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Terrorist attacks in Nigeria may constitute crimes against humanity - ICC

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Nigeria
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PANAPress
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Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The terrorist attacks by Nigeria's violent Islamic sect Boko Haram may constitute crimes against humanity, according to the new Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Ms. Fatou Bensouda.

Speaking after a meeting with Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan in the capital city of Abuja on Tuesday, Ms. Bensouda said while the court had not launched any investigation into the attacks, it had carried out preliminary investigations on them.

“I am here to discuss issues of general cooperation with the authorities, starting with the President, and also to brief him on the preliminary examinations that have been taking place by the Office of the Prosecutor since four to five years now regarding the trouble in the Middle Belt area and most recently the Boko Haram.

“As you know, these crimes may be called terrorists attacks but they could also qualify as crimes against humanity,'' she said

Ms. Bensouda, who assumed office last month, said the court would not intervene as long as the Nigerian government is taking steps to address the crimes.

“And I want to emphasise that ICC is not yet investigating these crimes, Nigeria’s situation is just under a preliminary examination and if we see, by monitoring these crimes, that the same crimes we are monitoring, the Nigerian government is addressing those crimes, there will be no need for ICC’s intervention.

“The intention is not to intervene, but the intention is to ensure that Nigeria has the primary responsibility of investigating and prosecuting and Nigeria is actually doing that, in which case we will only need to observe that those proceedings are genuine proceedings which is the next phase, but we have not gone to that stage yet,” the Prosecutor said

For his part, President Jonathan drew Ms. Bensouda’s attention to ICC’s involvement in five situations in Africa with the attendant criticism from the continent, and called on the Prosecutor to use her experience in the Court to resolve potential areas of conflict or disagreement.

One of such cases is the ICC's indictment of President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan for war crimes and crimes against humanity, which has drawn the ire of the African Union (AU).

During her visit to Nigeria, Ms. Bensouda, a Gambian national, will meet with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Bello Adoke, and other officials involved in tackling the terrorist attacks. -0- PANA SEG 4July2012

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