Press Release
Published on June 15, 2012
Washington, D.C. – Today, Fatou Bensouda from Gambia will be sworn in as the new Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) succeeding Louis Moreno Ocampo. Bensouda, recognized as an expert on international maritime law, is well known to advocates in the human rights community for her continuous efforts to hold perpetrators accountable for genocide and mass atrocities in her role as the Deputy Prosecutor for the ICC. “Bensouda’s appointment to the position of Chief Prosecutor for the ICC not only helps us maintain confidence in what this court can deliver for victims and survivors of atrocities,” said Human Rights First’s Sadia Hameed, “But it is also a significant feat for women’s global leadership to see an African woman recognized for her tremendous work and appointed by consensus of the Assembly States to this position.” With atrocities continuing to take place, and calls for ICC action to hold war crimes and crimes against humanity accountable mounting by the day, Bensouda faces a challenging but important road ahead. Human Rights First believes that she is just the advocate that the court needs to ensure that international justice prevails. We stand ready to work with her not only to hold the perpetrators of atrocities to account but also those who enable them to commit these horrific crimes.
