Gambia: Aboubacar Tambadou among the 100 most influential people in the world

Abubacarr Tambadou at the International Court of Justice after his complaint against the Union of Myanmar.

December 10, 2019 Koen Van WEEL / ANP / AFP

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2 min

It's a tradition: each year, "Time magazine" draws up a ranking of the 100 most influential personalities in the world.

This year, several Africans are cited, such as Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu, Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe, and less known: the former Gambian Minister of Justice, Aboubacar Tambadou.

At 47, this magistrate seems to be making a name for himself in international law.

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A lawyer trained in the United Kingdom, Aboubacar Tambadou was a prosecutor for the ICTR, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, between 2003 and 2008.

In 2017, when initiating a “new Gambia”, Adama Barrow chose him as Minister of Justice: Aboubacar Tambadou launched the process of reconciliation between Gambians, traumatized by years of violence after 22 years of dictatorship under Yahya Jammeh.

Defense of the Rohingya

At the same time, the magistrate is devoted to a cause:

.

Last year, The Gambia filed a complaint, on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference,

, accusing it of genocide against the Burmese Muslim minority.  

Time Magazine

specifies that it was marked by the testimonies of survivors of killings, collected by Aboubacar Tambadou in a refugee camp in Bangladesh.

The lawyer then quickly drew a parallel with the experience of Rwanda.

By filing a complaint with the International Court of Justice, Aboubacar Tambadou wanted to prevent such tragedies from happening again.

At the start of the year, he won his case: provisional measures were ordered against the Myanmar government for the protection of the Rohingyas.

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