ABSTRACT
This chapter looks into the International Criminal Court 's (ICC’s) work in Africa. It seeks to contribute to an understanding of how the Court functions, the broader context in which this judicial institution operates and the dilemmas that sur-round the pursuit of international justice in Africa. The pursuit of criminal accountability for state-sponsored atrocities and other forms of institutionalized violence is conceptually linked to the Nuremberg Trials that took place following the Allies' victory in World War II. The third self-referral to the ICC was made by the government of the Central African Republic (CAR) in late 2004. The prosecutor initially monitored whether domestic courts would commence proceedings against those responsible for international crimes in the country, but by May 2008 an arrest warrant was issued on a Congolese national, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo. African states played an important role in establishing the Court and constitute a core group of ICC member states.
