Adama Dieng (born 22 May 1950,

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

) is a former UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide succeeded by Alice Wairimu Nderitu of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. He is a former board member of the

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes around the world, to develop sustainable, ef ...

and a former registrar of the

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; ; ) was an international court, international ''ad-hoc'' court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in United Nations Security Council Resolution 955, Resolutio ...

. He was designated an expert on human rights in Sudan on November 12, 2021, by the UN.

Life and career

Adama Dieng holds degrees in law from Dakar University (CFPA) and in

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

from the Research Centre of The Hague Academy of International Law. His legal career started in Senegal where he held several positions before becoming registrar of Supreme Court of Senegal and, from 1976 to 1982, personal assistant to its president. He then served as Legal Officer of Africa for the

International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is supported by an International Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland, and staffed by lawyers drawn from a wide range of jurisdi ...

from 1982 to 1989, Executive Secretary (1989–1990) and Secretary-General from October 1990 to May 2000.

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

appointed him in January 2001 as the Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He has worked as a consultant for many international organizations including UNITAR, the

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...

, the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, the

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to ''La Francophonie'', , sometimes also called International Organisation of in English) is an international organization representing where there is a notable affiliation with French language and culture. ...

, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

. He is a council member of the Observatoire Panafricain de la Démocratie, a member of the executive committee of Africa Leadership Forum and a board member of the International Institute of Human Rights. Dieng, a Muslim, strongly criticized the

Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI) is a declaration of the member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) first adopted in Cairo, Egypt, on 5 August 1990, (Conference of Foreign Ministers, 9–14 Muharram 141 ...

, saying, among other things, that it introduced "intolerable discrimination against both non-Muslims and women". On 17 July 2012,

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

appointed him the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, a position that he held until 2020, when he was succeeded by Alice Wairimu Nderitu."Alice Wairimu Nderitu,"
United Nations.

Some publications

* L'Organisation internationale du travail et la justice sociale * The Quest Forward - which way forward for Africa * Democracy and the Rule of Law * The Role of Lawyers and Judges on the International Stage * Nature of Conflicts * The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights * New trends in Human Rights and Corruption in Africa

References

External links

Entry on the IDEA Homepage

1950 births Living people 20th-century Senegalese lawyers International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda officials Place of birth missing (living people) Cheikh Anta Diop University alumni Senegalese officials of the United Nations Senegalese Muslims 21st-century Senegalese lawyers {{Africa-law-bio-stub