Ban Names British Judge for Hariri Tribunal
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed a veteran of numerous international court proceedings as the Registrar of the international tribunal being set up to try those suspected in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Robin Vincent of the United Kingdom will start his duties on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon at a date yet to be determined, but “the appointment of the Registrar reflects the steady progress being accomplished in establishing the Special Tribunal for Lebanon,” said a statement issued by Ban”s spokesperson.
From 2002 to 2005, Vincent served as Registrar of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), the statement said. Since then, he has served as the temporary Deputy Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and has advised on the establishment of other international tribunals, including the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The Security Council set up the International Independent Investigation Commission in April 2005 after an earlier U.N. mission found that Lebanon”s own inquiry into the Hariri assassination was seriously flawed and that Syria was primarily responsible for the political tensions that preceded the attack.
Hariri was killed in a massive car bombing in Beirut in February 2005 that also took the lives of 22 others.