By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Gambian lawyer, Fatou Bensouda, was sworn in as the new chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) replacing Argentinian Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
Fatou Bensouda was born in Banjul, Gambia to a civil servant and a housewife. After graduating with a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Ife in Nigeria, she went on to pursue her Barrister at Law at the Nigeria Law School in Lagos. She later acquired a Master of Laws from the International Maritime Law Institute in Malta making her Gambia’s first expert in international maritime law and the Law of the Seas.
In 1987, she returned to Gambia to begin her career as a public prosecutor. Ten years later, she was appointed as Gambia’s justice minister and attorney-general.
As a Legal Adviser and Trial Attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) prosecutor’s office, she handled cases on the 1994 Rwandan genocide wherein approximately 800,000 people were killed. She later rose to the position of Senior Legal Advisor and Head of The Legal Advisory Unit.
By virtue of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute (ASP), the ICC’s founding document, Fatou Bensouda was elected ICC prosecutor in December 2011 by the 121 state signatories. Judge Sang-Hyun Song, president of the ICC, vouched for her competence saying, “I am confident that her strong independent voice, legal expertise and genuine concern for human rights issues will contribute greatly to the continuous fight against impunity.”
Bensouda’s inauguration was also hailed by non-governmental groups. “Fatou Bensouda is extremely qualified to lead the office of the prosecutor,” said Willam Pace, the head of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, a body which monitors the work of the tribunal.
Bensouda, who took the oath of office last week, specifically stated that she shall be carrying on with the seven situations, 14 cases (two of which are Kenya’s post election violence cases), and a further seven preliminary investigations that Ocampo had initiated.
However, Bensouda’s election was not devoid of criticisms. The African Union was concerned that the prosecutor might have a tendency to single out African cases. Bensouda countered that she will not target any particular state. Guided by the ASP, she promised to be even-handed in dealing with all the 121 state parties.
“I am humbled by the privileged responsibility that the state parties have bestowed on me. I am also thankful to the African Union for supporting my candidature which shows that they are committed to fighting impunity,” she said during the brief ceremony inside the chamber. “The Office of the Prosecutor,” she added, “will continue to work with other partners namely other offices of ICC, rights groups and the state parties.”
For further information, please see:
New Europe World — Second ICC Prosecutor Formally Takes Office – 15 June 2012
The Star — Bensouda Assumes ICC Prosecutor Post – 15 June 2012
Star Africa — Gambian Woman Takes Over as ICC Chief Prosecutor – 15 June 2012
Capital FM News — New ICC Prosecutor Bensouda Reaches Pinnacle – 14 June 2012
