Africa-Press – Côte d’Ivoire. La Gambienne Fatou Bensouda a terminé son mandat en tant que procureur de la CPI : « Pour être efficace, juste et être une véritable force de dissuasion, les activités et décisions du Bureau du Procureur doivent toujours être fondées uniquement sur la loi, sans crainte ni faveur. »Les habitants de la Côte-d’Ivoire retiendront d’elle, qu’elle a perdu son procès contre leur ancien président Laurent Gbagbo et son ancien ministre Charles Blé Goudé.
Les Ivoiriens et Africains n’oublieront pas aussi que madame Bensouda a été incapable malgré ses nombreuses promesses, de lancer des poursuites contre les éléments du camp Soro/Ouattara.
Ce dossier est laissé à son successeur de nationalité anglaise Karim Asad Ahmad Khan.
Mrs Fatou Bensouda finishes her mandate as ICC Prosecutor: “To be effective, to be just and to be a real deterrent, the Office of the Prosecutor’s activities and decisions must always be based solely on the law, without fear or favour.”
In the past week, a number of farewell events were held in honour of the outgoing Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”), Mrs Fatou Bensouda, whose nine year mandate at the head of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (“Office” or “OTP”) comes to an end today, on 15 June 2021. She has served the Court since 2004, first as Deputy Prosecutor. Mr Karim Asad Ahmad Khan will be sworn in as Prosecutor of the ICC as of tomorrow, 16 June 2021.
At the different events, the Principals and staff of the Court, State representatives and a range of other distinguished attendees thanked Prosecutor Bensouda for her dedicated service to the ICC for close to two decades. Interventions, through live remarks or video contributions, noted the accomplishments of Prosecutor Bensouda and her lasting legacy, as well as the significant challenges, which have marked her term and which she has overcome with grace, resilience and professional integrity.
Speakers included, inter alia, UN Deputy Secretary-General, H.E. Ms Amina J. Mohammed; ICC President, Judge Piotr Hofmański; ICC Registrar, Mr Peter Lewis; ICC Deputy Prosecutor, Mr James Stewart, President of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), Ms Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi; former President of the ASP, Judge O-Gon Kwon; Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands, H.E. Ms Sigrid Kaag; Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Gambia, H.E. Dr Mamadou Tangara; Minister of Justice (Attorney General) of The Gambia, The Honourable Mr Dawda A. Jallow; UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs & Legal Counsel, H.E. Mr Miguel de Serpa Soares; Ambassador of Senegal, H.E. Mr Momar Gueye; Ambassador of The Gambia, H.E. Ms Teneng Mba Jaiteh; Acting Convenor of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Ms Melinda Reed, and former US Prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, Mr Benjamin Ferencz.
“To be effective, to be just and to be a real deterrent, the Office of the Prosecutor’s activities and decisions must be based solely on the law and the evidence. During my tenure, I have done my utmost to live by these convictions in the service of the Rome Statute, without fear or favour”, stated Prosecutor Bensouda reflecting on her mandate.
