Abstract
This chapter examines the various roles played by African languages, along with the practices and policies that were developed to respond to these roles, at the ICTR and SCSL, and, to a lesser extent, the ICC. Through interviewing judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, investigators, outreach officers, and language service specialists from the three courts, as well as exploring existing literature that touches on language use in these settings, the author attempts to draw a picture of how African languages fare in critical domains of international criminal justice. These domains include formal criminal investigations, courtroom proceedings, outreach to the regions where the international crimes have been committed, and communication with victims of these crimes.