China Underlines Independence and Impartiality of ICTYChina said Tuesday that the independence and impartiality of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) are extremely important.The statement came as Shen Guofang, deputy Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, took the floor at an open Security Council meeting on the ICTY. "The Chinese Government believes that ICTY, as an organ of the international criminal justice, its independence and impartiality are extremely important, the Tribunal should not be affected by international political factors and other factors, nor should it become a political tool," Shen said. "Only when the independence and impartiality of the ICTY be upheld can its authority be guaranteed," he said. "Only in this way the work of the ICTY will be standing the test of history." "In this regard, the ICTY has many areas that need to be improved," he said. "This is also one of the problems faced by the ICTY." "We hope that the ICTY will become a real independent and impartial international justice organ," he said. "But at least it is not one now because it is affected by the international politics too much." Some representatives, who spoke before Shen, gave some examples to show how the ICTY is affected by the international politics. "I believe my criticism is constructive, and I hope the ICTY will really work towards independence and impartiality," he said. Briefing the 15-nation Council, Claude Jorda, president of the ICTY, raised the proposal that ICTY lacks the trial capacity and the Pool of Ad Litem Judges should be established. In response, Shen said that the proposal "is a very interesting idea." However, Jorda's proposal to amend the ICTY status is associated with many important legal, technical and financial problems, the Security Council can not make a decision on this issue in a hurry. |
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