Download This PaperAfrican Languages in International Criminal Justice: The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and Beyond
From Promoting Accountability under International Law for Gross Human Rights Violations in Africa: Essays in Honour of Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow. Charles Chernor Jalloh and Alhagi B.M. Marong, Eds. Brill Nijhoff, August 2015.
42 Pages Posted: 21 Apr 2017 Last revised: 23 Apr 2017
Date Written: August 1, 2015
Abstract
This paper examines the various roles played by African languages, along with the practices and policies that were developed to respond to these roles, at the ICTR and SCSL, and, to a lesser extent, the ICC. Through interviewing judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, investigators, outreach officers, and language service specialists from the three courts, as well as exploring existing literature that touches on language use in these settings, the author attempts to draw a picture of how African languages fare in critical domains of international criminal justice. These domains include formal criminal investigations, courtroom proceedings, outreach to the regions where the international crimes have been committed, and communication with victims of these crimes.
Keywords: international criminal justice; Africa; ICTR; SCSL; ICC; multilingualism
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