Sixty-fourth General Assembly

Plenary

107^thMeeting (AM)

In Three Actions, General Assembly Beefs Up Judicial Staff of Rwanda, Yugoslavia

 

Tribunals, Seeks to Promote Understanding of ‘Human Security’ Concept

 

The General Assembly extended the terms of office of seven permanent judges and nine ad litem judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, as well as the terms of office of 13 permanent judges and 10 ad litem judges on the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in order for those courts to meet their revised completion strategies.  In another action, it asked the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on the notion of human security, including on its possible definition.

The Assembly’s decision with respect to the Rwandan Tribunal (document A/64/L.60) would allow 16 judges on that court to continue through the end of 2011 — with two continuing through the end of 2012 — or until the completion of the cases to which they were assigned, if sooner.  That move comes after the President of the Tribunal had informed the Security Council last month that delays in certain trials and judgement writing, recent apprehension of fugitives and staffing constraints had resulted in revised projections for the completion strategy.

Five of the judges for the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia would be kept on through the end of 2011, with the remaining 18 to be extended through the end of 2012, or until the completion of their assigned cases.  The Tribunal President had also recently informed the Security Council that “unforeseeable factors beyond the Tribunal’s control” and staffing constraints had resulted in the revised completion strategy.  Those delays, he said, significantly impacted the Tribunal’s functioning and overall resource requirements.

The Security Council had earlier adopted two related draft resolutions to extend the judges’ tenure with the tribunals.  (For details of those actions, see Press Release SC/9967 of 29 June).

The permanent judges for the Rwanda Tribunal whose terms were extended today until 31 December 2012 or until the completion of the cases to which they were assigned included Mehmet Güney of Turkey and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

Also for the Rwanda Tribunal, the five permanent judges of the Trial Chamber were Charles Michael Dennis Byron of Saint Kitts and Nevis; Khalida Rachid Khan of Pakistan; Arlette Ramaroson of Madagascar; William H. Sekule of the United Republic of Tanzania; and Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov of the Russian Federation.

The nine ad litem judges were Aydin Sefa Akay of Turkey; Florence Rita Arrey of Cameroon; Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda; Vagn Joensen of Denmark; Gberdao Gustave Kam of Burkina Faso; Lee Gacuiga Muthoga of Kenya; Seon Ki Park of the Republic of Korea; Mparany Mamy Richard Rajohnson of Madagascar; and Emile Francis Short of Ghana.  All of the above were extended until 31 December 2011, or until the completion of the cases to which they were assigned.

The five permanent judges in the Appeals Chamber for the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia extended until 31 December 2012, or until the completion of the cases to which they were assigned, included Carmel Agius of Malta; Liu Daqun of China; Theodor Meron of the United States; Fausto Pocar of Italy; and Patrick Robinson of Jamaica.

The eight permanent judges in the Trial Chamber of the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia extended until 31 December 2011, or until the completion of the cases to which they were assigned, were Jean-Claude Antonetti of France; Guy Delvoie of Belgium; Burton Hall of the Bahamas; Christoph Flügge of Germany; O-Gon Kwon of Republic of Korea; Bakone Justice Moloto of South Africa; Howard Morrison of the United Kingdom; and Alphons Orie of the Netherlands.

A further 10 ad litem judges, also members of the Trial Chamber, had their terms extended until 31 December 2011, or until the completion of the cases to which they were assigned.  They were Melville Baird of Trinidad and Tobago; Pedro David of Argentina; Elizabeth Gwaunza of Zimbabwe; Frederik Harhoff of Denmark; Flavia Lattanzi of Italy; Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua of the Democratic Republic of Congo; Prisca Matimba Nyambe of Zambia; Michèle Picard of France; Árpád Prandler of Hungary; and Stefan Trechsel of Switzerland.

The Assembly also appointed Yevgeny Vladimirovich Afanasiev, of the Russian Federation, to the International Civil Service Commission, following the resignation of Vladimir Morozov, also of the Russian Federation.

Introducing the resolution on human security (document A/64/L.61), the representative of Japan said the need to address global issues in an integrated manner was crucial at present, as the challenges facing the international community were multiple, interrelated and affected millions of lives.

The Assembly adopted the draft resolution without a vote.  Explaining her position after the vote, the representative of Venezuela said that her delegation had joined the consensus because it was necessary to continue the debate on the question of human security and reach an agreement on a definition before the concept’s implementation was promoted in United Nations activities.

She said that the question of human security should be focused exclusively within the economic and social development sphere and should seek to enhance the well-being of human beings through the right to development.  (She noted that in the third operative paragraph of the Spanish version of the text, the “concept of human security” was referenced, whereas it should instead read the “notion of human security”.  She asked that the word “concept” be replaced with “notion”.)

Also speaking in explanation of vote was the representative of Iran, who stated that the definition of human security needed to reflect the Charter of the United Nations, in particular, in regard to non-interference in national affairs.

In further explanation of vote, on behalf of the European Union, the representative of Belgium commended the efforts of Japan and Jordan, and expressed support for the draft resolution.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record