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| Fatou Bensouda |
When she was elected as Luis Moreno Ocampo’s
deputy in 2004, Fatou Bensouda had a strong message for world leaders.
She advised them to realise that with
the setting up of the International Criminal Court, impunity was a thing of the
past.
“It is gone!” declared the 50-year-old
lawyer who is touted to replace Mr Moreno-Ocampo next June.
“Those who are trying to bring unspeakable
atrocities, suffering to civilians anywhere in the world will be held
accountable.”
She stressed that those in
authority—whether in government or disciplined forces — have the responsibility
to stop crimes.
“We have to realise that the law makes
a difference between the soldier or terrorist or a policeman or criminal. There
is a difference.”
Well, former Ivory Coast strongman
Laurent Gbagbo, the stubborn, fire-breathing and chest thumbing professor of
history, is now crest-fallen at the ICC detention facilities where he has spent
three nights.
Gbagbo joined former Congolese
Vice-President Jean Pierre Pemba and suspected DRC warlord Thomas Lubanga.
The ICC has issued a warrant of arrest
against Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir and Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Seif al-Islam.
Add six Kenyan suspects — including
two presidential hopefuls — who have faced the court, and you see the full
power behind the ICC, particularly its chief prosecutor.
On Thursday, ICC member states agreed
to nominate Ms Bensouda from The Gambia as chief prosecutor to replace Mr
Moreno-Ocampo, who must stand down next year at the end of his nine-year term.
She emerged as the consensus candidate
proposed for the key post in final meetings of the states ahead of the formal
election to be held in New York, on December 12.
Liechtenstein’s UN ambassador
Christian Wenaweser, who has been heading the selection process, said he would
recommend Ms Bensouda.
“The announcement caps a lengthy and
rigorous search process, and we understand the decision reflects consensus
among ICC states parties,” said Param Preet Singh of Human Rights Watch’s who
followed the selection.
A total of 52 candidates applied for
the job, including Tanzania’s chief justice Mohamed Chande, who is said to have
withdrawn his candidacy as it became increasingly clear that African nations
favoured Ms Bensouda.
Others seeking the post were Mr Andrew
Cayley, the British co-prosecutor in the Cambodian special court handling Khmer
Rouge trials, and Canadian war crimes specialist Robert Petit.
Kenyan suspects
If elected, the Kenyan suspects,
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura,
MPs William Ruto and Henry Kosgey, Postmaster-General Hussein Ali and radio
presenter Joshua Sang, will face Ms Bensouda.
That is, of course, if their cases
proceed to trial.
Unlike the media savvy Ocampo who has
become a household name in Kenya with children, matatus and bars named after
him, Mrs Bensouda pulls her strings behind the curtains.
Because of her background and
experience in various tribunals as solicitor-general and deputy director of
public prosecutions as well as Justice minister in The Gambia, Ms Bensouda is
reputed to be an “expert on African justice systems”.
She is the lead prosecutor in the
trial of DRC warlord Lubanga who faces charges related to war crimes.
And perhaps unlike Mr Moreno-Ocampo,
Mrs Bensouda is familiar with the eastern African terrain, its cultures and
politics. Before he appointment at the ICC, she was a trial attorney at the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania.
Besides, the former minister
represented her country in negotiations that resulted in the Rome Statute which
gave birth to the ICC.
“Africa can be proud to have such an
outstanding person at the ICC, committed to bringing justice to victims of the
most heinous crimes,” said Sheikh Tijan Hydare, the Gambian Attorney-General
who describes Ms Bensouda as hard-working, dedicated and one of the best
attorneys-general his country has produced”.
She has been keen to remind audiences
that the ICC is a permanent and independent court. Mr Singh of Human Rights
Watch says Bensouda will have to be “a legal superwoman.”
“You need someone who understands the
demands of acting independently and with impartiality on an international stage
to put forward the needs of justice and the victims when it may not always be
convenient for the international community.”
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