ROBINSON STEPPING DOWN FROM UN.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, a former president of Ireland, has announced that she will not be seeking a second term and will step down in September when her four-year term ends. Russian diplomats did not attempt to conceal both their relief and their delight that Robinson–a frequent sharp critic of human rights abuses committed by both sides during the current war in Chechnya–is stepping down. “I would not say that we are disappointed,” one Russian diplomat observed (Segodnya, March 21).