Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda delivered the third annual David J. Bederman Lecture to members of the Emory community in the Tull Auditorium at the School of Law.
The lecture, entitled “Fostering the Promise of the Rome Statute: A Prosecutor’s Perspective,” was presented by the School of Law’s center for International and Comparative Law. Bensouda spoke to a group of undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty about the court’s ongoing investigations of crimes under its jurisdiction as well as its role in the international arena. She also engaged in a question and answer session after the speech.
The ICC is an international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands that oversees 122 countries and prosecutes individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.
Bensouda is a Gambian lawyer and international criminal law prosecutor. She began her position as chief prosecutor in June 2012, previously serving as the deputy prosecutor since 2004.
According to Bensouda, as chief prosecutor of the ICC, her job is to trigger investigations of crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the court, such as genocide.
Bensouda’s speech outlined the jurisdiction and limitations of the Rome Statute, which is the treaty that established the court as well as its functions and structure in 1998, after it became a global priority to hold individuals accountable for heinous crimes.
“This is the promise that more than 120 states made to humankind,” Bensouda said.
She added that the criminal justice system established by the Rome Statute has provisions for the victims of crimes. This includes specifying the definitions of crimes such as sexual violence and a trust fund for reparations to victims.
Throughout her speech, Bensouda emphasized the limitations of the ICC’s jurisdiction.
She added that the ICC operates under a system of “complementarity,” which means that it can only intervene in situations when a state is unable or unwilling to act.
Currently, the ICC is investigating eight situations in Uganda, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Kenya, Libya, Cote d’Ivoire and Mali. There are 21 cases in front of ICC judges, five of which are in trial while the others are in appeal, Bensouda said.
During the question and answer session, an audience member asked Bensouda to respond to criticism that the ICC focuses too heavily on the African continent.
Bensouda explained that of the eight ongoing investigations in Africa, five of them were at the request of the countries, and two were referrals from the United Nations Security Council. She added that the ICC has not intervened in the atrocities being committed by the Syrian government because it does not have the jurisdiction to do so, because Syria has not abdicated control of the situation.
Bensouda also discussed some of the problems the court has been facing in convicting individuals. One of these issues is witness interference and evidence tampering. She said this phenomenon has increased as a method of compromising the integrity of cases.
Another issue is the fact that the ICC does not have police officers or enforcement mechanisms.
“Cooperation is the key to effectiveness and success,” she said. She added that a large part of the maintenance of the institution is “strong, consistent and timely cooperation” on the part of its constituent parties.
Indeed, Bensouda acknowledged that the lack of an enforcing body has interfered with some of the courts proceedings. She cited Omar Al-Bashir, the President of Sudan, who has had two pending arrest warrants for years and remains in power. She said that the ICC currently has an additional 13 pending arrest warrants out for suspected criminals.
However, Bensouda noted that these problems do not mean the ICC is ineffective.
“I don’t think it is sufficient to measure the success of the ICC in convictions,” she said.
Following an ICC case that convicted Thomas Lubanga of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the conscription of children, the ICC held the first conference on the issue of child soldiers, according to Bensouda.
An audience member noted that the court is balanced in terms of gender and asked whether female judges have an obligation to promote women’s rights globally.
Bensouda responded that the Rome Statute has provisions for gender crimes, specifically ones against women and children, and that she believes the law can be used to promote gender equality.
“The fact that she is such an important world leader, and a woman, was inspiration for me personally,” College sophomore Jessica Margolis said.
The David J. Bederman Lecture was established in honor of Gyr Professor of Private International Law David J. Bederman, who died in December of 2011, and his contribution to teaching, academics and advocacy, according to the School of Law’s website.
Students attending the event not only said it was an informative experience but also expressed that it was a unique opportunity to learn directly from an individual in the center of the action.
“I thought it was an amazing experience to hear the international political dynamics of the ICC explained by [Bensouda] herself,” Margolis said. “It was fascinating to hear from someone who has such extensive experience with international law and human rights.”
Others said Bensouda was inspirational.
“[Bensouda] was definitely the most interesting guest speaker that I’ve been to at Emory, especially because she’s the first African woman to serve on an international tribunal,” College sophomore Deepa Mahadevan said. “She was really inspirational, and I really got a lot out of hearing about her perspective of being chief prosecutor for the ICC.”
–By Rupsha Basu
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