Sixty-first General Assembly

Plenary

45^th & 46^th Meetings (AM & PM)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY EXTENDS TERMS OF AD LITEM JUDGES FOR RWANDA TRIBUNAL

UNTIL END OF 2008 TO COMPLETE WAR CRIMES TRIALS ON TIME

 

Assembly Fills 19 Vacancies on Economic and Social Council;

Election for Remaining Seat from Eastern European States Stalls

The General Assembly today extended the tenure of the 18 temporary judges serving on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, keeping the war crimes Court on track to meet its target of trying all defendants by the end of 2008.  The Assembly also held elections for the United Nations Economic and Social Council, filling all vacancies, except for one seat from the Eastern European States Group, after eight rounds of inconclusive voting.

The Assembly’s decision to allow the 18-member pool of short-term, or ad litem, judges to continue for a further 19 months, from May 2007 until December 2008, came after Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Tribunal President Judge Erik Mose issued a joint call for such a move to enable the Tribunal to meet the Security Council-mandated deadline, or completion strategy, of 2008.

Since the Tribunal’s Statute does not provide for extending the terms of ad litem judges, action was required by both the Assembly, as the organ that elects the Court’s judges, and the Security Council, as the Court’s parent organ.  The Council unanimously approved the extension on 13 October, with the adoption of resolution 1717 (2006).

The temporary judges, whose terms were extended today until the end of 2008, included Aydin Sefa Akay (Turkey), Florence Rita Arrey (Cameroon), Solomy Balungi Bossa (Uganda), Robert Fremr (Czech Republic), Taghrid Hikmet (Jordan), Karin Hökborg (Sweden), Vagn Joensen (Denmark), Gberdao Gustave Kam (Burkina Faso) and Tan Sri Dato’ Hj. Mohd. Azmi Dato’ Hj. Kamaruddin ( Malaysia).

Rounding out the list of short-term judges, Flavia Lattanzi ( Italy), Kenneth Machin ( United Kingdom), Joseph Edward Chiondo Masanche (United Republic of Tanzania), Lee Gacuiga Muthoga ( Kenya), Seon Ki Park ( Republic of Korea), Mparany Mamy Richard Rajohnson ( Madagascar), Emile Francis Short ( Ghana), Albertus Henricus Johannes Swart ( Netherlands) and Aura E. Guerra de Villalaz ( Panama).

Further in response to the Secretary-General’s request, the Assembly decided to allow ad litem Judges Bossa, Arrey, Lattanzi, Muthoga, Short, Hökborg, Hikmet, Kam and Park to serve in the Rwanda Tribunal beyond the cumulative period of service provided for under the Statute, also until 31 December 2008.

Then, the Assembly turned to the task of filling 20 vacancies in the 54-member Economic and Social Council.  In a by-election for the Western European and other States Group, the Assembly decided that Greece and Portugal would replace Spain and Turkey, which had announced ahead of the election they would leave their seats before the end of their respective terms, set to have continued through 31 December 2008.

Turning next to the general Economic and Social Council election, the Assembly, in one round of voting, elected 17 Member States for three-year terms.  Those were:   Algeria, Barbados, Bolivia, Canada, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Malawi, Philippines, Romania, Somalia, Sudan, and the United States.  Their terms would commence on 1 January 2007, and end on 31 December 2010.

They would fill the seats vacated on 31 December 2006 by Armenia, Bangladesh, Belize, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Italy, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Panama, Poland, Republic of Korea, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania and United States.  Canada and the United States, which were also set to vacate their seats on 31 December, were re-elected to another term.

One seat in the Group of Eastern European States remained unfilled after nine rounds of balloting, as the Assembly failed to give a two-thirds majority to Belarus or Bulgaria, and three rounds of unrestricted voting did not produce a third candidate that could muster enough votes.

As of 1 January 2007, the remaining members of the Council would be Albania, Angola, Austria, Benin, Brazil, Chad, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Germany, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Iceland, India, Japan, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Portugal, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United Republic of Tanzania.

All States were elected according to the following pattern:  five from Africa, four from Asia, two from Eastern Europe, three from Latin America and the Caribbean, and four from Western European and Other States.

All the regional groups had endorsed just enough candidates to fill the available seats, with the exception of the Eastern European States, and the Latin American and Caribbean States.  Economic and Social Council elections are held by secret ballot in the Assembly.

Concluding the meeting, the Acting Assembly President, Abdullah Al-Murad, announced that the election to fill the Economic and Social Council’s vacancy in the Eastern European Group would take place on Tuesday, 7 November.  That same day, the Assembly would hold another by-election following Australia’s announcement that it would relinquish its seat in the Council in favour of New Zealand.

The Assembly will reconvene tomorrow at 10 a.m. to take up the Economic and Social Council’s annual report, as well as matters pertaining to the return of cultural property, culture of peace, the new global human order and sports and development.

Voting Results

The results of the balloting were as follows:

By-Elections

Number of ballot papers:	189
Number of invalid ballots:	5
Number of valid ballots:	184
Abstentions:	5
Required majority:	120
Number of votes obtained:
Portugal	133
Greece	129
Canada	28
Luxembourg	25
Netherlands	15
United States	15

First Round of Voting

African States

Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	2
Required majority:	127
Number of votes obtained:
Algeria	184
Cape Verde	187
Malawi	184
Somalia	180
Sudan	170

Asian States

Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	3
Required majority:	126
Number of votes obtained:
Indonesia	184
Iraq	181
Kazakhstan	187
Philippines	188
Myanmar	1

Eastern European States

Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	1
Required majority:	128
Number of votes obtained:
Belarus	112
Bulgaria	123
Romania	139

Latin American and Caribbean States

Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	0
Required majority:	128
Number of votes obtained:
Argentina	120
Barbados	160
Bolivia	138
El Salvador	133

Western European and Other States

Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	6
Required majority:	124
Number of votes obtained:
Canada	175
Luxembourg	185
Netherlands	176
United States	168
Spain	1

The following States received the required two-thirds majority and would become members of the Council:  Algeria, Barbados, Bolivia, Canada, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Greece, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Malawi, Portugal, Romania, Somalia, Sudan, and the United States.

In the vote for two seats from the Eastern European States, Romania was elected to one seat after receiving the required two-thirds majority; however, one seat remained open when neither Belarus nor Bulgaria received the required two-thirds majority.  As a result, the Assembly held a special restricted ballot limited to those two Member States.

Second Round of Voting (Restricted)

Eastern European States

Number of ballot papers:	184
Number of invalid ballots:	1
Number of valid ballots:	183
Abstentions:	2
Required majority:	120
Number of votes obtained:
Belarus	90
Bulgaria	89

The restricted ballot was inconclusive, and the Assembly proceeded to a third round of restricted voting limited to Belarus and Bulgaria.

Third Round of Voting (Restricted)

Number of ballot papers:	186
Number of invalid ballots:	2
Number of valid ballots:	184
Abstentions:	3
Number of members voting:	186
Required majority:	121
Number of votes obtained:
Belarus	93
Bulgaria	88

Since the restricted ballot was inconclusive, and Belarus and Bulgaria failed to obtain the required two-thirds majority, the Assembly moved to continue with a fourth round of restricted voting, again limited to the two States.

Fourth Round of Voting (Restricted)

Number of ballot papers:	186
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	186
Abstentions:	3
Required majority:	122
Number of votes obtained:
Belarus	99
Bulgaria	84

Since no candidate obtained the required two-thirds majority, the Assembly proceeded to a fifth round of voting, the first unrestricted, meaning the vote was open to other Member States from the regional group, except to those already holding a seat in the Economic and Social Council.

Fifth Round of Voting (Unrestricted)

Number of ballot papers:	187
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	187
Abstentions:	2
Required majority:	124
Number of votes obtained:
Belarus	107
Bulgaria	77
Serbia	1

Since no candidate obtained the required two-thirds majority, the Assembly proceeded to a sixth round of voting (second unrestricted), and again opened the vote to other Member States from the regional group.

Sixth Round of Voting (Unrestricted)

Number of ballot papers:	186
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	186
Abstentions:	2
Required majority:	123
Number of votes obtained:
Belarus	115
Bulgaria	67
Estonia	1
Latvia	1

Since no candidates obtained the required two-thirds majority, the Assembly moved to continue with a seventh round of voting (third unrestricted), and opened the balloting to other Member States from among the Eastern European Group, except to those already holding a seat in the ECOSOC.

Seventh Round of Voting (Unrestricted)

Number of ballot papers:	185
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	185
Abstentions:	1
Required majority:	123
Number of votes obtained:
Belarus	120
Bulgaria	64

Since no candidate obtained the required two-thirds majority, the Assembly continued with an eighth round of voting (fourth restricted), limiting the vote only to Belarus and Bulgaria.

Eighth Round of Voting (Restricted)

Number of ballot papers:	186
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	186
Abstentions:	1
Required majority:	124
Number of votes received:
Belarus	123
Bulgaria	62

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For information media • not an official record