Statement by the MFA Director-General for Legal Affairs

In response to reports now circulating in the media, the Director-General for Legal Affairs at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Anders Rönquist, has made the following statement:

"We have received reports that Anders Kompass was notified on 17 April that he had been suspended from his position at the Office of the High Commissioner pending an investigation by UN internal auditors. We do not know exactly what Mr Kompass has been accused of, nor why he has been suspended from his duties. We will have to wait for the investigation which is now under way.

Anders Kompass has previously been director of several UN human rights offices in Latin America and has made great contributions to the UN's human rights endeavours as director of field operations at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.

Mr Kompass is an international official and the UN will handle the issue independently. Such an investigation must naturally be conducted in an independent and impartial manner and in accordance with UN regulations.

What is disturbing is that reports claim that Mr Kompass's suspension is linked to his having disclosed information concerning suspected sexual abuse of children in an international mission to the country involved. The UN must have zero tolerance for sexual abuse of children and work to ensure that suspicions of such abuse are investigated.

The Swedish ambassador to the United Nations in New York has not expressed himself in the way suggested by the Guardian and has full confidence that the UN system will conduct its inquiry in an independent and credible way."