New UN Rights Chief

The UN General Assembly is expected to approve UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s choice for the next UN high commissioner for human rights – South African judge Navanethem Pillay.

Pillay served as a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and became the court’s president in 1999. She was instrumental in crucial decisions that defined rape as a crime of genocide, and an institutionalized weapon of war.

US officials originally expressed skepticism of the nomination due to Pillay’s support of access to abortion, contraceptives and other reproductive freedoms for women, but Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to the UN, said the US is looking forward to working with her. France and Britain echoed sentiments of approval upon hearing the news.