The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, has appointed Judge Khalida Rashid Khan from Pakistan to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Judge Rashid Khan replaces Judge Mansoor Ahmed (Pakistan) who resigned on 22 May 2003 for personal reasons. Judge Rashid Khan’s appointment is effective from 7 July 2003 and will end on 24 May 2007.

Born on 25 September 1949, Judge Khalida Rashid Khan started in 1974 her career as a civil judge in Peshawar, Pakistan. In 1978, she was promoted as senior civil judge in Peshawar. From 1981 to 1982 she worked as special judge in the anti-corruption in Peshawar and Hazara Division. She was later appointed Deputy Secretary in the Law Department of the Government of NWFP (North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan). In 1994, Judge Rashid Khan was promoted Judge at the High Court of Peshawar, becoming the first Pakistani woman ever appointed to that position. She was also the first woman in Pakistan to be appointed as District and Sessions Judge.

Judge Khalia Rashid Khan has participated in several international conferences and meetings. Judge Khan obtained a Master’s degree in Law in 1969 and a M.A. in Political sciences in 1973.

Judge Rashid Khan joins three other new permanent judges who were elected by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 31 January 2003. The three judges are Inés Mónica Weinberg de Roca of Argentina, Jai Ram Reddy of Fiji and Sergei Aleckseievich Egorov of the Russian Federation.