The Africa Group for Justice and Accountability (AGJA) and its secretariat, the Wayamo Foundation, are extremely pleased to announce that Fatou Bensouda has joined the Group. Ms. Bensouda has a long and distinguished career in international criminal law. From 2012-2021, she was the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and had previously served as Deputy Prosecutor of the ICC (2004-2012) and worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Building on the formula so successfully applied at the previous two Abuja training sessions in October 2022, the Wayamo Foundation, in collaboration with the United Nations Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), held their third workshop in Lagos from 30 November – 2 December 2022.
As part of our two-year “Capacity building for civil society and the justice sector in Sudan” project, the Wayamo Foundation has just completed two introductory workshops in Nairobi, Kenya, for Sudanese civil society and the justice sector on how best to draw upon international criminal law and practice to further the mission of achieving accountability via national justice systems for international crimes in Sudan. The events were generously supported by the Dutch Foreign Ministry.
Building on the formula so successfully applied at the previous Abuja training session in November 2021, the Wayamo Foundation, working for the first time in close partnership with the United Nations Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), held two back-to-back workshops in Abuja.
Within the framework of its “Capacity building for civil society and the justice sector in Sudan” project, the Wayamo Foundation organised a mission to Khartoum from 8 to 15 September 2022.
The Chairperson of the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability (AGJA) Mohammed Othman Chande is leading a high-level mission to Kenya to observe the proceedings of the 2022 election petition.
On 5 August 2022, the Wayamo Foundation held an online roundtable discussion with Sudanese lawyers and human rights experts entitled: “Exploring alternative paths to justice”. Together, participants examined potential avenues of domestic accountability ranging from traditional forums of justice, Khartoum based civil/criminal courts and Juba Peace Agreement challenges.
Drawing on her own experiences, Kate Gibson, a lawyer specialising in International Criminal Law and International Human Rights Law who has practiced as defence counsel at numerous international courts, discusses the importance of upholding the right to defendants and fair trial standards in terrorism and international crime cases.
On International Justice Day, Mohamed Othman Chande and Mark Kersten highlight the importance for the ICC to use the lessons learned in Ukraine to help deliver justice in Africa.
Transitional justice measures are a key pillar in building a solid foundation for states, based on the rule of law. Developing the capacity of the legal community, civil society and the media is an important step towards addressing the accountability challenges facing Sudan and advancing the transitional justice agenda. Wayamo’s project aims to strengthen the capacity of civil society and legal actors in Sudan as they participate in the transitional justice process.
