On the picture Alhaji Abba Kyari. On 27 August 2015 Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari appointed former United Bank for Africa chief Alhaji Abba Kyari his new chief of staff, as part of his first senior government appointments since taking office. Kyari, who has degrees in law and sociology from Cambridge and Warwick universities in the United Kingdom, has held a number of roles in the private sector, including at Unilever and Mobil. The chief of staff is a non-ministerial role but its holder is typically an important fixer and influential presidential aide.

The role of government secretary went to Babachir David Lawal, an engineer with experience in telecoms, whereas retired Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali becomes head of the Nigerian Customs Service. Former lawmakers Ita Enang and Suleiman Kawu were appointed as advisers on parliament while the Nigerian Immigration Service is to be headed by Kure Martin. Buhari came to power on 29 May 2015, vowing to crush Boko Haram, the Islamist insurgency in the northeast, and crack down on endemic corruption. For more information: President of Nigeria: www.statehouse.gov.ng, www.thisisbuhari.com United Bank for Africa: www.ubagroup.com Mission of Nigeria to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg: www.nigeriabrussels.be Embassy of Nigeria to The Netherlands and the OPCW: www.nigerianembassy.nl  

By Baron Henri Estramant. Astana, Kazakhstan: Dariga Nazarbayeva (b. 7 May 1963), the eldest daughter of Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, has moved into the political spotlight once more after been appointed by her father as “Deputy Prime Minister”. Up until 2004, she directed Khabar Agency, a major media company which broadcasts daily in Kazakh and Russian and controls Kazakh TV. In 2003 she founded a political party that merged with the country’s dominant party, her father’s Nur Otan in 2006. During her first foray into politics properly, she served in parliament as deputy speaker. But in 2007, she stepped down. Meanwhile she left parliament to head her father’s charity fund. In 2012, Nazarbayeva returned to politics, rejoining parliament under Nur Otan and in April 2014 she took up office as deputy speaker of parliament. Moreover she is an accomplished opera singer who has performed at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. The 75-year-old President Nursultan Nazarbayev has ruled over Kazakhstan since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 but he has begun to hint that he is considering standing down after the end of his current term as president in 2020. Former British prime minister Tony Blair has been advising President Nazarbayev since 2011. For more information: President of Kazakhstan: www.akorda.kz/kz Mission of Kazakhstan to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg (HE Ambassador Almaz Khamzayev): http://kazakhstan-embassy.be/ Embassy of Kazakhstan to The Netherlands and Mission to the OPCW- HE Ambassador Mainyura Murzamadiyeva: www.kazembassy.nl/index.php/en/

Statement of the Prosecutor on the Agreement on the Creation of a Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia Today, I have learned of the latest developments in Havana where the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP have jointly taken a significant step towards ending the decades-long armed conflict in the country. Any genuine and practical initiative that achieves this laudable goal, while paying homage to justice as a critical pillar of sustainable peace, is of course welcomed by my Office. Our hope is that the agreement reached by the parties on the creation of a Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia does just that. I note with optimism that the agreement excludes the granting of any amnesty for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and is designed, amongst others, to end impunity for the most serious crimes. The Office will carefully review and analyse the agreed provisions in detail as part of its on-going preliminary examination of the situation in Colombia. To this end, my Office will be engaging in extensive consultations with the Government of Colombia and other stakeholders, including victims and relevant civil society organisations.

Statement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, following the transfer of the first suspect in the Mali investigation: “Intentional attacks against historic monuments and buildings dedicated to religion are grave crimes”. The surrender by Niger authorities of the suspect, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi and his transfer earlier today to the custody of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”) is a welcome development. It represents an important step forward in the fight against impunity, not only in Mali but also in the broader Sahel and Sahara region of Africa, whose populations have in recent years been subjected to unspeakable crimes. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, also known as “Abou Tourab”, is accused of allegedly committing the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against ten buildings dedicated to religion and historic monuments in the ancient city of Timbuktu, Mali. A zealous member of an armed group, self-proclaimed “Ansar Dine”, he played a predominant and active role in the functioning of the local structure put in place during the group’s occupation of Timbuktu in 2012, as detailed in my Office’s application for the warrant of arrest which led to his surrender. The people of Mali deserve justice for the attacks against their cities, their beliefs and their communities. Let there be no mistake: the charges we have brought against Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi involve most serious crimes; they are about the destruction of irreplaceable historic monuments, and they are about a callous assault on the dignity and identity of entire populations, and their religious and historical roots. The inhabitants of Northern Mali, the main victims of these attacks, deserve to see justice done. Intentional attacks against historic monuments and buildings dedicated to religion are serious crimes under the Rome Statute – the founding treaty of the ICC, adopted by more than 120 states from around the world. No longer should such reprehensible conduct go unpunished.   It is rightly said that “cultural heritage is the mirror of humanity.” Such attacks affect humanity as a whole. We must stand up to the destruction and defacing of our common heritage. This is the first time that on the strength of the evidence collected my Office has brought such charges against a suspect in proceedings before this Court. We will continue to do our part to highlight the severity of such war crimes with the hopes that such efforts will deter the commission of similar crimes in the future. I am grateful to the authorities of Mali and Niger for their cooperation in this surrender, as well as other regional and international actors who facilitate the work of the Court in the region. This is our first significant step in Mali, built on the heels of our investigations. I am confident that our close collaboration with the Malian authorities will continue to generate positive results for our common cause of holding to account those most responsible for perpetrating atrocity crimes in the country.

Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi remis à la CPI pour des accusations de crimes de guerre de destruction de monuments historiques et religieux à Tombouctou. Aujourd’hui, le 26 septembre 2015, M. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, surnommé Abou Tourab, a été remis à la Cour pénale internationale (CPI) par les autorités du Niger et est arrivé au quartier pénitentiaire de la Cour aux Pays-Bas. M. Al Faqi est suspecté, selon un mandat d’arrêt délivré le 18 septembre 2015 par la Cour, de crimes de guerre d’attaque intentionnellement dirigée, à Tombouctou, au Mali, entre environ le 30 juin 2012 et le 10 juillet 2012, contre des bâtiments consacrés à la religion et/ou des monuments historiques. Il s’agit de la première affaire à être présentée devant la CPI concernant la destruction de bâtiments consacrés à la religion et de monuments historiques. Le Greffier de la CPI, M. Herman von Hebel, a remercié les autorités du Niger, ainsi que celles de l’Etat hôte de la Cour, les Pays-Bas, pour leur coopération dans le cadre de cette affaire. Selon le mandat d’arrêt délivré par la Chambre préliminaire I, il y a des motifs raisonnables de croire qu’un conflit armé à caractère non international a débuté en janvier 2012, et était toujours en cours au Mali pendant toute la période des faits allégués qui ont tous eu lieu à Tombouctou. Pendant toute cette période, la ville auraient été sous la domination des groupes armés Al Qaïda au Maghreb Islamique (« AQMI ») et Ansar Eddine, mouvement principalement touarègue associé à AQMI. M. Al Faqi, né à Agoune, à 100 kilomètres à l’ouest de Tombouctou, au Mali, Touareg de la tribu Ansar Touareg, aurait été une personnalité active dans le contexte de l’occupation de la ville de Tombouctou et aurait été membre d’Ansar Eddine, opérant en étroite association avec les leaders des deux groupes armés et dans le contexte des structures et institutions mises en place par eux. Il aurait été notamment, jusqu’en septembre 2012, à la tête de la « Hesbah », « Brigade des mœurs », opérationnelle à partir de mai 2012, et également associé au travail du Tribunal Islamique de Tombouctou et aurait participé à l’exécution de ses décisions. Plus spécifiquement, il aurait été impliqué dans la destruction des bâtiments mentionnés dans le chef d’accusation. La Chambre a conclu que les preuves présentées par le Procureur donnent des motifs raisonnables de croire que M. Al Faqi est pénalement responsable pour avoir commis, individuellement et conjointement avec d’autres personnes, facilité ou autrement contribué à la commission, les crimes de guerre allégués par le Procureur concernant des attaques dirigées intentionnellement contre les bâtiments suivants : 1) le mausolée Sidi Mahmoud Ben Omar Mohamed Aquit, 2) le mausolée Cheick Mohamed Mahmoud Al Arawani, 3) le mausolée Cheikh Sidi Mokhtar Ben Sidi Mouhammad Ben Cheick Alkabir, 4) le mausolée Alpha Moya, 5) le mausolée Cheick Sidi Ahmed Ben Amar Arragadi, 6) le mausolée Cheick Mouhamad El Micky, 7) le mausolée Cheick Abdoul Kassim Attouaty, 8) le mausolée Ahamed Fulane, 9) le mausolée Bahaber Babadié, et 10) la mosquée Sidi Yahia. L’affaire Le Procureur c. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi est la première dans le contexte de l’enquête du Bureau du Procureur concernant la situation au Mali. La situation au Mali a été déférée à la CPI par le Gouvernement du Mali le 13 juillet 2012. Le 16 janvier 2013, le Procureur de la CPI a ouvert une enquête sur les crimes présumés commis sur le territoire du Mali depuis janvier 2012.