The decision comes only a few months after Tambadou’s historic nomination in February 2025 as The Gambia’s first attempt to gain representation on the ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands.
Tambadou, a respected international legal expert, currently serves as the Registrar of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) at the UN, holding the rank of Assistant Secretary-General. He previously gained international recognition for his work at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where he led prosecutions against major figures involved in the genocide.
Domestically, Tambadou served as Gambia’s Attorney General and minister for Justice from 2017 to 2020, playing a key role in advancing transitional justice after decades of dictatorship. He resigned in 2020 to join the UN in his current role. That same year, he made global headlines by initiating The Gambia’s landmark genocide case against Myanmar at the ICJ concerning crimes against the Rohingya people – an effort that earned him a place on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People and a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2021.
His nomination to the ICJ was widely seen as a natural continuation of his distinguished career and was strongly backed by the Gambia Bar Association earlier this year. The withdrawal has sparked questions about the government’s motivations, as no successor candidate has yet been announced ahead of the 2026 ICJ elections.
The ICJ comprises 15 judges who serve nine-year terms, elected by both the UN General Assembly and the Security Council. Tambadou’s candidacy had symbolised The Gambia’s growing role in international justice and diplomacy. The sudden withdrawal now leaves uncertainty around the country’s future representation on the global judicial stage.
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