Assembly of States Parties – Side event
Creative responses to international criminal justice – complementarity and capacity building
10 December 2018
Held as part of its yearly presence at the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC), this year’s Wayamo/Africa Group for Justice and Accountability (AGJA) side event focused on identifying creative solutions to intractable problems in the realm of international justice whilst showcasing the ongoing capacity building workshops in Nigeria.
The event was opened by Richard Goldstone, AGJA member and Former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Goldstone’s remarks focused on the important role that the AGJA has played in advocating for more effective justice and efforts across the African continent.
He was followed by fellow AGJA member, Dapo Akande, Professor of Public International Law, University of Oxford, who spoke about the ongoing capacity building programme implemented by Wayamo, AGJA and the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, aimed at encouraging national-level investigators and prosecutors to achieve justice effectively for crimes allegedly committed by Boko Haram and the Nigerian military.
Akande’s intervention was followed by a lively debate between Netsanet Belay, Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International, Claus Molitor, Situation Analyst, Office of the Prosecutor, ICC, Muhammed Umar,Nigerian Federal Director of Public Prosecutions Major General Yusuf Shalangwa,Director Legal Services Nigerian Army, and Olawale Fapohunda, Attorney-General of Ekiti State and Chair of the Nigerian Military Human Rights Dialogue. They discussed the ongoing efforts of national investigators and prosecutors to achieve justice for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Nigeria.
Click here for all pictures.
The event was organised as part of Wayamo and AGJA’s commitment to creating forums for constructive dialogue and bringing together actors to work and engage in a respectful and collaborative fashion. The side event would not have been possible without the generous support of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, The Netherlands, Finland, Germany, and Nigeria.
