The United Nations General Assembly on Monday approved by consensus the appointment of South African Judge Navanethem Pillay as the UN’s new high commissioner for human rights to succeed Louise Arbour of Canada.
Pillay, who was formally nominated by UN chief Ban Ki-moon last Thursday, currently serves as an appeals chamber judge on the International Criminal Court (ICC).
She is to take up her new post on September 1 for a four-year term.
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Michele Montas, Ban said he was ”gratified” that his nomination of Pillay as Arbour’s successor has been endorsed by the General Assembly”.
Born in 1941 and of Tamil descent, Pillay has also served as a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. In that capacity, she played a key role in landmark decisions defining rape as an institutionalised weapon of war and a crime of genocide.
Arbour announced in March that she would not renew her mandate due to personal reasons, after a period that saw her office released damning reports on countries ranging from the United States to Zimbabwe to Sudan. — Sapa-AF