United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed the Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Adama Dieng as his Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. Dieng who hails from Senegal is currently serving his third term as Registrar at the Arusha based tribunal and he will replace Sudan’s Dr. Francis Deng at the UN headquarters in New York."As a legal and human rights expert, Mr. Dieng has a distinguished career in contributing to the strengthening of rule of law, fighting impunity and promoting capacity building in the area of judicial and democratic institutions, including through fact-finding missions, publications and media,” a UN statement reads in part. This office was set up in 2004 in recognition of the international community’s collective failure to prevent or stop past genocides. This office is tasked by the Security Council to collect and assess information on situations that might lead to Genocide. It is also mandated to advise the Secretary-General and, through him, the Security Council, and make recommendations to prevent or halt Genocide, as well as liaising with the UN system on preventive measures and enhance the UN’s capacity to analyze and manage information on genocide or related crimes. Born in 1950 in Senegal, Dieng began his career as Registrar of the Regional and Labour Courts in Senegal in 1973, and then served as Registrar of the Supreme Court of Senegal for six years.In 1982, he joined the International Commission of Jurists where he served successively as Legal Officer for Africa, Executive Secretary and, from October 1990 to May 2000 as Secretary-General. In 2001, he was appointed as ICTR Registrar, a post he has hitherto held.