Press Release

Contact:
Jorge Alday, Public Relations Manager
World Lung Foundation
jalday@worldlungfoundation.org
phone: +1 (212) 315 8817

Statement by Louis James de Viel Castel, President of World Lung Foundation,
In Support of Judge Navanethem Pillay to Serve as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

The World Lung Foundation (WLF) welcomes the nomination of Judge Navanethem Pillay of South Africa to succeed Louise Arbour as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This appointment comes not only at the 60th anniversary of the Human Rights Commission, but at a time when the right to basic health care and well-being must be crystallized in the face of conflict, diseases of all kinds, natural disasters and climate change.
Judge Navanethem Pillay would bring the wisdom and judgment obtained from a distinguished professional career in law and human rights to the post. As a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC), she has presided over many of the most complex and difficult issues in human rights law, approaching every decision with the inalienable rights and dignity of individuals as guiding principles.

She also has been a prominent voice over many years in support of women’s rights, particularly leading the international community to take strong positions on crimes perpetrated against women during conflict. As president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Judge Pillay was instrumental in defining rape as an institutionalized weapon of war and as a crime of genocide.

The World Lung Foundation calls upon all UN member-states, particularly the United States, to support the nomination of Judge Pillay. We believe that Judge Pillay is singularly qualified to serve as High Commissioner in an era when human rights, global public health and the relations among nations intersect.

Louis James de Viel Castel
President
World Lung Foundation

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About World Lung Foundation
World Lung Foundation is dedicated to improving global lung health by improving local capacity to conduct research, develop public policy and deliver public health education. The organization’s areas of emphasis are tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, asthma, acute respiratory infections, child lung health and tobacco control. For more information, please visit http://www.worldlungfoundation.org.