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Two students of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) who excelled in a debate on whether African states should withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) are being sponsored by the Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) to attend an international conference on the ICC and its relationship with Africa.

The two students, Mohammed Abubakar Shayaw and Ibs Rockson-Sackey, will interact with the ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, academics, international criminal justice experts and jurists, at the two-day conference, which will start on 17th March at the GIMPA Law School. The conference, which is under the theme “The International Criminal Court and Africa: A Discussion on Legitimacy, Impunity, Selectivity, Fairness and Accountability, is organized by the GIMPA Law School and supported by several national and international organizations.

Shayaw and Rockson-Sackey had argued for and against the motion “Should African States Withdraw From the ICC?” respectively at a workshop on International Law Reporting which was organized and facilitated by ACILA in collaboration with the Faculty of Journalism of GIJ in December last year.

Deputy Executive Director of ACILA, Carl Mensah, said that ACILA is excited to be sponsoring the two students who had distinguished themselves at the international law reporting workshop, adding that its sponsorship is in line with ACILA’s mission of contributing to African scholarship through enhanced understanding of international law.

He was hopeful that the knowledge the students will gain will enable them educate the public on the ICC and international criminal justice once they graduate from school and begin professional practice as journalists.

ACILA is incorporated under US law as a 501(c)(3) research and education, non-profit, and non-partisan think tank and also recently incorporated under Ghana law. Its focus areas are human rights, anti-corruption, good governance, rule of law, international criminal justice as well as monitoring African states' compliance with international, continental, and regional instruments.