Aicha Elbasri

She received her early education in Casablanca and later earned her master's degree in the French Literature Department of l’ Université Hassan II.

Between 2000 and 2014, Elbasri held a range of press and communication posts at the United Nations, serving the world organization in Sudan, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and New York Headquarters.

I discovered a web of omissions, half-truths and lies that I had to reveal to the world, whatever the price.” In an unprecedented move, the International Criminal Court called on the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to investigate these grave accusations.

Ban did not agree to an independent investigation, launching instead an internal review that Elbasri decried as “partial, biased and secretive.”[4] The subsequent report found, however, five instances in which UNAMID stonewalled the media and withheld from U.N. Headquarters critical evidence indicating the culpability of Sudanese government forces in crimes against civilians and peacekeepers, keeping the Security Council in the dark.

[5] Beyond her criticism of UNAMID, Elbasri decries that U.N. peacekeeping missions in Africa and the Middle East are failing civilians, bolstering failed states and turning into what she calls “warkeeping operations.” Elbasri continues working to halt the withdrawal of UNAMID troops from Darfur; stop continued ethnic cleansing in the region; and encourage the international community to seek a new approach to peace in Darfur and other parts of Sudan.