THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- The new chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court says she plans to make sure the court is clearly focused on the victims of war crimes.
Fatou Bensouda, of Gambia, was elected Monday to replace Luis Moreno-Ocampo at the end of his term in June. She has served as the ICC's deputy prosecutor since September 2004 and previously worked as a legal adviser and trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Tanzania, the ICC said.
Bensouda told Radio France Internationale her appointment to the ICC was not intended as a way to change the African perception that the permanent war-crimes tribunal is used as a means of getting rid of "troublesome "African leaders.
"My origin has nothing to do with my job. I am not an African or a European prosecutor. My first responsibility is to deliver justice for victims ... we target those responsible for crimes," she told RFI.
"Let's be clear," she said, "the ICC does not pursue Africans. The ICC is on the side of African victims."
