The newly appointed Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Mr. Hassan Bubacar Jallow from the Gambia on Friday 3 October 2003 took up his new duties at the headquarters of the Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania. Soon after arrival Mr. Jallow held several meetings with senior staff in the office of the Prosecutor. He then met with the President of the ICTR Judge Erik Møse and with the Registrar of the Tribunal Mr. Adama Dieng.

Mr. Jallow, addressing staff of the OTP invited their support and cooperation. He urged them to individually redouble their efforts and collectively work together as a good team for the successful implementation of the Tribunal’s completion strategy. He then explained the new policy he plans to put in place. The policy aims at expediting investigations and trials before the Tribunal and fulfilling its mandate and the completion strategy as recommended by the United Nations Security Council.

The new Prosecutor commended the good work done by his predecessor Mrs. Carla Del Ponte from Switzerland whose mandate expired on 14 September 2003. On 28 August 2003, the Security Council by its Resolution 1503 amended Article 15 of the Statute of the ICTR so that as of 15 September 2003 the International Criminal Tribunal would have its own Prosecutor.

Prior to his appointment Mr. Jallow was permanent Judge at the Special Court for Sierra Leone Mr. Hassan Bubacar Jallow served as Gambia’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice from 1984 to 1994 and later as a Judge of The Gambia’s Supreme Court. In 1998, he was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to serve as an international legal expert to carry out a judicial evaluation of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. He has also served as a legal expert for the Organization of African Unity and the Commonwealth and worked towards drafting the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, which was adopted in 1980.

Judge Jallow was awarded the honor of the National Order of the Republic of Gambia. He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the African Society of International and Comparative Law.