Carolina Larriera Profile picture
Aug 19, 2022 20 tweets 15 min read Read on X
(start string) Nineteen yrs ago, a truck-bomb with 1-tn TNT changed my life. In the #UN office where I worked in #Iraq, it killed my spouse #Sergio and 21 friends. ‘Til today, no prosecutor or court ever gave us answers: why? B/c the #UN is #immune from prosecution
Ironically,#Sergio was #UN #HumanRights top man.Bomb survivors would like to know why immunity was never waived to bring justice. We are not alone:many withstand #abuse from international organizations’ #abuseofimmunity. Read my story in thread:
Following the impact of #Netflix ‘s movie #SergioNetflix, wanted to share a little about who #SergioVieiradeMello really was but above all, narrate what really happened after 2003 #Baghdad attack.We were a family when the bomb went off
Sergio was from #RiodeJaneiro. He loved his country & his colorful, hot & humid city of contrasts. His parents travelled the world representing Brazil as diplomats & because of the dictatorship, at 21 began his diplomatic career in #UN from the groundup #SergioNetflix
Myself, a native from Argentina who, in 90s at the age of 18, took a leap of faith to do her studies in the US, got into finance in New York, yet found a higher calling in #UnitedNationsHQ with the hope of making a contribution to improve lives of the most vulnerable
Film shows him clearly: an all-rounder UN diplomat with an immense sensitivity to suffering of destitutes. Then Sergio & I met in 1999 on a #UNPeacekeeping Mission, in a shattered yet hardy territory that we helped make independent:#TimorLeste
Early we were united by a deep bond:identified in each other, speaking the same language, anticipating each others thoughts.We dreamed of returning to Brazil to live in front of his sea.We met each others families & visited our home countries: sanctuaries that kept us grounded
But on9/11 world changed. After the #InvasionofIraq, Kofi Annan, who appointed him to #UNHumanRights changed him for a most dangerous mission: US-led transition there: he faced it stoically. I accompanied him not only as his spouse but as an Economist with 7 ys UN experience
On Aug 19 2003, worst attack on UN history took place. Never before the UN had been targeted: 200 injured, 22 died. Sergio was trapped: I tried to free him-without equipment, but he died after 4 hrs.A part of me would also remain under debris of that building & bombing
To this day I cannot recall that day & its despicable aftermath without shivering & feeling chills all over my body. In blink of an eye, shame for the attack revealed #UN #UnitedNation’s ugliest face.
Claiming we were not formally "married" & within a policy of invisibility of #UNMission’s mistake deprived me of my rights as both employee & family. What is intriguing is that even after our civil union was recognized by law, they upheld it. Why? What are they protecting?
Still shellshocked from the bomb, I suddenly found myself inexplicably removed from survivor’s lists. In addition to post-traumatic stress from the explosion & Sergio’s & my friends’ death, I had to deal with inhuman & absolute abandonment from #UN who sent us all there
Because above was Geopolitics & its nasty muscle: during #IraqWar, the real rivalry was bw Bush & Chirac. Originally on the US side, Annan quickly switched to the French after UN attack called for his resignation. An 11th hour attempt to scramble onto the right side of history
Annan’s survival meant shifting sides to Chirac’s position.The price? Sergio’s casket was inexplicably shipped to France while I and his mother were "cancelled" in these political horse-trading. @NYTimes nytimes.com/2003/12/18/opi…
Clearly, a Hollywood movie was not to deal with these issues. But these years were very tough: I returned to Brazil (Sergio’s motherland that recognizes me as his widow) & Argentina, & began to put my life together. Gilda, Sergio's mother, nursed me at her house in Rio.
Friends like @NobelPrize @JoseRamosHorta1, & loyal #TimorLeste whose country I helped build, Gilda & others helped me return to life. I found a new job,a new house, & founded the @sergiovieirade8 Center in #Brazil: it was not easy, but I persevered
I never thought that the #UN bureaucracy, which always proclaims to adhere to highest standards that our world must aspire, defending rights of the most vulnerable, would desert and "cancel" their own
One might think that as young widow & terror victim,I found sympathy. Opposite, #UN denied me help when I needed it most, routing me in a bureaucratic tangle where they are both judge & interested party. A thankless path awaits those who dare litigate for their rights before UN
Likewise I continue to fight: for myself & for survivors. #Sergio was most important person in #UN history; he left a legacy of commitment to those who suffer in conflicts that plague world
(end string) He once said to me “Let's go confidently-The rest arrives on its own”
So here I am: I needed to write these few lines to remember him, but also convey a message in these challenging times #postCOVID and share the strength to keep going.

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More from @harvardchick

Aug 19, 2022
(string: beg) 19 anos atrás, um carro-bomba com 1-tn TNT mudou a minha vida. Na #ONU onde trabalhava no #Iraque, foi morto meu marido #SergioVieiradeMello e 21 amigos. Até hoje, nenhum tribunal tem nos oferecido respostas:Por quê? Porque a #ONU é imune à processos judiciais.
(string)Ironicamente,#Sergio era Chefe máximo da #ONU em #DireitosHumanos. Os sobreviventes do atentado gostariam de saber por que a imunidade não foi suspensa para oferecer justiça. Não estamos sozinhos:muitos são os que sofriram abuso p/ imunidade de organizações internacionais
Apos a repercussão do filme #Sergio da #Netflix, quis compartilhar um pouco sobre quem realmente era #SergioVieiradeMello, mas acima de tudo, narrar o que realmente aconteceu após o ataque de #Bagdá em 2003. Éramos uma família quando a bomba explodiu
Read 22 tweets
Apr 30, 2020
Após o impacto positivo da estréia do filme #SergioNetflix queria compartilhar um pouco sobre quem realmente era #SergioVieiradeMello mas acima de tudo narrar o que realmente aconteceu depois do ataque de #Bagdad 2003. Estávamos juntos havia mais de 3 anos quando a bomba explodiu
Sergio era carioca. Amava seu país e as cores e calor da sua cidade cheia de contrastes. Seus pais viajaram pelo mundo representando o Brasil como diplomatas do #Itamaraty e, por causa da ditadura, aos 21 anos Sérgio começou muito junior sua carreira na #ONU
Eu, de flia que em 1783 instalou-se na Argentina, nos anos ‘90 aos 18 anos, dei um salto de fé para fazer estudos nos EUA, ingressei no ramo de finanças em Nova York,mas encontrei um chamado interior na sede da ONU:esperança de contribuir para melhorar a vida dos mais vulneráveis
Read 18 tweets
Apr 28, 2020
(String :o) Following positive impact that #Netflix premiere of movie #SergioNetflix, wanted to share a little about who #SergioVieiradeMello really was but above all, narrate what really happened after 2003 #Baghdad attack.We had been together over 3 years when the bomb went off
Sergio was from #RiodeJaneiro. He loved his country & his colorful, hot & humid city of contrasts. His parents travelled the world representing Brazil as diplomats & because of the dictatorship, at 21 began his diplomatic career in #UN from the groundup #SergioNetflix
Myself, a native from Argentina who, in 90s at the age of 18, took a leap of faith to do her studies in the US, got into finance in New York, yet found a higher calling in #UnitedNationsHQ with the hope of making a contribution to improve lives of the most vulnerable
Read 18 tweets

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