New Registrar and
Deputy Registrar appointed to Special Court
On Friday, 20 July 2007, the
Special Court for
Sierra Leone
announced the appointments of a new Registrar and Deputy Registrar.
The Court’s new Registrar, Mr. Herman von
Hebel, served as Deputy Registrar of the Court from July 2006 until March 2007,
when he was named Acting Registrar.
Succeeding Mr. von Hebel as Deputy Registrar is Binta
Mansaray.
Ms. Mansaray has served for
the past four years as the
Special
Court’s Outreach Coordinator.
She is the first Sierra Leonean to hold the
post of Deputy Registrar.
Both Mr. von Hebel and Ms. Mansaray are seasoned human
rights advocates.
Mr. von Hebel
represented the Government of the
Netherlands during the preparations
to establish the International Criminal Court, chairing both the Working Group
on the Definition of War Crimes, and the Working Group on the Elements of
Crimes.
In 2001, Mr. von Hebel became
Senior Legal Officer at the International Criminal Tribunal for
Yugoslavia.
Ms. Mansaray has been recognized internationally for her
work on behalf of
Sierra
Leone’s women and child war victims.
She was named a Global Rights Honoree in
2005, and a Civitan Good Will Ambassador in 2006.
Under her guidance, the
Special Court’s Outreach Section has created
an example of community engagement and education for other international
tribunals to follow.
