneuffe;09/13/R {TO {bt Sarajevo September 19, 1997

To Tribunal Watch:

Leah Melnick

I just wanted to ask you all, in your own ways, to pay tribute to the men and women of the Office of the High Representative and the U.N. International Police Task Force who died in a helicopter crash on Wednesday. A memorial service is being held here tomorrow, Saturday.

Several of those who died were known to me, and one, Leah Melnick, I have known almost since I first began covering the Bosnian conflict in 1994. Leah came to the UN in Zagreb after serving in Cambodia; after Dayton she came to Sarajevo as a human rights officer with the Office of the High Representative.

She was a spirited and tireless human rights worker, who unflaggingly monitored abuses and had a sharp understanding of the passions and politics of Bosnia. Leah was making a difference here. She not only had been able to get some of the warring parties to being working together in the Federation, but also had successfully intervened to get some people who had been wrongfully arrested here freed from jail.

Her observations were often cynical and piercing, but she also had immense warmth and compassion. When news of her death was announced, not only did her colleagues begin weeping, but so did the Bosnian woman who makes coffee at the OHR. Leah, who really got to know the people of Sarajevo, had befriended her.

Leah died at the age of 30.

So often we criticize the international institutions here for failing to accomplish anything. People like Leah, and the others who died, were instrumental in making sure that what little has been accomplished here DID get accomplished. Whether you want to observe a moment's silence __or simply reflect on the hard-working people here who make a difference__I think it would be a meaningful tribute to the scores of Americans and Europeans who risk their lives trying to bring peace to Bosnia.

Thank you.