Gambian Woman to Head The ICC.

According to Colum Lynch and a few other observers, Fatou Bensouda will become the next top Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.
Earlier this week, the ICC announced that the four short-listed candidates (Robert Petit of Canada; Andrew Cayley of the UK; Mohamed Chande Othman of Tanzania; and Fatou Bensouda of Gambia), had been whittled down to two.
It has become apparent that the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties wanted to avoid an election by deciding on a “consensus candidate.” Kevin Jon Heller, at Opinio Juris, suggested that the ICC likely conducted informal polling which made clear that a consensus had formed around having an African Prosecutor. Othman subsequently decided to step aside, allowing Bensouda to emerge as the sole candidate for the job. In all likelihood, Othman understood his chances were slim-to-none given that the African Union – which had decided to support an African candidate for Prosecutor  endorsed  Bensouda.
Many readers of JiC will know that Bensouda has long been the favoured candidate to replace outgoing Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo. Her name was consistently and emphatically mentioned by observers of the Court. This past September, I argued that the stars had aligned for Bensouda – she had the ICC’s top job “in the bag.” Bensouda clearly satisfied all of the political and merit-based criteria to become the ICC’s chief Prosecutor.
The selection of Bensouda as a consensus candidate is important for a number of reasons. Here are a few:
First, the selection of Bensouda, just weeks prior to the day originally set for an election, removes the possibility of a highly political election. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a good thing. An election would have created additional buzz and discussion about key issues surrounding the ICC and its first decade of work.
Second, Bensouda becomes the first African Prosecutor at the ICC. This fact will almost surely garner the most media attention. The African Union has been adamant that an African candidate would be selected, and they got their wish. It will now be very interesting to see how the AU deals with an African Prosecutor. The AU has often expressed frustration and, at times, outright hostility towards the Court for what it, and many of its member states, see as undue bias towards African nations and leaders. Now that the AU has its chosen candidate, will its attitude and rhetoric change?
Third, Bensouda’s ascension to the top job is another remarkable feat for gender parity in international institutions and international politics. The United Nations has never had a female Secretary General. The World Bank has never had a female President.
Fourth, the ICC not only has a lot on its plate, but the number of courses being served is ever-increasing. In the past year alone, two additional situations (Ivory Coast and Libya) were added to the growing list of contexts in which the Court is conducting official investigations and prosecutions. It is not out of the question that others, like Syria, will join Libya, Ivory Coast, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Uganda, in the near future. It would seem sensible to suggest that, as the Court’s current Deputy Prosecutor, continuity will serve Bensouda well. States didn’t want to mess with the AU on this one.
Fifth, and related to the last point, by all accounts Bensouda is a much more low-key prosecutor than Moreno-Ocampo. Her selection would thus appear to confirm the desire among states parties to select someone who will be more of a ‘secretary’ than a ‘general’ – a prosecutor who won’t ruffle as many feathers.
With Bensouda claiming the single most visible position in the international criminal justice firmament, attention will begin to shift back towards the tenure of the Court’s current Prosecutor. As the ICC’s first Prosecutor, Moreno-Ocampo’s time has been replete with controversy. But he also put the Court on the map and spotlight of international politics, in the face of nay-sayers, critics and a plethora of hostile forces. In the coming weeks, it will be interesting to read and hear retrospectives on a man who, arguably more than anyone else, has shaped the politics and pursuit of international criminal justice.
My heart m,issed a beat when i herad this news. This is an ambush by the international community. Are theyt trying to appease Africans after committing crimes against humanity in Libya? This is a question they would never answer. African leaders must watch out for this might be a Trojan Horse. Beware of the Greeks if they come bearing gifts.

Laurent Gbagbo's Trial at the ICC?

My heart weeps so much for my African brother, the former Ivorian president, Laurent Gbagbo who was sent to the ICC in the Hague. Four charges of crimes against humanity have been proffered against him. We all know that this is just a formality he is going through. They would surely find him guilty as the trial of the former Liberian president Charles Gankey Taylor seems to show the hall marks of a predetermined agenda. These people would make sure that Gbagbo is kept away from Ivory Coast for a long time. I keep on asking this question, was the ICC created for only African Leaders? Why cant the likes of Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, George Bush Snr and Jnr, Gordon Brown and a host of other former western leaders who have committed atrocities in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq,  and Libya. Imagine you have a system where the leaders are the judge, jury and prosecutors. The conclusion would be that, the guilty verdict would surely be pronounced on any African president sent to the Hague. Why cant the African Union do something about this invasion of our African continent by these neocolonialists. Now they are threatening us with aid with so many conditions, some of which are that, we should allow homosexuals and lesbians to have their way all in the name of human rights. This is an insult to the African culture. Are these western powers signatories to the ICC Convention? I hope to find out the number of countries that have signed up to this incongruous convention. Sudan's president, Al Bashir is their next target, as to when they would get him to be sent to the ICC, only time will tell. Right now, the ICC has put an international arrest warrant on him. This has brought a big diplomatic row between Sudan and Kenya as they have both expelled their diplomats as a result of a Kenyan court ruling that states that the Sudanese president should be arrested the moment he steps foot on Kenyan soil. Why cant Africans be allowed to decide their own fate and settle their own disputes. Alhassane Outtara's forces also committed  atrocities during the Ivorian crisis, he should also be invited to the ICC to face charges of crimes against humanity. His forces embarked on an ethnic cleansing campaign, and the evidence is so overwhelming, but the ICC Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo's visit to Ivory Coast was a one sided affair. Gbagbo could have been tried by the African Union's own Judicial body. I would like to end with this question, who is going to pay for the cost involved in Laurent Gbagbo's ICC trial. I know the Ivorian people would be made to compromise on so many fronts for the western powers to have their way. Alhassane Outtara should beware, because Gbagbo's supporters are still alive. A word to the wise they say, is in Ouattara's north. My last question is, will Gbagbo be given a fair trial?