Fatou Bensouda

Who is Fatou Bensouda?

Fatou Bom Bensouda was born in Banjul into a large Gambian family and developed an early interest in the law after watching court proceedings as a schoolgirl. She trained as a lawyer, passed the bar in Nigeria, and returned to the Gambia in 1987 to work as a prosecuting attorney, later earning a master's degree in international maritime law. She served as the Gambia's Minister of Justice and Attorney General from 1998 to 2000, then moved into international criminal law as a legal adviser and trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She joined the International Criminal Court in 2004 as deputy prosecutor overseeing the prosecutions division, and in June 2012 became the ICC's Chief Prosecutor, serving until June 2021 as the first woman and first African to hold the role. During her tenure she pursued accountability for atrocity crimes and pressed the Court to take underreported crimes such as sexual violence and the destruction of cultural heritage seriously. She later became the Gambia's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Sources: International Criminal Court, "Ms Fatou Bensouda" official biography · Nelson Mandela Foundation, profile of Fatou Bensouda · United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law, biography of Dr. Fatou Bensouda