Louise Arbour new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights



UN News Service
New York, Feb 25 2004  1:00PM

The United Nations General Assembly today approved by acclamation the
appointment of Louise Arbour, a Canadian Supreme Court justice and
ex-prosecutor for UN war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and
Rwanda, as the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Ms. Arbour replaces Brazil's Sergio Vieira de Mello who, along with 21
others, was killed in a terrorist attack on the UN's Baghdad headquarters
last August.

She is expected to start her four-year term in the Geneva-based post after
she retires from the Canadian Supreme Court in June.

Ms. Arbour, 57, was the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal
Tribunals for Rwanda and for the former Yugoslavia (ICTR and ICTY) from
October 1996 to September 1999.

The Canadian has been a judge in her home country since December 1987 and
served as a senior legal academic before then.

Throughout her career she has published extensively, in French and
English, on criminal procedure, human rights, civil liberties and gender
issues.

During the Assembly meeting, representatives of Morocco, Malaysia,
Bulgaria, Tunisia, Ireland and the Republic of Korea - many speaking on
behalf of their region - congratulated Ms. Arbour on her appointment.



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