Gambian-born Bensouda is new ICC Prosecutor |
Newly elected
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The
Hague, Gambia’s
Fatou Bensouda has dispelled claims that the Court setup by a treaty focuses
excessively on Africa.
"I think
ICC is working for Africa and with African
victims," the 50 year-old Bensouda told international media shortly after
her election. "I don't think any of us can deny that the crimes, the
atrocities that are happening in Africa are
crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC."
Botswana
President Seretse Khama agreed. "The reality is that atrocious human
rights abuses and other serious crimes that merit ICC's attention have and
continue to be committed in Africa, and in the
majority of situations, it is Africans themselves who invite the intervention
of the court," he is quoted to have told the Assembly of States Parties to
the ICC.
The AU
member States who are signatories to the treaty that set up the ICC, the Rome Statue,
have continued to defied the Court’s arrest warrant against Sudan President
Omar Al-Bashir – who have toured countries like Kenya and Chad freely.
Former
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was also indicted alongside his son Saif al-Islam
and his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. Gaddafi died before an arrest
could made, however, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said during a visit to
Libya that the captured Saif Al-Islam could be tried on home soil but this
would involve ICC officials in the process.
Most
recently, former Ivory Coast
president Laurent Gbagbo became the first African leader to appear at The Hague where he was
flown in November on allegations of crimes against humanity.
Fatou Bom
Bensouda was elected by Member States of the ICC on Monday 12th
December 2011 to serve a nine-year term beginning on June 16, 2012, a move
partly meant to contradict arguments by African politicians and the African
Union (AU) that the “Court unfairly targets Africans”. She will replace
the renowned Argentine Luis Moreno-Ocampo whose term expires in June next year.
She was
tipped favourite in a short-list of four candidates two months ago, which
included Britain's Andrew
Cayley, Robert Petit of Canada
and Tanzania’s
Mohamed Chande Othman who withdrew
from the race. Bensouda
was appointed deputy prosecutor of the ICC in 2004, having previously worked as
a legal adviser and trial attorney at the United Nations International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha,
Tanzania.
From 1987 to
2000, she served in various positions in the Government of The Gambia,
including senior state counsel, principal state counsel, deputy director of
public prosecution, solicitor general and legal secretary, and Attorney General
and Minister of Justice.
The ICC is mandated by parties to the Rome Statute to try cases of war-crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide which national justice systems may be unable to or refuses to prosecute. It entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 countries.
The ICC is mandated by parties to the Rome Statute to try cases of war-crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide which national justice systems may be unable to or refuses to prosecute. It entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 countries.
It
is the first permanent treaty-based international criminal court established to
help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to
the international community. It is an independent organisation, and is not part
of the United Nations system. Its seat is at The Hague
in the Netherlands.
Although the
Court’s expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it also receives
voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations,
individuals, corporations and other entities.
Author: Modou S. Joof
The author is a Gambian journalist,
News Editor of The Voice Newspaper in Banjul and Publisher of The North Bank Evening Standard.
Follow me on twitter: (@Msjoof)
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/modou-s-joof/24/638/932 and
his
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