Delegates at the meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC)’s Informal Working Group on International Tribunals in New York on Wednesday.— Photo vov.vn

HÀ NỘI — Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý, head of the Vietnamese Mission to the United Nations, chaired a six-month periodical meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC)’s Informal Working Group on International Tribunals in New York on Wednesday.

The event, the first in-person meeting of the group at the UN headquarters since COVID-19 broke out in early 2020 in New York, drew Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Stephen Mathias, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) Judge Carmel Agius, and IRMCT Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz.

Opening the meeting, Ambassador Quý thanked members of the group for their co-operative and constructive attitude in supporting the IRMCT to fulfil all missions following UN resolutions and the mechanism’s regulations.

He said Việt Nam, as the chair of the group, was committed to supporting the increase of dialogues between the group and the chair and the prosecutor of the mechanism to complete the mechanism’s tasks assigned by the UNSC.

Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Stephen Mathias hailed the efforts of the judge, prosecutor and staff of the IRMCT in overcoming difficulties caused by the pandemic to maintain and speed up judging activities.

He also lauded the attitude and efforts of the group’s members, especially Việt Nam’s performance as the chair of the group in maintaining the group’s operations and dialogues with the mechanism amid the complex situation.

The Informal Working Group on International Tribunals was established in June 2000 to deal with a specific issue pertaining to the statute of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 (ICTY).

It was subsequently mandated to deal with other legal issues pertaining to ICTY as well as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in the Territory of Neighbouring States between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994 (ICTR).

Apart from the working group, Việt Nam holds the Chairmanship of the UNSC’s South Sudan Sanctions Committee and the Lebanon Sanctions Committee.

In the group’s meeting in June last year, as the chair of the group, Việt Nam proposed the UNSC adopt Resolution 2529 (2020) on reappointing the prosecutor and reviewing the operation of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).

The next meeting of the group is scheduled for June next year. — VNS