Fifty-ninth General Assembly

Plenary

57^th (resumed) Meeting (AM & PM)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY, IN RESUMED MEETING, ELECTS 14 JUDGES TO INTERNATIONAL

CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

 

The General Assembly today, following seven rounds of voting over two days, elected 14 judges to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), for four-year terms beginning on 17 November 2005.

The elected are:  Carmel A. Agius (Malta); Jean-Claude Antonetti (France); Iain Bonomy (United Kingdom); O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea); Liu Daqun (China); Theodor Meron (United States); Bakone Melema Moloto (South Africa); Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands); Kevin Horace Parker (Australia); Fausto Pocar (Italy); Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica); Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany); Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana); and Christine Van den Wyngaert (Belgium).

The Security Council established the Hague-based Tribunal in early 1993 to prosecute those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991.  It was the first world court established by the United Nations for the prosecution of war crimes.  (For further background, see Press Release GA/10300 issued on 18 November.)

Also this afternoon, the Assembly heard a statement on the occasion of Africa Industrialization Day, observed on 20 November.  This year’s theme is “Strengthening Productive Capacity for Poverty Reduction within the Framework of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)”.

Delivering the statement on behalf of Assembly President Jean Ping (Gabon), Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury of Bangladesh said that successful industrialization was the motivation for applying new technologies and promoting the development of entrepreneurship in Africa.  It provided an enabling environment for human capital development, boosted institutional change, modernized export structures and created new employment opportunities. 

To alleviate poverty, he continued, African countries must introduce good industrial policies and promote domestic and foreign investment, expansion of markets, infrastructure development, employment and technological change.  That goal could be pursued through regional integration and economic cooperation to gain access to international markets. 

Recognizing the importance of industry as a strategic factor for economic development, the NEPAD foresaw strong industrial policies that would help African countries strengthen their productive capabilities and ability to fight poverty.  He was confident that Africa, with its vast human and natural resources, as well as its strong commitment to development goals, would be able to achieve the objectives of the NEPAD.

The Assembly also heard the introduction of a draft resolution on “United Nations day of remembrance and reconciliation”, by the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Yuri Fedotov.  He stressed the importance of international unity, particularly at a time when the world was getting ready to observe the fiftieth anniversary of the Second World War next year.  The end of that war marked the beginning of a new era for all people. 

Today, as the world faced new challenges and threats, the international community needed to do more by way of uniting, he said.  A united world community would be better placed to face emerging global threats.  In order to do that, he called for the strengthening of the United Nations system, saying a stronger Organization would ensure international stability and, consequently, save people from the calamity of war.

Thus, he called on Member States to work towards that goal, in accordance with the Organization’s Charter.  He hoped the draft proposal to declare 8 and 9 May of each year as days of remembrance and reconciliation would be adopted without a vote.

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, the representative of the Netherlands said war had brought unspeakable suffering and affected the lives of millions in Europe and beyond.  It also changed the fates of individuals, families and whole nations.  “Rightfully, reflection on that suffering and commemoration of the end to this period of extreme horrors, such as the holocaust, [is] our common duty”, he said. 

However, it should be recognized that, in many respects, there had been progress since the end of the Second World War towards reconciliation, international and regional cooperation, and the promotion of democratic values, human rights and fundamental freedoms.  He hoped that agreement would be reached on the draft proposal.

The General Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. on Monday, 22 November, to hold a joint debate on implementation and follow-up of major United Nations conferences, and follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit.

Results of Voting

The results of the fifth round of voting were as follows:

Number of ballot papers:	190
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	190
Abstentions:	2
Number of members voting:	188
Required majority	97
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana)	159
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica)	154
Liu Daqun (China)	151
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany)	150
Christine Van Den Wyngaert (Belgium)	150
Fausto Pocar (Italy)	147
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea)	143
Theodor Meron (United States)	139
Kevin Horace Parker (Australia)	139
Carmel A. Agius (Malta)	138
Iain Bonomy (United Kingdom)	137
Jean-Claude Antonetti (France)	133
Bakone Melema Moloto (South Africa)	127
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands)	123
Volodymyr A. Vassylenko (Ukraine)	108
Mohamed Amin El-Abbassi El Mahdi (Egypt)	85

Following the fifth round of voting, 15 candidates -- more than the required number to fill the 14 vacancies -- obtained an absolute majority.

The Assembly then proceeded to the sixth ballot, whose results were as follows:

Number of ballot papers:	190
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	190
Abstentions:	2
Number of members voting:	188
Required majority	97
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana)	151
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica)	146
Bakone Melema Moloto (South Africa)	138
Christine Van Den Wyngaert (Belgium)	137
Liu Daqun (China)	135
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany)	134
Fausto Pocar (Italy)	132
Carmel A. Agius (Malta)	129
Kevin Horace Parker (Australia)	128
Theodor Meron (United States)	127
Iain Bonomy (United Kingdom)	126
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea)	126
Jean-Claude Antonetti (France)	119
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands)	106
Volodymyr A. Vassylenko (Ukraine)	103
Mohamed Amin El-Abbassi El Mahdi (Egypt)	76

Once again, more than the required number of candidates obtained an absolute majority. 

The results of the seventh ballot were as follows:

Number of ballot papers:	185
Number of invalid ballots:	1
Number of valid ballots:	184
Abstentions:	2
Number of members voting:	182
Required majority	97
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana)	145
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica)	143
Liu Daqun (China)	134
Christine Van Den Wyngaert (Belgium)	133
Fausto Pocar (Italy)	130
Carmel A. Agius (Malta)	130
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany)	129
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea)	127
Bakone Melema Moloto (South Africa)	125
Kevin Horace Parker (Australia)	124
Theodor Meron (United States)	123
Iain Bonomy (United Kingdom)	118
Jean-Claude Antonetti (France)	117
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands)	104
Volodymyr A. Vassylenko (Ukraine)	95
Mohamed Amin El-Abbassi El Mahdi (Egypt)	64

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