United Nations, Feb 08: Four new judges have been elected to the International Criminal Court (ICC), vote organisers have said. The new additions bring to 15 the number of seats that have been filled on the 18-seat tribunal, the organisers said yesterday.

Joining the court are Ren Blattmann of Bolivia, Adrian Fulford of Britain, Hans-Peter Kaul of Germany and Anita Usacka of Latvia. Created July 17, 1998 by the treaty of Rome signed by some 138 countries, the The Hague-based ICC came into effect July 1 and is expected to be operational by the end of the year.

Those elected in the first round of voting on Tuesday were Sylvia Helena De Figueiredo Steiner of Brazil, Elizabeth Odio Benito of Costa Rica, Akua Kuenyehia of Ghana, Maureen Clark of Ireland, Fatoumata Diarra of Mali, Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and song Sang-Hyun of South Korea. Four others whose names were not released have been elected since Tuesday.

The judges will take their oath of at a ceremony march 11 in The Hague.

Washington refuses to support the ICC, arguing that it could become a forum for politically motivated prosecutions of US citizens, including civilian military contractors and former officials. Bureau Report