Stepping up as the second Chief Prosecutor in the history of the International Criminal Court, Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda will become the public face of a tribunal that tries the world’s most serious crimes. Ms. Bensouda will serve a 9-year term, and many hope the court’s new leadership can temper some of its strongest critics, most of whom are in Africa.
“Her mission is to prosecute those responsible for the most serious crimes — genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity — when domestic courts and prosecutors fail,” said Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch, who wrote her entry for TIME. “Among those accused by the court are Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif and Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony.”
