WELCOME ADDRESS: SYMPOSIUM ON DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN AFRICA

Judge Daniel D Ntanda Nsereko's 2008 welcome address highlights the ICC's role in combating impunity in Africa, noting that while 30 African states ratified the Rome Statute, gross human rights violations persist. He identifies four ICC situations in Africa (DRC, Uganda, Sudan, and CAR) and emphasizes that the African Union's own Constitutive Act mandates a commitment to the rule of law. The address calls for collaboration between the ICC, the AU, civil society, and regional bodies to achieve substantive justice.

• The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established to address gross human rights violations and ensure individual criminal liability for perpetrators, serving as a mechanism to uphold the rule of law and deter future atrocities.
• While 30 African states have ratified the Rome Statute, the speaker notes that impunity and disregard for the rule of law persist across the continent, with all ICC situations and cases at the time of the speech originating from Africa.
• The ICC has intervened in four specific African situations: the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Uganda.
• The speaker emphasizes that the African Union (AU) has a critical responsibility to combat impunity, as the AU's own Constitutive Act (specifically articles 3(h), 4(m), and 4(o)) commits the Union to human rights and the rule of law.
• Beyond the ICC, other international criminal justice developments in Africa include cases involving Charles Taylor, Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, and Hissène Habré, as well as the work of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

APA

Nsereko, D. D. N. (2008). WELCOME ADDRESS: SYMPOSIUM ON DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN AFRICA. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NSEREKO.PDF

Chicago

Nsereko, Daniel D Ntanda. WELCOME ADDRESS: SYMPOSIUM ON DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN AFRICA. Institute for Security Studies, 2008. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NSEREKO.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Nsereko |first1=Daniel D Ntanda |title=WELCOME ADDRESS: SYMPOSIUM ON DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN AFRICA |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=19 March 2008 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NSEREKO.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{nsereko2008welcome, author = {Nsereko, Daniel D Ntanda}, title = {{WELCOME ADDRESS: SYMPOSIUM ON DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN AFRICA}}, publisher = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2008}, month = mar, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NSEREKO.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }