Sunday, July 20, 2008
South African judge Pillay named United Nations Human Rights Commissioner
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was to name South African Judge Navanethem Pillay as the next U.N. human rights commissioner as early as July 18, according to diplomats and U.N. officials.
The daughter of a Tamil bus driver in Durban, Pillay has experienced human-rights violations.
She earned a law degree at Harvard University but was not allowed to set foot in a judge's chambers for 28 years as a lawyer under apartheid because of her South Asian origins.
In 1995, she became the first woman of color to become a judge on the South African High Court.
Pillay, born in 1941, also served on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to try crimes after the genocide in 1994, and presided over landmark cases in international law in which she established rape as a war crime, convicted a former head of state for atrocities committed during his rule, and prosecuted media for inciting genocide.
She has served for five years on the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
Pillay may not be as outspoken as the current commissioner, Canadian Judge Louise Arbour, who often shamed governments and leaders that the secretary-general would not criticize by name.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
The daughter of a Tamil bus driver in Durban, Pillay has experienced human-rights violations.
She earned a law degree at Harvard University but was not allowed to set foot in a judge's chambers for 28 years as a lawyer under apartheid because of her South Asian origins.
In 1995, she became the first woman of color to become a judge on the South African High Court.
Pillay, born in 1941, also served on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to try crimes after the genocide in 1994, and presided over landmark cases in international law in which she established rape as a war crime, convicted a former head of state for atrocities committed during his rule, and prosecuted media for inciting genocide.
She has served for five years on the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
Pillay may not be as outspoken as the current commissioner, Canadian Judge Louise Arbour, who often shamed governments and leaders that the secretary-general would not criticize by name.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: Durban, first woman, Harvard University, human rights commissioner, law degree, Navanethem Pillay, South Africa High Court, South african Judge, Tamil bus driver, United Nation
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