UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th April, 2019) The United Nations has repeatedly attempted to address with Tunisia's government the reasons for its arrest of UN Libya arms embargo expert Moncef Kartas but has not yet received an adequate response, Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Friday.
"Since 29 March, we have sought to engage with the government of Tunisia, including through four successive notes verbales that explained our legal position and invited the government to share relevant information with the United Nations regarding the basis for his arrest and continued detention," Dujarric said. "We are very concerned that, to date, the government has failed to provide an adequate response in line with the international legal obligations under the Convention [Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN]."
Tunisian authorities arrested Kartas in March as he was leaving the Tunis airport. As a member of the UN Security Council's Sanctions Panel of Experts on Libya, Kartas has diplomatic immunity under the UN Convention.
Dujarric said a UN official has visited Kartas where he is detained in Tunisia to evaluate his health and well-being. The UN hopes to conduct such visits regularly, he added.
The spokesman noted that the detention of the UN diplomat is a matter of "very grave concern," being addressed by the UN with the highest-level Tunisian officials and such engagement would continue.
Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his recent meetings in Tunisia discussed the country's arrest of Kartas.
The Tunisian Interior Ministry said Kartas' arrest came after a lengthy investigation that resulted in the seizure of documents containing sensitive national security information, along with technical equipment for jamming and intercepting communications.
