New ICC chief prosecutor
December 13, 2011
Fatou Bensouda is not a new face at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The former Gambian minister has served as a deputy prosecutor at the court since 2004. Her supporters list three qualities that qualify her for the new job. She is competent, she is experienced in international law, and she's from Africa.
At the age of 50 Fatou Bensouda can look back at an exciting career. She started out as a public prosecutor in Gambia in 1987. Afterwards she served as the country's Attorney-General, before going on to get a master's degree in international maritime law in Malta, making her the only expert in Gambia in this field. Before joining the ICC, Bensouda headed the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Despite criticism of the ICC's role in Africa, Bensouda is one of the court's staunch supporters. "Anytime I hear that that the court is targeting Africans, it saddens me," she told Reuters prior to her election by the UN. After all, the court would also act in the defense of Africans who had fallen victim to serious crimes, she said.
'Fighting impunity no neo-colonial exercise'
Bensouda's appointment is widely seen as a step toward giving the court a greater legitimacy in Africa. According to Kai Ambos, a professor of international law at the University of Göttingen in northern Germany, Bensouda's thoughtful style had already gained her a great deal of respect at the court. The present chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, on the other hand was known for a more controversial style of leadership.
Many African countries welcome the fact that an African will soon be at the helm of the ICC. Especially since cases that are currently being heard at the court deal with alleged crimes perpetrated in African countries. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Ivory Coast are a few cases in point. The court has frequently been accused of being part of a neo-colonial justice system targeting Africans. Fatou Bensouda strongly rejects such claims. "Fighting impunity is not a neo-colonial exercise," she said recently.
Author: Lina Hoffmann/dp
Editor: Susan Houlton