Lessons to be learned from UN war tribunals: Kuwait
NEW YORK: The International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda provide valuable learning experiences that should be closely examined, said a Kuwaiti official yesterday. “We witnessed last year the end of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which indicted those responsible for grave human rights violations,” advisor Tariq Al-Banai said amid a UN Security Council session over the tribunal.
Peace does not necessarily mean a world void of conflicts, rather, it is justice for the victims of war crimes and other transgressions, the Kuwaiti official explained. He applauded the UN Security Council for its efforts to ensure that the rule of law is respected, saying the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was a successful initiative and a step towards preserving justice.
As part of efforts to reinforce the legal system, he said the UN Security Council is putting together a judicial code of conduct, in addition to other initiatives given the myriad of challenges facing the legal profession. Hailed for “irreversibly changing the landscape of international humanitarian law,” the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was a UN court of law that dealt with war crimes that took place during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s. — KUNA