Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have announced they are withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling it an "instrument of neo-colonialist repression".
The BBC writes about this.
"ICC has proven its inability to consider and prosecute proven war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide, and crimes of aggression," the leaders of the countries said at a joint press conference.
They added that they want to create "their own mechanisms to strengthen peace and justice".
The countries accused ICC of targeting less privileged countries, echoing criticism from Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who previously said ICC had an anti-African bias.
ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute cases of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. Of the 33 cases opened since its inception, all but one involved African countries.
The countryʼs withdrawal from ICC officially takes effect one year after the UN notification.
Power in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger is in the hands of military juntas after a series of coups in the Sahel countries between 2020 and 2023. Their armies have faced accusations of crimes against civilians as violence in the region has escalated amid the fight against jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Earlier this year, they made a coordinated withdrawal from the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). They rejected ECOWAS’s demands to restore democratic rule.
Russia has strengthened its ties with the three Sahel countries in recent years, which are increasingly isolated from the West, particularly from France.
- The International Criminal Court is the only court in the world with the right and jurisdiction to prosecute heads of state for the most serious crimes. The ICC is investigating the forced deportation of Ukrainian children and Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure.
- On March 17, 2023, it issued arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian childrenʼs rights commissioner. They are accused of directing the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, a war crime.
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