By Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide
Images of Charles Taylor being arrested and indicted in 2006 for his crimes in Sierra Leone's brutal civil war were splashed over the front pages of global news sites. When he was convicted in 2012, the spectacle was widely broadcast around the world. Elsewhere, the wheels of justice at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda have been grinding away steadily since 1995. Out of 95 indictments, and some 75 convictions later, complaints continue that génocidaires are still at large.
While the International Criminal Court continues to pursue cases against several African leaders, a remarkable attempt to step into the breach by an indigenous African institution goes largely unnoticed.