HOLY SEE ABSTAINS ON VOTE FOR JUDGES OF INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL

VATICAN CITY, MAR 15, 2001 (VIS) - Archbishop Renato Martino, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations in New York, spoke yesterday on the election of judges of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991.

He observed that "the Holy See has attentively followed the proceedings" of the Tribunal and "regards the Tribunal as an instrument of the international community to express its condemnation of violations of international humanitarian law."

The archbishop went on to say that "the Holy See appreciates that the United Nations recognizes its active role in the international arena. In fact, even if the Holy See is a non-Member State which maintains a Permanent Observer Mission at the U.N., it is invited to participate in the election of judges to the Tribunal in the same manner as Member States."
Archbishop Martino remarked, however, that "in consideration of its specific nature and its objectives, and according to the recognized praxis in similar cases, the Holy See decided, as on previous occasions, to abstain from casting its vote on the individual candidates to the Office of Judge of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia."

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