Launch of the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability (press release)
On 23 November 2015 in The Hague, the Wayamo Foundation has launched the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability on the sidelines of the International Criminal Court Assembly of States Parties at an event entitled “Africa and the ICC – Looking Back, Moving Forward” co-hosted by the governments of Botswana, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The Africa Group for Justice and Accountability is an independent group of senior African experts on international criminal law and human rights, including political figures, members of international and domestic tribunals, and human rights advocates. The Group shall support efforts to strengthen justice and accountability measures in Africa through domestic and regional capacity building, advice and outreach, and enhancing cooperation between Africa and the International Criminal Court.
Speakers at the side event included Africa Group members:
- Femi Falana (Nigeria) Human rights activist and lawyer
- Hassan Bubacar Jallow (Gambia) Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals
- Richard Goldstone (South Africa) Former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia
- Athaliah Molokomme (Botswana) Attorney General of Botswana
- Navi Pillay (South Africa) Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Fatiha Serour (Algeria) Director of Serour Associates for Inclusion and Equity
Not present in The Hague were group members Betty Kaari Murungi (Kenya), an Independent Consultant on Human Rights and Transitional Justice, Mohamed Chande Othman (Tanzania), the Chief Justice of Tanzania and Abdul Tejan-Cole (Sierra Leone), the Executive Director of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.
The new group was launched as part of Wayamo’s ongoing strategies aimed at improving the relationship between Africa and the ICC as well as strengthening complementarity through capacity building. Bettina Ambach, the Director of the Wayamo Foundation, which will act as the Groups’ Secretariat, described it as “an open and interactive forum where the concerns of African citizens and states can be heard.”
