Wayamo’s International Justice Week in Pretoria: Advancing Accountability for International Crimes in the Region

The Wayamo Foundation will host a week of events dedicated to strengthening domestic and regional accountability mechanisms for international crimes in Pretoria, South Africa between  13–15 May 2025. The programme features an International Justice Workshop organised in partnership with the South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and a Judges Symposium. The gatherings will focus on providing forums for prosecutors, investigators and members of the judiciary to exchange ideas, build capacity, and chart practical strategies for justice.

From 13 to 15 May 2025, Wayamo and the NPA will host a three-day workshop entitled “Domestic and international accountability mechanisms for international crimes: new developments and opportunities” where regional and international legal experts, prosecutors, and investigators will tackle the evolving challenges and opportunities in the fight against impunity for international crimes.

Through a mix of lectures and interactive discussions, the event aims to foster peer exchange and enhance the capacity of legal practitioners in South Africa to address international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Participants will explore the domestic application of international criminal law, the critical role of linkage evidence and evidentiary standards for crimes against humanity. The workshop will also focus on gender-based crimes, open-source investigations (OSINT), and the authentication and admissibility of digital evidence. The workshop will end with a closer look at mechanisms beyond the International Criminal Court (ICC) and look specifically at recent universal jurisdiction trends.

Speakers include:

• Akingbolahan Adeniran, former Attorney General of Ogun State (Nigeria), former investigator and trial lawyer at the International Criminal Court
• Chris Gevers, Director, Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), Wits School of Law
• Ben Gumpert, KC, Crown Court Judge and former barrister, former Senior Trial Lawyer at the International Criminal Court
• Mark Kersten, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University Fraser Valley, Canada and Senior Consultant, Wayamo Foundation
• Rosalind Sipos, Legal Officer at the UN International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria (IIIM), Geneva
• Kim Thuy Seelinger, Professor of Practice in Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis; former Senior Coordinator on Gender-based Crimes and Crimes Against Children at the ICC Office of the Prosecutor and Special Adviser on Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict to the ICC Prosecutor
• Stefano Trevisan, Legal Advisor at Legal Action Worldwide, Expert in Open-source information (OSINT)
• Linda Bore, International Criminal Lawyer & Project Coordinator, Wayamo Foundation
• Mikel Delagrange, Senior International Legal Advisor, Wayamo Foundation

Running parallel to the final day of the prosecutor’s workshop on May 15, Wayamo will also host a Judges Symposium for members of South Africa’s judiciary. This closed-door session will gather South African judges and international criminal law experts to examine the domestic application of international law, the relevance of open-source evidence, and the role of the judiciary in upholding accountability for atrocity crimes. The symposium’s goal is to foster frank, high-level dialogue around legal interpretation, admissibility of modern forms of evidence, and universal jurisdiction.

All activities are being organised within the framework of the “Strengthening justice and accountability for international crimes in Sudan” project, where the Wayamo Foundation provides training in international criminal law, international humanitarian law and human rights to civil society and legal actors both in Sudan and the East African region, aimed at building a coalition committed to addressing impunity through domestic, regional and international accountability mechanisms.