The International Nuremberg Principles Academy partnered with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (the Mechanism) and the Prosecutor General's Office at the Abidjan Court of Appeal to jointly organize an advanced seminar on the topic of investigation and prosecution of international crimes. This seminar in French language was supported by the Ivorian ministry of Justice and took place in Abidjan, the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, from 6 to 10 May 2019.
The seminar aims to help national prosecutors and investigating judges in Central and West Africa to overcome the numerous challenges they are facing in their respective roles during prosecution of international crimes. The seminar brought together 26 prosecutors and investigating judges from the Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal. The participants had the opportunity to discuss and examine, on a deeper level, the application of international criminal and international humanitarian law with experienced prosecutors from the Mechanism, the International Criminal Court and the Extraordinary African Chambers.
The seminar was structured in five modules on international criminal law and international humanitarian law. A fictional case dealing with an armed conflict encompassing many of the real-life issues encountered in investigations and prosecutions for international crimes served as the main basis for the modules.
The trainers were:
Barbara Goy, Senior Appeals Counsel in the Office of the Prosecutor, the Mechanism
Jean-Jacques Badibanga, Senior trial lawyer in the Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court
Anne-Gaelle Denier, former Appeals Counsel in the Office of the Prosecutor, the Mechanism
Interventions were made by Mbakè Fall (former General Prosecutor of the Extraordinary African Chambers) on the Hissein Habré Trial and Pélagie Manzan Dekou (International Committee of the Red Cross) on international humanitarian law.
This event demonstrates the joint desire to strengthen justice and accountability in Western and Central Africa through capacity building, and the sharing of knowledge and expertise.
