The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim A.A. Khan QC and the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, met on 3 March 2022 to discuss matters of common concern pertinent to their respective mandates, including initiatives aimed at advancing prevention of international crimes and ensuring accountability for such acts. They agreed that accountability is instrumental in preventing the recurrence of international crimes, as well as in advancing trust-building and healing in impacted communities.
The Special Adviser and the Prosecutor valued the importance of national accountability efforts as instrumental not only to achieving justice but also to the prevention of future crimes. These efforts include initiatives advanced or supported regionally. In their view, accountability processes contribute to delivering justice for past violations. The process of designing specific accountability components can also operate as a strong confidence-building mechanism among vulnerable communities.
Prosecutor Khan and Special Adviser Nderitu also agreed on the importance of supporting communities to understand the elements that define genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity so that they can raise alerts when risks are present, work to prevent their occurrence, and be empowered to engage in criminal accountability processes where such crimes are committed. The Prosecutor and the Special Adviser emphasized the important role of religious leaders and actors in promoting respect among communities for adjudications on international crimes determined in criminal proceedings as well as the prevention of future atrocities in areas where such crimes have already taken place.