Prosecuting International Crimes in Africa - PULP - University of ...

FOREWORD
I write this foreword with great pride and pleasure – in my capacity as
Director of the Centre for Human Rights and as Academic Coordinator of
the LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa).
I say ‘with pride’ because all the contributors to this collection are
graduates of the Centre for Human Rights. With the exception of one, they
have all been students on the LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation
in Africa programme). The single exception, George William Mugwanya,
completed the Master’s degree in human rights that preceded the LLM
(Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). It is immensely gratifying
to follow these students’ progress since their graduation. Many proceeded
to do doctorates at a wide range of universities. Others now hold teaching
positions at African universities. Some are actively involved in the practice
of international criminal justice. The two editors are, at the time of writing,
doctoral candidates at the Centre for Human Rights.
I say ‘with pleasure’ in appreciation of the breadth and depth of the
contributions in this volume. Here, fourteen African voices are provided
with a platform to participate in the on-going debate on issues pertaining
to international criminal justice as they arise in respect of past, present or
possible future prosecutions by domestic, international and hybrid
tribunals in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone,
South Africa, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia. The topics they address, the
issues they raise and the countries on which they focus reflect the diversity
and demographic spread of alumni of the LLM programme. Quite clearly,
this collection does not make a claim to provide a comprehensive picture.
What it does, however, is to strengthen the contribution of African
scholars and practitioners to an area of concern to Africa, in which African
voices are often underrepresented.
As the editors indicate in their ‘Introduction’, this publication stems
from a workshop held in May 2010. Authors were required to complete
their chapters before the workshop, so as to allow critical discussion of
their contributions. This intensive process, in addition to peer review by
experts in the field, contributed significantly to ensuring that the potential
of each contribution was fully explored. The Centre gladly acknowledges
the role of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in supporting the process.
This book can be viewed as a gift to the Centre by (some of) its alumni.
It celebrates two milestones of both the LLM programme and the Centre
itself.
The first milestone that the book celebrates relates to 2009, which
marked the 10-year existence of the LLM (Human Rights and
Democratisation in Africa). Coinciding with the graduation of the ‘Class
of 2009’, an Alumni Conference was held. It served as a forum to renew
and strengthen the personal and professional bonds between graduates
along the axes of year groups, professional interests and countries; but also
across the divides of year groups and countries.At the event, graduates
decided to launch an LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)
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