Major concerns are circulating through international diplomatic circles about the International Court of Justice’s appointment of a disgraced and scandal-plagued bureaucrat from a rogue United Nations agency dominated by extremists. So far there are more questions than answers.
On the UN website, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is described as “the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, tasked with settling legal disputes between states and providing advisory opinions on international legal questions.” What a supposedly noble mission.
Still, as in the UN as a whole, behind the pompous words and commitments on paper, nothing tangible is actually happening as a result of those words, except providing a life of luxury for a bunch of useless (at best) and often corrupt globalist bureaucrats at taxpayer expense.
Keep in mind, this is the same “world court” that ruled just last year that all governments have a supposed obligation under “international law” to fight the alleged man-made global-warming crisis by restricting the activities of citizens.
One of the core ICJ missions is the promotion of international law through advisory opinions on legal questions that have been referred to it by other authorized UN organs. Respect for the rule of law, legal rigor, personal honesty, and impartiality, therefore, are supposed to govern the operations of the Court. But under the leadership of presiding Judge Iwasawa Yuji of Japan, the reality is far from that.
As insiders know well, the UN court is a politically biased talk show. Thankfully, it has no enforcement power, yet, lacking force or authority to compel compliance with its rulings. Also, all of its decisions are subject to a UN Security Council veto, where any of the five permanent members can veto enforcement actions.
As a result, powerful governments frequently ignore adverse ICJ decisions, such as the United States ignoring the 1986 Nicaragua ruling or the Kremlin disregarding the 2022 order to halt military operations in Ukraine.
Moreover, less than half of the UN member states recognize the Court’s compulsory jurisdiction under Article 36(2) of the ICJ Statute. This is enough evidence about the uselessness of this UN body, even within a global network of mostly useless and dangerous UN entities.
The selection process for ICJ judges requires approval from the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, ensuring that citizens of the permanent five members almost always hold seats. Most judges favor national geopolitical interests over impartial international law, experts say. This further compromises the institution’s already dubious legitimacy.
Over the years, U.S. authorities often criticized the ICJ for overstepping its boundaries, particularly when the court rules on politically charged bilateral conflicts or issues involving non-consenting states. The U.S. withdrew from the ICJ’s compulsory jurisdiction in 1986 after the court ruled against it in Nicaragua v. United States. More recently, the U.S. criticized the Court’s investigations into Israeli military operations, initially labeling the underlying legal cases as “meritless.”
The ICJ is well known for its judicial bias and geopolitical alignments, as seen just last year with its outlandish “climate change” ruling. Its judges have progressively lost credibility because of their judicial partiality, and there is strong evidence indicating that ICJ judges routinely vote in alignment with the interests of the governments and tyrants that appoint them.
These same judges recently elected their new Registrar. According to one of the latest announcements posted on the ICJ website, Santiago Villalpando, Director of Legal Affairs at UNESCO, has been elected Registrar of the International Court of Justice. His term will begin soon.
This election speaks volumes about the quality of the people working at the ICJ. Having followed UNESCO affairs for more than 15 years now, there have been numerous articles denouncing Villalpando’s working methods in his capacity as legal adviser to the Executive Board and Director of Legal Affairs.
The Sentinel reached out to Chief Judge Iwasawa Yuji asking about the procedures for selecting the Registrar. The court did not provide a real answer. Asked about who is in charge of screening applicants and to what extent Villalpando’s record at UNESCO was examined before voting, the court and its chief judge refused to provide anything resembling an answer.
The number of legal cases lost by Villalpando over the last few years before the International Labor Organization Tribunal in Geneva, mainly due to the lack of respect for UNESCO’s own rules and procedures, raises additional questions as to whether the ICJ truly investigated Villalpando’s work at UNESCO.
Again, with the ICJ and its chief judge eluding the questions, it can only be assumed that Villalpando got the votes because of the legal misdeeds he committed at UNESCO. If he is fit for the job, it appears that this must be the crooked profile of the vacancy notice required by ICJ judges.
“Santiago Villalpando has been by far the worst legal adviser at UNESCO over the last 25 years,” a diplomat based in Paris who requested anonymity to speak frankly told The Sentinel. “Not necessarily because of incompetence, but because of a low level of integrity and high level of servility in assuming his position that led to abuse of power and illegal performances in the exercise of his legal duties”.
Interestingly, before Villalpando, another UNESCO legal adviser, Abdulqawi Yusuf, went to the International Court of Justice first as a judge, then vice president, and eventually was appointed president of the ICJ. Villalpando, meanwhile, was considered to be good enough only to get the Registrar position.
This says volumes about the decline in personal and professional qualities and capabilities of people recruited first by UNESCO then by the ICJ.
Numerous critics have spoken out about Villalpando. In what some insiders labeled a clear abuse of power, Villalpando appears to have offered his full support to former Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay, an actual Socialist, in exchange for getting his wife Marina Silberman appointed to UNESCO as a senior official in the Financial Management Branch (BFM). This is a perfect example of a conflict of interest and of a reward for impunity in breaking the rules. At the same time, Villalpando, the director of legal services for UNESCO, was defending UNESCO before the UN ILO administrative tribunal in Geneva. So much for the facts concerning the moral and ethical value of the person chosen by the ICJ for this job.
Because of Villalpando, UNESCO lost millions in compensation to staff winning their cases in Geneva. The documents by UNESCO about the cases lost in Geneva are explicit about the percentage of cases lost by Villalpando for non-compliance with rules and regulations.
Just one of the cases lost by Villalpando cost the taxpayers more than a half of a million dollars. The former German staff member who received the award for the damages has sadly passed away since then. Injustice can kill.
A former staff member who dealt with Villalpando on a regular basis and knew him well told us: “Villapando is a pure product of the UN system, and within that system, ‘kissing up and licking down’ is an essential technique when mastered. That is why he has been quite successful in his UN career, proving that one can be a legal officer without any integrity and an international civil servant without any values or principles.”
The former staffer added: “Never defending the regulations he was supposed to uphold as a custodian of law has earned him the promotions and privileges he currently enjoys.”
As reported by Inner City Press in New York, a case was brought to the attention of member states to consider – the attempted suicide of the assistant to the Director of Legal Affairs, Villalpando. In September 2023, H.M., suffering from severe burn-out as a result of enduring moral harassment and allegedly unfounded criticism from her boss Villalpando, attempted to jump out of her 5th floor office window. Fortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful, and UNESCO firefighters prevented it at the last moment. UNESCO chief and French Socialist Audrey Azoulay and her cabinet did everything in their power to hush up the affair, which was very unpleasant for her reputation. They even went so far as to promote the woman’s husband, who also works at UNESCO and was starting to make too much noise by asking questions about his wife’s working conditions. It worked out – Mr. M.D. got his P-5 job and his wife’s case ended there, without any investigation or disciplinary proceedings against Villalpando.
In light of all the evidence gathered while drafting this article, it is sad that Judge Iwasawa Yuji did not provide any clarification regarding Villalpando’s appointment as Registrar. After receiving no initial response, The Sentinel followed up with a second media request by email. In response, the ICJ’s information office sent a nonsensical message confirming that Villalpando had been elected. Unfortunately, there was no explanation about how someone with such a deplorable record at UNESCO could have obtained the position. As the old saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Villalpando’s election appears to offer more proof of that.
This latest scandal shows just how easy it is for the International Court of Justice to prove, through its own actions, that dishonesty and a lack of integrity are part of its DNA.
The U.S. government, under President Donald Trump, is absolutely right to reduce American taxpayer contributions to the UN. There is no reason for the hard-working people of the United States to help fund rogue bureaucrats and institutions whose only goals appear to be their own personal fulfillment and promoting values hostile to everything America is supposed to stand for.