In June 2021, Mr Shoamanesh completed a historic term as the ICC Prosecutor’s Chef de Cabinet. During this term, he played an instrumental role in assisting the Prosecutor manage a highly complex mandate and overseeing the Office of the Prosecutor’s management, operations and diplomatic engagements (including before major international bodies such as the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly) and delivering its core mandate of investigating and prosecuting violations of international criminal law.
This period saw the expansion of the Court’s work to encompass over 14 investigations and active preliminary examinations in conflict and post-conflict situations across the globe, including in highly challenging situations such as the Israeli-Palestine conflict, Afghanistan, Georgia, Myanmar-Bangladesh, Ukraine and The Philippines, among others. In addition, during his term, the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor drove major reforms and enhancements in the breadth and scope of its activities and adopted pioneering policy papers, including on subjects like sexual and gender-based crimes, crimes against children, protection of cultural heritage and situation-closing strategies.
Mr Shoamanesh also co-founded The Institute for 21st Century Questions(21CQ), a leading non-partisan, vision and strategy think tank that aims to analyse and help provide real-life solutions to some of the major questions of this new century.
On receipt of the Award, Mr Shoamanesh commented: ‘I am sincerely grateful to the IBA for this prestigious honour. I am truly humbled and accept this honour as recognition not merely of my personal achievements, it is always, a collective effort, but rather of the importance of the genuine pursuit and promise of international criminal justice for a more just world – a notion so vividly in need of cultivation in our times.
“I’d like to also accept this award on behalf of the broader human rights movement, that is deeply rooted in the selfless contribution of so many unsung heroes – a movement that remains ever crucial to the betterment of the human condition.
“Our common future demands more decency, courage and integrity in the affairs of war, peace and justice. I’m indebted to the IBA leadership for its support and vote of confidence.”
Each year, the IBA presents an award to an outstanding lawyer in the world of human rights law who is deemed to have made a remarkable contribution to the promotion, protection and advancement of the human rights of any group of people.
Congratulations Sam on this award!