Cape Town — Three West African nations create joint judicial institution amid regional security crisis
The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) announced the establishment of a new regional criminal court during an interministerial meeting of justice ministers, marking a significant step toward unified legal action against terrorism and human rights violations across the troubled region, Les Dépêches de Brazzaville reported.
Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso—the three member countries of the AES—revealed plans for the Sahelian Criminal and Human Rights Court (CPS-DH), designed to address impunity in an area severely affected by insurgency and terrorist activities.
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The new institution will harmonize legal systems across the three nations to create what officials describe as "an area of peace, security, and sustainable development." Drawing inspiration from international judicial models while remaining grounded in local realities, the court explicitly distances itself from what the alliance calls "the negative influence of imperialist powers on the organization and functioning of certain regional and international jurisdictional bodies".
Broad Jurisdiction Over Serious Crimes
The CPS-DH will have jurisdiction over the most severe offenses, including crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, crimes of aggression, terrorism, terrorism financing, money laundering, and serious human rights violations.
To enable this ambitious judicial project, the three states amended Article 4 of their founding treaty to include justice and law among the confederation's delegated powers. The amendment allows them to pool technical resources and develop joint training programs for judicial and prison officials through a new regional prison training center.
Infrastructure and Cooperation Plans
While the court's location remains undetermined, plans include constructing a high-security prison meeting international standards for housing convicted prisoners. The alliance has committed to accelerating the harmonization of their criminal laws and establishing a regional database of wanted individuals and those convicted of serious crimes to enhance judicial cooperation and track dangerous criminals across AES territory.
The judicial initiative represents the latest in a series of integration projects undertaken by the alliance, which has already developed common symbols including a passport, logo, flag, and anthem. Future plans include a transnational communication infrastructure, such as a shared television channel.
The establishment of the CPS-DH comes as the Sahel region continues to grapple with widespread insecurity, with terrorist groups operating across porous borders and weak state institutions struggling to maintain law and order. The three nations, all led by military governments that came to power through coups in recent years, have increasingly coordinated their security and governance efforts while distancing themselves from former colonial power France and other Western partners.
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