African Move to Withdraw from the ICC:   Assessment of Issues and Implications (original) (raw)

The International Criminal Court and Africa: A fractious relationship assessed

African Human Rights Law Journal

For many African states, the latest iteration of Western colonialism is the International Criminal Court. All the Court's prosecutions have involved African conflicts, and the continent's initially strong support for its creation has in recent years notably weakened. Leaders from Museveni to Kenyatta and Zuma to Bashir have excoriated the Court for its partiality, and only a change of government in The Gambia reversed a serious threat to quit its jurisdiction. Under pressure from Burundi and South Africa, the African Union has made increasingly militant noises about a mass withdrawal of member states. How should blame be apportioned for the turbulence of this relationship between the Court and the current generation of African leaders? Where does it leave a continent blighted by conflict, egregious human rights abuses and perceptions of the impunity of the 'big man' at the top? A research project, funded by the British Academy, has examined attitudes in civil society in Uganda and Kenya towards the ICC and asked whether human rights abuses could be effectively addressed by any other means. Researchers from three universities in Kenya, Uganda and the UK have interviewed judges, lawyers, NGOs, journalists and others about the ICC, domestic or regional forms of 'justice' (such as the putative African AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS LAW JOURNAL * BA (Hons) (Makerere) MA (Nairobi) PhD (Makerere)

Withdrawal from the International Criminal Court: Does Africa have an alternative?

2017

After a century in the making, the International Criminal Court (ICC) came into existence in 2002 with an overwhelming number of states ratifying the Rome Statute. With 34 signatories, Africa is the largest contributor in the Assembly of State Parties, yet Africa has become its severest critic. As threats of withdrawal become a reality with the imminent withdrawal of Burundi, this article considers the question of whether Africa has an alternative solution. With an African Union (AU) Constitutive Act purporting a commitment to combating impunity and promoting democracy, rule of law and good governance, one would expect the AU to be ready to pick up the reins. To end impunity and hold perpetrators accountable, finding an alternative for the lacuna left in the absence of the ICC has never been more pressing. The recent adoption of a strategy by African countries for a mass withdrawal has pushed the matter to the fore. This article discusses the feasibility of amnesty, domestic and loc...

Engendered Discontent: The International Criminal Court in Africa

2021

Amidst concerns of African Member States exodus from the International Criminal Court, this article analyzes the ICC's investigation and prosecution of the "most serious crimes of concern" and the perception that the Court has disproportionately focused on African countries. The authors evaluate the three main causes for this perception and assess 1) whether the Rome Statute provides Heads of State Immunity, an issue which has been heavily contested, 2) the mechanism and politics of state-referrals, and 3) ICC intervention during ongoing conflict and its interplay with traditional resolution mechanisms. The ICC has tended to dismiss claims of bias as an agenda by a few African Governments who wish to escape accountability. However, governments and advocates discontent with the International Criminal Court argue that the ICC's primary focus on Africa demonstrates that the court is a tool for selective justice. The authors explain that these concerns must be addressed, as continuing dismissal of such issues will only hurt the Court's legitimacy and erode its ability to combat impunity. Further, the authors argue for increased cooperation between the ICC and Interpol to improve the investigation and collection of evidence as well as mechanisms for arresting individuals on warrants issued by the ICC. Section one discusses the drafting history of the Rome Statute and its impact on the current temporal, territorial and subject matter jurisdiction of the Court. Section two analyzes the doctrine of Heads of State Immunity, with a particular focus on the ICC indictment of President Bashir and the African Union's recent adoption of an ICC withdrawal strategy for Member States. In Section three, the authors, using Uganda as a case study, consider the role of self-referrals in supporting and obstructing the administration of justice. Section four considers the peace and justice debate. Section five concludes the article with some recommendations to help address the issues between the ICC and African Member States. The authors argue that it is imperative that the ICC: 1) acknowledge that there is a bias and make concerted efforts to expand the jurisdictional scope of the Court beyond Africa, and 2) support regional mechanisms, including the African Court of Justice and Human Rights and 3) work with Interpol to conduct investigations, collect credible evidence and enhance the Prosecutor's investigation of serious crimes of concern committed everywhere.

Africa & The Future of The International Criminal Court: Understanding The Challenges of the ICC

The credibility of the ICC has been polemically critiqued and censured by its traducers. It has been censured on the grounds that it is weak and lacks the locus standi to resist influence from stronger nations, It has been also been traduced on the grounds that its judgement has been one-sided. This study takes a look in to this claims and assertions to prove whether it is an aphorism or an empty accusation

The International criminal court in Africa: A motion for continued constructive engagement

International sournal of African studies, 2021

In the last decade, African states and their leaders have levied heavy criticisms against the International Criminal Court (ICC) operations on the continent. The ICC has been accused of infringing states sovereignty, engaging in selective justice and serving as an instrument for furthering neocolonialism. This paper examines Africa's criticisms of the Court in detail and advances ways to improve relations between African states and the ICC. The examination of the strained relationship between Africa and the ICC will start with a survey of Africa's criticisms against the ICC, followed by brief background information into the nature of crimes and other human rights violations taking place on the African continent. Crimes committed on the continent are analyzed for context and relevance; however, the nucleus of the paper will focus on refuting Africa's criticisms of the ICC as an anti-Africa institution. Next, the paper engages in a substantive legal analysis of ICC's law and procedures by providing counterargument responses to Africa's criticisms. Furthermore, a motion supporting ICC's relations on the continent is advanced to rebuild and reform for continued constructive engagement between African states and the ICC. The paper concludes that Africa's criticisms of the ICC are more political than legal and, as a result, urges all parties and actors involved to foster a path for continued constructive engagement as a means to remedy the ongoing tension between African states and the ICC.

The Problems Facing the International Criminal Court: African Perspectives

2021

Since the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC), it has faced serious problems and has been subject to criticism, particularly from African states. More specifically, some African states have argued that the operation of the Court has produced outcomes that are vastly different from what was imagined and hoped for at the time the Court was negotiated in 1998. The dissertation answers four interrelated research questions: (1) What kind of International Criminal Court (ICC) did African states want prior to and during the Rome Diplomatic Conference in 1998? (2) Why did African states ratify the Rome Statute more than any other region even though they did not get the kind of Court that they wanted? (3) What are the origins of the criticisms levied by African states against the ICC? (4) Why, despite the compromises reached in Rome, and the significant criticism levied against the resultant ICC since, would African states commit and/or stay committed to the Court by sign...

The International Criminal Court’s Involvement with Africa: Evaluation of a Fractious Relationship

Nordic Journal of International Law, 2013

This article examines the International Criminal Court's (ICC) role in relation to international crimes allegedly committed in Africa; it considers the difficulties and obstacles that the ICC has encountered in securing the cooperation of not only States Parties but also of non-States Parties which, in certain instances, are mandated to assist it; and it analyses the acrimonious relationship that has arisen between the African Union (AU), the Continent's political and security organisation, and the ICC. Thus far, the two most significant sources of antagonism between the ICC and Africa have been the arrest warrants against President al-Bashir of Sudan in relation to the situation in Darfur, and the crimes against humanity allegedly perpetrated during Kenya's post-election violence in 2007-2008. Finally, the article examines the continuing attempts by African States to amend Article 16 of the Rome Statute.

The contentious relationship between Africa and the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Journal of Law and Conflict Resolution, 2018

The International Criminal Court (ICC) established in 2002 under the Rome Statute with significant support from African States, comprise thirty percent of the ICC's total membership. After nearly two decades in operation, the ICC has issued a number of indictments to both sitting and ex-African leaders. The African Union has criticized these indictments citing that the court seems to be overly concentrating its efforts on the African continent. African leaders have claimed that the ICC had ignored the atrocities committed by western superpowers especially in the various wars on terror around the world. Another notable concern is the absence of these major powers from the membership of the Rome Statute. In response for example, several African states including Chad, Uganda, South Africa and Malawi have defied the ICC's requests to arrest and extradite Sudan's Omar al-Bashir for prosecution. The latest of such defiance was Rwanda's refusal to arrest al-Bashir when he visited the country in March 2018. This article traced the origin of African dissent against the ICC and examined its implications on justice for victims, international law, as well as the future of the court. This article examined some of the most prominent ICC investigations of African Heads of State and the criticisms against such action for example, state sovereignty and immunity of Heads of State. The article also analyzed the role of the ICC in creating accountability for atrocities in Africa. It concluded that although the ICC has its deficiencies, it remains a very important avenue for ensuring accountability and justice for serious crimes in Africa. This exercise was achieved by extensive review and analysis of international law instruments, national legislation, textbooks, academic articles as well as reports pertaining to the formation and operation of the ICC.

The International Criminal Court and Africa: Contextualizing the Anti-ICC Narrative

African Journal of International Criminal Justice, 2017

This article critiques attempts by some in Africa to brand the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a neocolonial institution and stooge of the West. These arguments accuse the ICC of playing a double standard, being overly focused on trying African defendants, and warn that the Court risks exacerbating factionalism and ethnic divisions thereby threatening peace and reconciliation efforts. Although we neither defend nor champion the ICC's mandate, we deem such criticisms as hyper-bole. At best, they attempt to whitewash the instrumental role played by African states in the birth of the Court and ignore the fact that many of the ICC cases were referred there by African governments. Furthermore, the current African narrative understates the ICC's potential to midwife local judiciaries and contribute positively towards conflict resolution in Africa through the promotion of at least a measure of accountability and offers of justice, thereby taming elite immunity and impunity in states where justice regimes are either weak or non-existent. Until African states strengthen their judiciaries to ensure such references to the ICC are indeed a last resort, the Court will continue to remain the only credible forum for states emerging from conflict and seeking justice and reconciliation.

Africa’s Relationship with the International Criminal Court: More Political than Legal

Melbourne Journal of International Law, 2013

In July 2002, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court came into force, giving birth to the International Criminal Court (‘ICC’ or ‘the Court’). This marked a significant moment in international criminal justice. The birth of a permanent court that would hold accountable those responsible for gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law was now a reality. The African region played a great and active role in the realisation of this Court. However, the fact that all accused persons presently before the Court are Africans has raised speculation that the ICC is targeting Africans. This perception was further exacerbated with the indictment of President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir of Sudan. Consequently, the African Union (‘AU’) has resolved to cease cooperation with the Court with regard to the arrest of Al Bashir. The Court recently celebrated 10 years of existence, but the AU’s attitude towards the ICC suggests that political considerations continue to form an obstacle to international criminal justice.