ICC: Africa should not withdraw
Mmegi Editor | Tuesday November 3, 2015 15:27
The mandate of the ICC, which was established just over a decade ago out of the Roman Statute, is to take action against individuals who commit international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
It was after realising that some of the continent’s presidents committed crimes against their own people with no punitive measures taken against them, some African leaders got membership of the ICC. It is therefore surprising that some of our leaders have made calls on the African Union to cease cooperation with the ICC.
Even the continent’s most influential nation – South Africa – through its ruling party recently issued a warning that they are considering ending their ICC membership after it was blamed for failing to arrest Sudanese president, Omar Al-Bashir.
We hope that South Africans will not allow this to happen for the simple reason that they do not know what the future holds for them in the person likely to be their next president.
Ordinary Africans need the ICC because of the continent’s history of corruption and abuse of power by those in such positions.
There are many instances where those in power have taken control of institutions acting as custodians of the law and legalities to protect themselves against any possible prosecution for their crimes.
We also know of presidents who have tampered with their country’s constitution to stay in power and be rendered immune from prosecution once they lose such power.
It is therefore important that African member states do not withdraw from the ICC to make sure that perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity answer for such infraction of the law.
It is more so important because the African continent does not have regional courts or tribunals that can be approached by those who feel aggrieved by their governments.
A good example of such lack is the SADC Tribunal, which was closed because it was not empowered to resolve cases that failed at domestic level. Although the new SADC chairperson, President Ian Khama, announced in his inaugural press conference in August that the tribunal is going to be revived, it does not seem the project will be completed soon. Its mandate does not seem to include resolution of serious crimes such as those dealt with by the ICC.
We call on African states to maintain their membership of the ICC until such time when there are regional institutions that can be brought in to resolve matters that domestic courts fail to redress.
Today’s thought
“The problem with Africa is its weak institutions and strong personalities.”
- Barack Obama