Fatou Bensouda
Ife, Nigeria
She graduated from the University of Ife with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree in 1986.
213 Igbosere Rd, Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria
She obtained her Barrister-at-Law (BL) professional qualification from the Nigeria Law School.
2009
New York City, United States
Fatou Bensouda attends UNDOC Hosts Discussion and Book Signing for 'HALF THE SKY' at United Nations on September 15, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by SHAUN MADER/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
2011
1 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022, USA
(L-R) Jane Holl Lute, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, and Mary Robinson of Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice attend The Louise Blouin Foundation Presents The Fifth Annual Blouin Creative Leadership Summit - Day 1 at the Metropolitan Club on September 19, 2011 in New York City. (Thos Robinson/Getty Images North America)
2011
1 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022, USA
(L-R) Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, Mary Robinson of Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice, Louise Blouin, CEO & Chairman of Louise Blouin Media, and Jane Holl Lute, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security attend The Louise Blouin Foundation Presents The Fifth Annual Blouin Creative Leadership Summit - Day 1 at the Metropolitan Club on September 19, 2011 in New York City. (Source: Thos Robinson/Getty Images North America)
2012
Cromwell Rd, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RL, UK
Fatou Bensouda speaks at the Sports For Peace Fundraising Ball at The V&A on July 25, 2012 in London, England. (July 24, 2012 - Source: Ian Gavan/Getty Images Europe)
2012
Cromwell Rd, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RL, UK
Boris Beck, Sir Christopher Lee, Wladimir Klitschko, Fatou Bensouda, Sir Bob Geldof and guests onstage at the Sports For Peace Fundraising Ball at The V&A on July 25, 2012 in London, England. (July 24, 2012 - Source: Ian Gavan/Getty Images Europe)
2012
Tokyo, Japan
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda holds a press conference in Tokyo on October 17, 2012. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)
2013
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
(L-R) Fatou Bensouda and Bianca Jagger attend the Cinema for Peace UN women honorary dinner at Soho House on July 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (July 11, 2013 - Source: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe)
2013
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Fatou Bensouda attends the Cinema for Peace UN women honorary dinner at Soho House on July 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (July 11, 2013 - Source: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe)
2013
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Veronica Ferres and Fatou Bensouda attends the Cinema for Peace UN women charity dinner at Soho House on July 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (July 11, 2013 - Source: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe)
2013
Hardenbergstraße 28, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Fatou Bensouda speaks onstage during the Cinema For Peace Gala 2013 during the 63rd Berlinale International Film Festival at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on February 9, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images Europe)
2013
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Veronica Ferres and Fatou Bensouda attends the Cinema for Peace UN women charity dinner at Soho House on July 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (July 11, 2013 - Source: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe)
2013
Hardenbergstraße 28, 10623 Berlin, Germany
atou Bensouda attends the Cinema For Peace Gala 2013 during the 63rd Berlinale International Film Festival at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on February 9, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Luca Teuchmann/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2013
Hardenbergstraße 28, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Charlize Theron and Fatou Bensouda during the Cinema For Peace Gala Ceremony at the 63rd Berlinale International Film Festival at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on February 9, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Luca Teuchmann/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2013
Hardenbergstraße 28, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Fatou Bensouda and director Adam Ellick onstage during the Cinema For Peace Gala 2013 during the 63rd Berlinale International Film Festival at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on February 9, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2013
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Nicole Kidman (L) and Fatou Bensouda attend the Cinema for Peace UN women honorary dinner at Soho House on July 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2014
Theaterplatz 2, 01067 Dresden, Germany
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Fatou Bensouda speaks during the presentation of the Dresden Prize at the Semperoper in Dresden, Germany, 16 February 2014. The 33-year-old Emmanuel Jal won the prize for his work as a peace activist. As a eleven-year-old the musician fought as a child soldier in Sudan and today strives against war with Amnesty International. Photo: OLIVER KILLIG (Photo by Oliver Killig/picture alliance via Getty Images)
2014
Theaterplatz 2, 01067 Dresden, Germany
Singer and former child soldier Emmanuel Jal (4-R) poses with former German Interior Minister Gerhart Baum (3-R), Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Fatou Bensouda (2-L), and mayor of Drsden Helma Orosz (L) after receiving the Dresden Prize at the Semperoper in Dresden, Germany, 16 February 2014. The 33-year-old Emmanuel Jal won the prize for his work as a peace activist. As a eleven-year-old the musician fought as a child soldier in Sudan and today strives against war with Amnesty International. Photo: OLIVER KILLIG (Photo by Oliver Killig/picture alliance via Getty Images)
2015
Kampala, Uganda
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda delivers a speech during a press conference in Kampala, Uganda on February 27, 2015. (Photo by Halima Athumani/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
2015
Paris, France
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda is photographed for Paris Match on december 10, 2015 in La haye. (Photo by Baptiste Giroudon/Paris March via Getty Images)
2016
Berlin, Germany
Fatou Bensouda during the Cinema For Peace Gala 2016 during the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival on February 15, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Gisela Schober/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2016
Berlin, Germany
Kerry Propper and Fatou Bensouda during the Cinema For Peace Gala 2016 during the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival on February 15, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Gisela Schober/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2016
New York City, United States
Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), speaks to journalists after briefing the Security Council at its meeting on the situation in Libya today at the UN Headquarters in New York. (Photo by Luiz Rampelotto/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
2009
New York City, United States
Fatou Bensouda attends UNDOC Hosts Discussion and Book Signing for 'HALF THE SKY' at United Nations on September 15, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by SHAUN MADER/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
2011
1 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022, USA
(L-R) Jane Holl Lute, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, and Mary Robinson of Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice attend The Louise Blouin Foundation Presents The Fifth Annual Blouin Creative Leadership Summit - Day 1 at the Metropolitan Club on September 19, 2011 in New York City. (Thos Robinson/Getty Images North America)
2011
1 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022, USA
(L-R) Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, Mary Robinson of Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice, Louise Blouin, CEO & Chairman of Louise Blouin Media, and Jane Holl Lute, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security attend The Louise Blouin Foundation Presents The Fifth Annual Blouin Creative Leadership Summit - Day 1 at the Metropolitan Club on September 19, 2011 in New York City. (Source: Thos Robinson/Getty Images North America)
2012
Cromwell Rd, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RL, UK
Fatou Bensouda speaks at the Sports For Peace Fundraising Ball at The V&A on July 25, 2012 in London, England. (July 24, 2012 - Source: Ian Gavan/Getty Images Europe)
2012
Cromwell Rd, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RL, UK
Boris Beck, Sir Christopher Lee, Wladimir Klitschko, Fatou Bensouda, Sir Bob Geldof and guests onstage at the Sports For Peace Fundraising Ball at The V&A on July 25, 2012 in London, England. (July 24, 2012 - Source: Ian Gavan/Getty Images Europe)
2012
Tokyo, Japan
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda holds a press conference in Tokyo on October 17, 2012. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)
2013
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
(L-R) Fatou Bensouda and Bianca Jagger attend the Cinema for Peace UN women honorary dinner at Soho House on July 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (July 11, 2013 - Source: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe)
2013
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Fatou Bensouda attends the Cinema for Peace UN women honorary dinner at Soho House on July 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (July 11, 2013 - Source: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe)
2013
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Veronica Ferres and Fatou Bensouda attends the Cinema for Peace UN women charity dinner at Soho House on July 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (July 11, 2013 - Source: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe)
2013
Hardenbergstraße 28, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Fatou Bensouda speaks onstage during the Cinema For Peace Gala 2013 during the 63rd Berlinale International Film Festival at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on February 9, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images Europe)
2013
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Veronica Ferres and Fatou Bensouda attends the Cinema for Peace UN women charity dinner at Soho House on July 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (July 11, 2013 - Source: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe)
2013
Hardenbergstraße 28, 10623 Berlin, Germany
atou Bensouda attends the Cinema For Peace Gala 2013 during the 63rd Berlinale International Film Festival at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on February 9, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Luca Teuchmann/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2013
Hardenbergstraße 28, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Charlize Theron and Fatou Bensouda during the Cinema For Peace Gala Ceremony at the 63rd Berlinale International Film Festival at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on February 9, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Luca Teuchmann/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2013
Hardenbergstraße 28, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Fatou Bensouda and director Adam Ellick onstage during the Cinema For Peace Gala 2013 during the 63rd Berlinale International Film Festival at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on February 9, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2013
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Nicole Kidman (L) and Fatou Bensouda attend the Cinema for Peace UN women honorary dinner at Soho House on July 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2014
Theaterplatz 2, 01067 Dresden, Germany
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Fatou Bensouda speaks during the presentation of the Dresden Prize at the Semperoper in Dresden, Germany, 16 February 2014. The 33-year-old Emmanuel Jal won the prize for his work as a peace activist. As a eleven-year-old the musician fought as a child soldier in Sudan and today strives against war with Amnesty International. Photo: OLIVER KILLIG (Photo by Oliver Killig/picture alliance via Getty Images)
2014
Theaterplatz 2, 01067 Dresden, Germany
Singer and former child soldier Emmanuel Jal (4-R) poses with former German Interior Minister Gerhart Baum (3-R), Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Fatou Bensouda (2-L), and mayor of Drsden Helma Orosz (L) after receiving the Dresden Prize at the Semperoper in Dresden, Germany, 16 February 2014. The 33-year-old Emmanuel Jal won the prize for his work as a peace activist. As a eleven-year-old the musician fought as a child soldier in Sudan and today strives against war with Amnesty International. Photo: OLIVER KILLIG (Photo by Oliver Killig/picture alliance via Getty Images)
2015
Kampala, Uganda
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda delivers a speech during a press conference in Kampala, Uganda on February 27, 2015. (Photo by Halima Athumani/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
2015
Paris, France
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda is photographed for Paris Match on december 10, 2015 in La haye. (Photo by Baptiste Giroudon/Paris March via Getty Images)
2016
Berlin, Germany
Fatou Bensouda during the Cinema For Peace Gala 2016 during the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival on February 15, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Gisela Schober/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2016
Berlin, Germany
Kerry Propper and Fatou Bensouda during the Cinema For Peace Gala 2016 during the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival on February 15, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Gisela Schober/Getty Images for Cinema For Peace)
2016
New York City, United States
Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), speaks to journalists after briefing the Security Council at its meeting on the situation in Libya today at the UN Headquarters in New York. (Photo by Luiz Rampelotto/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Fatou Bensouda
Ife, Nigeria
She graduated from the University of Ife with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree in 1986.
213 Igbosere Rd, Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria
She obtained her Barrister-at-Law (BL) professional qualification from the Nigeria Law School.
Fatou was born on 31 January 1961, in Banjul (then Bathurst), the Gambia. Fatou Bensouda grew in Banjul (Bathurst) Gambia in a polygamous Muslim family of more than a dozen children. Her father, Gaye Nyang, worked as a government driver and occasionally promoted wrestling matches.
As a young girl, Bensouda would sneak into the local courts to follow proceedings after school whilst still wearing her school uniform.
After attending both her primary and secondary education in Gambia, Bensouda pursued a Bachelor of Law degree at the University of Ife in Nigeria between 1982 and 1986. One year later, Bensouda graduated as a Barrister-at-Law from the Nigeria Law School. From here, she positioned herself to become a maritime law expert after her International Maritime Law masters studies from renowned institutions like Malta’s International Maritime Law Institute.
Former Gambian President Sir Dawda Jawara appointed Bensouda as a state counsel in 1987 and thereafter as the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in early 1994. The now disposed former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh overthrew Jawara in 1994 and appointed Bensouda in several successive positions including Attorney General, Legal Adviser, and Minister for Justice. Bensouda’s actions under Jammeh remain controversial. While some rights groups praise her for taking stern action and prosecuting crimes against women and children, her critics cite her inaction when Jammeh, a dictator, committed crimes against citizens. Most notably was the incident when Jammeh ordered the killing of his former friend, Lieutenant Almamo Manneh, after which Bensouda is alleged to have visited the barracks and saw Manneh’s body but did not order that the body be given to the family for burial, and she did not investigate the alleged extrajudicial killing. Consequently, the killer soldiers buried Manneh inside the barracks and walked free.
Bensouda’s raised her profile at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda where she served in several capacities as Legal Adviser and Trial Attorney, and thereafter as the Senior Legal Adviser and Head of the Legal Advisory Unit. In 2004, the Assembly of State Parties of the ICC elected Bensouda to be the Deputy Prosecutor working under the then Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo. Ocampo retired and Bensouda took over as the Chief Prosecutor on June 15, 2012. So far, Bensouda has dealt with cases involving the likes of the Lord’s Resistance Army’s Joseph Kony and Democratic Republic of Congo’s Thomas Lubanga, Germain Katanga, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, and Callixte Mbarushimana. Other cases are from the Central African Republic, Darfur (Sudan), Kenya, Libya, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, and Georgia among others.
According to an Associated Press report on 6 November 2015, Bensouda was advised that war crimes may have been committed on the Mavi Marmara ship in 2010, where eight unarmed Turks and one Turkish-American were killed and several other activists were wounded by Israeli commandos, but she ruled the case was not serious enough to merit an International Criminal Court probe.
In November 2017, Bensouda advised the court to consider seeking charges for human rights abuses committed during the War in Afghanistan such as alleged rapes and tortures by the United States Armed Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency, crime against humanity committed by the Taliban, and war crimes committed by the Afghan National Security Forces.
Ambassador John Bolton stated in his rebuttal to this action that ICC Court has no jurisdiction over the USA, which did not ratify the Rome Statute.
For a Gambian woman, Bensouda’s career is a big achievement considering Gambian gender issues. Bensouda has been the recipient of various awards, most notably, the distinguished ICJ International Jurists Award (2009), which was presented by President of India P. D. Patil. Bensouda was given this award for her contributions to criminal law both at the national and International level. Bensouda has also been awarded the 2011 World Peace Through Law Award presented by the Whitney Harris World Law Institute, Washington University, which recognized her work in considerably advancing the rule of law and thereby contributing to world peace.
Time magazine listed Bensouda among the 100 most influential people in the world in its annual Time 100 issue, noting her role as a "leading voice pressing governments to support the quest for justice."
The African magazine Jeune Afrique named Bensouda as the 4th most influential person in Africa in the Civil Society category and one of the 100 most Influential African Personalities.
In December 2014, the Togolese magazine Africa Top Success named her "African of the Year", ahead of Isabel dos Santos, Angélique Kidjo, Lupita Nyong'o, Daphne Mashile-Nkosi and Koki Mutungi.
Fatou Bensouda is a protector of women and children rights.
Quotations:
"If a visit to the region is required, or when it's required, we will also be making that request to visit."
"These were sites dedicated to religion and historic monuments and did not constitute military objectives."
"We believe he ordered his troops to attack, pillage, rape, persecute and kill civilians belonging to Lendu, Ngiti and other ethnic groups, we believe he recruited hundreds of children into the UPC (Union of Congolese Patriots) and used them to kill and to die in the fighting; and girl soldiers to be routinely raped."
"The LRA has reportedly killed tens of thousands and displaced millions of people; terrorized civilians, abducted children and forced them to kill and serve as sex slaves. They have hacked off limbs and horribly disfigured men, women and children."
Physical Characteristics:
Hair color - dark brown
Eyes color - brown
Bensouda married Philip Bensouda, a half Moroccan half Gambian man with whom they have two biological children and one adopted child.
In 2017, George Bensouda, 33, the son of Fatou Bensouda, was shot dead in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
James Kirkpatrick Stewart is a Canadian lawyer with over thirty years of experience as Crown counsel handling criminal trials and appeals for the prosecution, including more than eight years working with the United Nations in international criminal law prosecutions as a trial and appellate counsel and legal manager.
(born 4 June 1952)
He is an Argentine lawyer and the first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
