Louise Arbour new Governor General of Canada: Played a key role in prosecuting war crimes in BiH

(Patria) - The Bosnian-Herzegovinian community in Canada welcomed the election of Louise Arbour as Governor General of Canada.

Louise Arbour played a key role in prosecuting war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Arbour was appointed Governor General by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Arbour is a former judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, and also served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

As Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) from 1996 to 1999, Louise Arbour played a key role in prosecuting war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Her tenure was marked by the indictment of then-Serbian President Slobodan Milošević for crimes against humanity.

She focused on delivering justice, confronting difficult cases of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As a prosecutor, she visited crime scenes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she witnessed the consequences of genocide.

As President of the International Crisis Group (ICG), she later warned about the difficult political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating in 2009 and 2011 that tensions remained high after the war and that Bosnia and Herzegovina was at risk of disintegration, and warned about the dysfunction of institutions.

She is known for her commitment to international justice and for insisting that the prosecution of crimes has no alternative, emphasizing the importance of fighting impunity.

Under her leadership, the Tribunal intensified investigations and indictments against high-ranking military and political officials responsible for ethnic cleansing, aggression, genocide, and other crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After the Tribunal, Arbour continued her career as a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Governor General of Canada represents the monarch (King Charles III) and performs the duties of head of state in Canada, announced the Institute for Research of Genocide (IGC) Canada.