UN General Assembly elects two additional judges for Rwanda war crimes tribunal

The United Nations General Assembly today elected two additional judges to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Following two rounds of voting, the Assembly elected Winston Churchill Matanzima Maqutu of Lesotho and Arlette Ramaroson of Madagascar to join the 14 independent judges already serving the court. The Assembly made its decision after considering a list of 5 candidates forwarded to it by the UN Security Council.

The decision to increase the number of judges was taken by the Security Council in November with a view to easing the court's workload and expediting its proceedings. The Council created the Tribunal, which is located in Arusha, Tanzania, in November 1994, for the prosecution of persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda in 1994.