Open civil society letter to ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda

14 June 2021

79 civil society organizations (including No peace Without Justice) thank Prosecutor Bensouda for her service at the ICC and applaud the high degree of independence she exhibited during her mandate. We call on the new prosecutor to build on this legacy https://bit.ly/35mrWWV

 
-----------------------------
 
Dear Madam Prosecutor, 
 
As your term as prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) draws to a close, we are writing to thank you for your longstanding service and significant contributions to the ICC, as well as to acknowledge the progress that the Office of the Prosecutor has made during your tenure. 
 
While civil society organizations have identified areas for improvement and will continue to advocate for changes to ensure effective investigations and prosecutions, the office has made considerable advances in a number of situations and preliminary examinations under your leadership. 
 
We especially admire the high degree of independence you have exhibited during your mandate. Your office has opened investigations in the face of immense pressure and politicized opposition. You have done this work at great personal and institutional cost. Developments on the ground in Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Palestine over the last few months have confirmed that accountability in those and other situations is essential, especially when the ICC is the only remaining option for justice. We will call on the next prosecutor to build on this legacy and continue to ensure that the court fulfils its mandate, regardless of the nationality or position of alleged perpetrators. 
 
Finally, we thank you for your office’s—and your personal—constructive engagement and collaboration with civil society over the past eighteen years. As the office transitions into new leadership, civil society cooperation will be critical to the court’s success, and we will continue to work hard to support the ICC. 
 
We wish you the very best with your future endeavors. Sincerely, 
 

  • Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture au Burundi African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
  • Al-Haq
  • Al Mezan Center for Human Rights 
  • All Survivors Project
  • Amnesty International
  • Asia Justice and Rights
  • Asian Legal Resource Centre
  • Asociación Civil Democracia Global
  • Asociación Feminista La Cuerda, Guatemala
  • Australian Centre for International Justice
  • Bureau d’études et de réflexions pour le bien-être des communautés, DRC Center for Accountability and Rule of Law – Sierra Leone 
  • Center for Peace and Justice, BRAC University
  • Centre for African Justice, Peace and Human Rights
  • Centre for Democracy and Development
  • Centre marocain de la loi et la paix
  • Children Education Society, Tanzania
  • CLEEN Foundation, Nigeria
  • Club des amis du droit du Congo
  • Coalition burundaise pour la Cour pénale internationale
  • Coalition guinéenne pour la Cour pénale internationale
  • Coalition ivoirienne pour la Cour pénale internationale
  • Coalition malienne pour la Cour pénale internationale
  • Coalitions d’Afrique francophone pour la Cour pénale internationale Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos Congo Peace Initiative
  • Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation 
  • Economic Justice Network-Sierra Leone
  • Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
  • Global Justice Center
  • HEDA Resource Centre, Nigeria
  • Human Rights Watch
  • Impact: Center against Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence in Conflict Informal Venezuelan NGO Network
  • Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa
  • Institute for Security Studies
  • International Center for MultiGenerational Legacies of Trauma
  • International Commission of Jurists
  • International Federation for Human Rights
  • International Platform of Jurists for East Timor
  • Iranian Center for International Criminal Law
  • Justice and Reconciliation Project, Uganda
  • Justice International
  • Kenya Human Rights Commission
  • Kurdish Organizations Network Coalition for the International Criminal Court Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy
  • Ligue burundaise des droits de l'homme Iteka
  • MADRE
  • MARUAH, Singapore
  • Naripokkho, Bangladesh
  • Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court
  • No Peace Without Justice
  • Observatoire ivoirien des droits de l’homme
  • Odhikar, Bangladesh
  • Open Society Justice Initiative 
  • Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
  • Parliamentarians for Global Action
  • Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court
  • Reporters Without Borders
  • Réseau Equitas, Côte d’Ivoire
  • Rohingya Women Welfare Society
  • Sexual Violence Research Initiative
  • Society for Threatened People, Switzerland
  • SOS-Burundi
  • Students for Global Democracy-Uganda
  • Sudanese Women Rights Action
  • Swedish Foundation for Human Rights
  • Transitional Justice Coordination Group, Afghanistan
  • Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group
  • United Nations Association – Greater Philadelphia
  • United Nations Association of Sweden
  • Vision GRAM-International
  • Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice
  • Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative, Nigeria World Federalist Movement-Canada
  • World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy
  • World Renewers Organization
  • World Without Genocide