Security Council Extends Terms Of Temporary Judges

Security Council Extends Terms Of Temporary Judges On Rwandan War Crimes Tribunal

New York, Oct 13 2006 1:00PM

The Security Council today extended the tenure of 18 short-term judges serving on the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the Rwandan genocide to help the court meet its target of trying all defendants by the end of 2008.

The Council’s unanimous vote follows its resolution in June to extend the terms of the 11 permanent judges serving at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which is based in the Tanzanian town of Arusha. All 29 judges can now serve until 31 December 2008.

The temporary judges whose terms – originally due to expire in June next year – have been extended include 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. Az῭i Dato Hj. Kamaruddin (Malaysia).

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

The Council created the ICTR in November 1994 to prosecute people responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda that year. Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered, mostly by machete, in just 100 days.

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