President Gatti Santana meets with the President of the United Nations General Assembly
The President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, today met with the President of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, His Excellency Ambassador Dennis Francis of Trinidad and Tobago, at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
President Gatti Santana commenced by congratulating President Francis on his election as President of the General Assembly and commending his choice of “peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability” as the watchwords for his Presidency. She remarked that the first of these is of particular relevance to the Mechanism’s mandate.
President Gatti Santana then briefed His Excellency on the significant progress that has been made in the Mechanism’s judicial work over the last year. She noted that, following the delivery of the appeal judgement in the Stanišić & Simatović case in May 2023, and the indefinite stay of trial proceedings in the Kabuga case in September 2023, the Mechanism no longer has any active proceedings relating to the core crimes incorporated in its Statute. As a result, the Mechanism has now moved into its truly residual phase.
In this context, President Gatti Santana proceeded to outline the three new priorities for her own Presidency, which will be presented during her address to the General Assembly this week. She emphasised that the Mechanism will continue to carry out its remaining mandated functions until the Security Council determines otherwise, and in this respect will require ongoing cooperation from Member States in a number of key areas.
In turn, President Francis thanked President Gatti Santana for her detailed update and observed that her tenure thus far has been one of dynamism and activism. In this regard, he praised the exceptional and important work done by the Mechanism. Taking note of the new, truly residual phase in the Mechanism’s life, His Excellency also acknowledged the challenges outlined by President Gatti Santana and expressed hope that the Mechanism would be provided with the support it needs.
President Gatti Santana will present the eleventh annual report of the Mechanism to the General Assembly on Wednesday, 18 October 2023.