Twenty-two UN staff members have been detained since mid-2004 despite an international treaty guaranteeing the safety of UN personnel, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Friday.
The total comprised seven in Eritrea, four in Afghanistan, two in Ethiopia, two in Serbia's Kosovo province and one each in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Mozambique, Russia, Sudan and Zimbabwe, Annan said in a report to the 191-nation UN General Assembly.
He said one UN employee who worked for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was listed as missing in Sri Lanka following last December's Indian Ocean tsunami.
The seven held in Eritrea were all Eritrean nationals in custody after being charged with failure to fulfill their national military service obligations, a UN official said.
"The United Nations is concerned about its staff and feels strongly against the detention of its staff members," UN spokesman Brenden Varma said.
The General Assembly asked Annan to monitor threats to UN staff around the world after two 2003 bombings of UN offices in Baghdad, including one that killed 22 people. His report covered the period from July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005.
While the world body did not suffer another catastrophic attack during the period, it was marked by "significant threats and risk" to staff, Annan said, citing the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and Lebanon, among others.
There was a sharp increase in hostage-takings and kidnappings, and "recent events of international terrorism, while sparing United Nations facilities, presage a further widening of risks that spares no country or activity," he said.
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