Amnesty International opposed to calls for withdrawal from International Criminal Court

By Isaac Meso

Nairobi, Kenya: Amnesty International has called upon the African states to reject calls of withdrawal  from the  International Criminal Court.

Tawanda Hondora, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director of Law and Policy said that a resolution calling on African states to withdraw en bloc from the Rome statue would be reactionary in the extreme.

“Such a resolution would serve no purpose except to shield from justice, and to give succour to, people suspected of committing some of the worst crimes known to humanity,” he said.

This calls come in the wake of an extraordinary summit  scheduled to take place in addis ababa on 11 and 12 of october  organised by the African Union.

Some AU members are concerned that the ICC has been unfairly targeting African countries. It is expected that  during the meeting a propasal would be tabled  for the en bloc  withdrawal  of african countries  from the Rome statue of the ICC.

Hondora  said that Most of the cases in Africa were referred to the ICC by the African governments themselves.

These include Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Mali. Two other cases, Darfur and Libya, were referred by the UN Security Council with the full support of its African members.

“The ICC should expand its work outside Africa, but it does not mean that its eight current investigations in African countries are without basis. The victims of these crimes deserve justice,”he reiterated.

Hondora noted that an initiative to organize further withdrawals from the ICC through the African Union would send the wrong signal about Africa’s commitment to protect and promote human rights and reject impunity.

He further argued that since  the victims of  the post election violence had waited  for over five years to see justice delivered to them a deferral would delay justice to these  victims  and would likely lead to repeated requests for annual extensions which would reinforce impunity.

“African governments played a vital role in setting up the ICC and their commitment has ensured that millions of victims of human rights abuses across Africa and around the world have access to justice. This must not be undermined by a few countries solely interested in protecting their own leaders,” said Hondora

Kenya’s parliament has already committed to considering its withdrawal. African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has also written to the President of the Security Council urging it to defer the case in Kenya following the attack in Westgate, Nairobi.