eyeWitness to Atrocities (eyeWitness), founded by the International Bar Association (IBA), has announced that Fatou Bensouda, the immediate past Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), has joined its Board of Trustees.
Ms Bensouda is recognised for her exceptional contributions to international justice.
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Ms Bensouda said of her appointment to the eyeWitness Board of Trustees, ‘I am honoured to be appointed to the eyewitness Board of Trustees. It is a great opportunity to be able to bring my humble contributions to serve a worthy cause.’
Ms Bensouda is renowned for her expertise in international law and criminal justice. During her tenure at the ICC (2012-2021), she played a pivotal role in pursuing accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. She has also served as a legal adviser to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Tanzania and as Minister of Justice and Attorney-General in her native country of The Gambia.
Prestigious awards have honoured Ms Bensouda’s unwavering commitment to justice, including the 2011 World Peace Through Law Award and the 2009 International Commission of Jurists International Jurists Award. Also, she has been recognised as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people worldwide, as well as the fourth most influential person in Africa by Jeune Afrique magazine. In 2015, as part of its prestigious list of 100 Women, her influence and impact on a global scale were recognised by the BBC.
Dr Mark Ellis, eyeWitness originator and IBA Executive Director, said: ‘As the former Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda has played a crucial role in pursuing accountability for the most heinous of crimes. In doing so, she has garnered global recognition and condign admiration. Her distinguished background, dedication to the rule of law and exceptional legal expertise makes her an invaluable addition to eyeWitness to Atrocities’ Board of Trustees. We are honoured to welcome her and look forward to the contributions she will make furthering the goals of eyeWitness.’
Carrie Bowker, Director of eyeWitness said: ‘We are privileged to have Ms Fatou Bensouda join our Board of Trustees. Her exceptional track record speaks volumes about her dedication to upholding human rights and seeking accountability for atrocity crimes. With Ms Bensouda on board, we look forward to advancing our mission of promoting accountability for mass atrocity crimes through the verifiable documentation of atrocity crimes and human rights violations.’
Ms Fatou Bensouda joins eyeWitness’ distinguished Board of Trustees, comprised of prominent figures including Mark Ellis, Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama, Richard Goldstone, Tim Hughes, Sternford Moyo, David W Rivkin and Philip Zeidman.
The eyeWitness to Atrocities app is an award-winning, free, mobile phone camera tool for Android phones that enables on-the-ground documenters to capture verifiable photo, video and audio footage of human rights violations. At the moment of capture, the eyeWitness app embeds the footage with the metadata required to demonstrate authenticity, allowing the footage to be relied on by investigators and to be used in court. Then, when an app user sends footage to the eyeWitness server, it is stored in a secure LexisNexis® repository in a way that guarantees the chain of custody. Thereafter, in collaboration with a team of lawyers, eyeWitness analyses the received footage and prepares detailed dossiers for a range of domestic and international accountability mechanisms, including at the ICC and UN. To date, more than 65,000 photos, videos and audio files have been captured using the eyeWitness app
