Wayamo Foundation

International Justice Symposium : "Networks of Accountability: Justice for International and Transnational Organized Crimes"
2018-02-27 | Nairobi, Kenya
In February and March of this year, the Wayamo Foundation concluded a series of five key events (two meetings and three activities) in so many days in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of its “Fighting Impunity in East Africa” project, an initiative funded by the German Foreign Ministry.
The stated objectives of the Symposium were to discuss the status of international criminal justice, analyse transnational organised crimes, and explore the linkages between the two sets of crimes. The Symposium was followed by a training session for a select group of senior East African investigators and prosecutors, a high-level network meeting of Directors of Public Prosecution and Heads of Criminal Investigations from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, as well as a special media component for journalists from the region.
Click here for Symposium report.

International Symposium in Kigali: "Fighting Impunity in East Africa"
2017-11-21 | Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
Over a three-day period from 20 to 22 November 2017, Kigali, Rwanda, played host to the latest in the Wayamo Foundation’s series of East African international justice conferences aimed at exploring the current state of international criminal justice, its links with transnational organised crime, and national and regional efforts to deal with these crimes. The event was held thanks to the unstinting collaboration of the Rwandan Ministry of Justice and the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office.
Another of the programme’s pillars was the following day’s intensive training session for investigators and prosecutors from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, aimed at building competencies in the investigation and prosecution of international and transnational crimes domestically. This model is purpose-designed to put the complementarity principle into practice, while at the sometime fostering synergies between the international criminal justice community and national legal actors.
However, the pillar of greatest potential practical importance was arguably the second High-level Network Meeting of Directors of Public Prosecution and Heads of Criminal Investigation Departments from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda on Monday 20 November, aimed at strengthening the rule of law by ensuring effective investigation and prosecution of complex crimes and intensifying inter-agency collaboration at the regional level. It is intended that the network will have three main functions: (1) to serve as a mechanism for exchanging knowledge, sharing policies, tools, templates and guidelines on topics such as witness protection, witness interviewing, arrest and extradition; (2) to enhance the working relationship between police and prosecutors during the course of investigations; and (3) to be an avenue for regional and cross-border collaboration and mutual legal assistance in international and transnational criminal cases.

Capacity building for civil and military prosecutors to address the most serious and complex crimes under Nigerian criminal law, Lagos, Nigeria
2017-11-02 - 2017-11-04 | Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria
Over the course of three days, from 2nd to 4th November 2017, the Wayamo Foundation, Africa Group for Justice and Accountability (AGJA) and International Nuremberg Principles Academy held the fourth of the current series of capacity-building workshops on “Strengthening Justice and Accountability in Nigeria”.
This workshop marked a radical shift in that it was the first to combine training for both military and civil investigators and prosecutors on how to address the most serious and complex crimes under Nigerian criminal law (international, transnational and terrorism related crimes), including crimes that potentially fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Both military and civil participants indicated that the workshop had been “very interactive, informative and educational.”

The Africa Group mission to The Gambia
2017-10-30 - 2017-11-03 | The Gambia, Banjul, Gambia
From 31 October to 3 November 2017, the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability (AGJA) and the Wayamo Foundation sent a fact-finding delegation to The Gambia. The delegation arrived in The Gambia in response to an invitation by Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou. Its aim was to understand the nature of The Gambia’s ongoing transition from authoritarian rule under former President Yahya Jammeh to democracy and the rule of law. Over a series of broad consultations with key stakeholders in the transitional process, the delegation sought to understand the challenges and priorities regarding the achievement of justice and accountability in the country. The delegation was led by former Chief Justice of Tanzania, Mohamed Chande Othman and included human rights advocate Fatiha Serour (Algeria) and Wayamo Foundation Deputy Director Mark Kersten (Canada).
Based on the delegation’s consultations as well as ongoing research on the country’s transition conducted at the Wayamo Foundation, the mission report offers a series of recommendations to authorities and officials in The Gambia as they continue to work on achieving justice and accountability and building a state that eagerly and effectively defends the rule of law and human rights. It is also expected that it will inform the work of the Wayamo Foundation, AGJA and other partners interested in further supporting The Gambia’s transition process.

Judges´ retreat on judicial independence
2017-08-08 | Tanzania, Kanisa Road, Arusha, Tanzania, United Republic Of
As part of the Wayamo Foundation’s commitment to spreading knowledge and building capacity among judges in the East African region, the symposium was followed by a one-day retreat on 8 August (see programme), attended by fifteen judges from national, regional, and international courts. They shared experiences in tackling transnational organised crime, building effective judiciaries and courts, and protecting the independence of their institutions. By enhancing knowledge of the judiciary’s role in addressing serious and transnational crimes, the ultimate goal is to build competency to address such crimes domestically and an understanding of the complementary role of national, regional and international courts. The retreat was a powerful demonstration of the commitment shown by both the participants and the Wayamo Foundation to strengthen the rule of law through the fostering of strong, independent and effective judiciaries.

International Symposium: “Judicial Independence — A Foundation for Combatting International and Transnational Crime”
2017-08-07 | Tanzania, Kanisa Road, Arusha, Tanzania, United Republic Of
On 7 August, Arusha played host to an international symposium at the Mount Meru Hotel, aimed at exploring: judicial independence, integrity and ethics in the fight against international and transnational crime; case studies on the role of the judiciary in addressing human trafficking and corruption; and the relationship between domestic, regional, and international courts in combatting serious crimes (see programme).
As part of the Wayamo Foundation’s commitment to spreading knowledge and building capacity among judges in the East African region, the symposium was followed by a one-day retreat on 8 August (see programme), attended by fifteen judges from national, regional, and international courts. They shared experiences in tackling transnational organised crime, building effective judiciaries and courts, and protecting the independence of their institutions. By enhancing knowledge of the judiciary’s role in addressing serious and transnational crimes, the ultimate goal is to build competency to address such crimes domestically and an understanding of the complementary role of national, regional and international courts. The retreat was a powerful demonstration of the commitment shown by both the participants and the Wayamo Foundation to strengthen the rule of law through the fostering of strong, independent and effective judiciaries.

International Symposium and capacity building, Dakar, Senegal
2017-07-07 - 2017-07-08 | Senegal, Boulevard Martin Luther King, Dakar, Senegal
From 7-8 July 2017, Senegal’s capital of Dakar was the scene of a public symposium entitled, “Changing the Narrative – From Withdrawal to Constructive Engagement”.
Click here for the Symposium report.
Convened by the Wayamo Foundation and the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability (AGJA), the symposium brought together a number of leading stakeholders, experts, scholars, and practitioners in order to discuss a range of topics, including the current status of the relationship between African states and the International Criminal Court (ICC), possible reforms to improve the Court and interpreting the African Union’s (AU) ICC Withdrawal Strategy as a package of reforms, the role of hybrid mechanisms in prosecuting international crimes, combating impunity at a regional level, the coming into force of the crime of aggression, and the thorny issue of sequencing peace and justice.
As a continuation of their ongoing commitment to justice and accountability across the continent, the Wayamo Foundation and AGJA convened a capacity building workshop from 10-11 July, following their two-day public symposium. The two-day training workshop (see programme) brought together for the first time the members of the Special Criminal Court (SCC) of the Central African Republic (CAR). Participants included the judges, prosecutor and deputy prosecutor. Over the course of the two days, members of staff were given the opportunity to learn from the experiences and lessons of colleagues from other international organisations and courts, including the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) which had successfully prosecuted Hissène Habré in 2016.

Capacity building for military prosecutors to address the most serious and complex crimes under Nigerian criminal law, Lagos, Nigeria
2017-06-28 - 2017-06-30 | Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria
Lagos played host to Capacity-building for military prosecutors to address the most serious and complex crimes under Nigerian criminal law. From 28-30 June, Wayamo organised a capacity-building workshop for military investigators and prosecutors on ‘STRENGTHENING JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN NIGERIA’ at the Southern Sun Hotel Ikoyi in Lagos (see programme).
The three-day workshop was organised by the Wayamo Foundation, the International Nuremberg Principles Academy and the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability and was opened by General Yusuf Shalangwa, the Director of Legal Services of the Nigerian Army.
This June workshop is the first training session for Nigerian military investigators and prosecutors. The Chief of Army Staff has kindly agreed to send 20 investigators and prosecutors to the workshop. The objective of the ongoing training programme is to build capacity to address the most serious and complex crimes under Nigerian criminal law (international, transnational and terrorism- related crimes), including those crimes that potentially fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

International Symposium: “Fighting Impunity in East Africa – Ensuring accountability for international and transnational organised crimes”
2017-06-05 - 2017-06-08 | Tanzania, Kanisa Road, Arusha, Tanzania, United Republic Of
Arusha played host to an international symposium at the Mount Meru Hotel on 6 June 2017. The symposium aimed at exploring the current state of international criminal justice, its links with transnational organised crime, and national and regional efforts to deal with these crimes across East Africa. The event welcomed some 80 experts on international and transnational criminal law, academics, legal practitioners, the media and civil society organisations from across Africa and other parts of the world.
Click here for Symposium Report.
As part of the project’s launch activities, the Wayamo Foundation facilitated the first network meeting of Directors of Public Prosecution and Heads of Criminal Investigation Departments, as well as a two-day training session for prosecutors and investigators from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. By enhancing knowledge in the areas of the investigation and prosecution of international and transnational crimes, with special sessions on cyber-crime and financial crimes, the ultimate goal of such training is to build competency to address these crimes domestically.

South African-German Justice Dialogue
2017-03-27 - 2017-03-28 | South Africa, Pretoria
Taking place from 27 – 28 March 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa, the South African-German Justice Dialogue brought together South African, German and international experts in the areas of international criminal law and human rights, as well as 20 -25 participants, including diplomats, civil society representatives and academics.
The event has been organised by the Wayamo Foundation in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office.

The event commenced with welcoming remarks by Michael Koch, Director-General, Legal Department, Federal Foreign Office, Germany, and the keynote speech delivered by Navi Pillay, Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (see programme).

Capacity building for prosecutors to address the most serious and complex crimes under Nigerian criminal law
2017-03-13 - 2017-03-15 | Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria
Wednesday 15 March 2017 saw the close of the Wayamo Foundation’s second capacity-building workshop aimed at helping Nigerian prosecutors address the most serious and complex crimes under Nigerian criminal law. This forms part of a larger, ongoing programme to strengthen justice and accountability in Nigeria, which is being implemented by Wayamo, the International Nuremberg Principles Academy and the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability in collaboration with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Justice.
Judging by the reactions of the participants and trainers alike, the workshop was a resounding success, with a hands-on, interactive, practice-oriented approach that allowed for some extremely lively and instructive discussion, further insight into the international dimensions of the work involved, and ample space for a series of challenging exercises, purpose-designed to hone their prosecution skills and test their ability to work in teams on real case scenarios.
