“The decisions of Gambia and South Africa to re-engage with the international community and commit to their own population and to their obligations as ICC States Parties show that the repeated threat of mass departures from the ICC, reiterated during last AU summit of January, has no consensus or basis. It reinforces the message of support of numerous African States towards the ICC.”
Under the previous Presidency, on 8 November 2016, Gambia decided to withdraw from the ICC Statute, in accordance with Article 127 of the Rome Statute. The withdrawal only takes effect one year after the date of receipt of the notification by the UN Secretary General. During that time, the decision to withdraw can be reversed without having to go through the entire ratification process again.
Our organisations also welcome the South African High Court decision of 22 February recognising that the South Africa executive decision to withdraw from the ICC Statute without any Parliamentary approval is unconstitutional and invalid. President Zuma together with the Ministers of Justice and Correctional Services and International Relations and Cooperation were ordered to revoke the notice of withdrawal.
These decisions have even more isolated Burundi that had made similar declarations of withdrawal from the ICC Statute in October 2016, for internal political reasons, frustrating opportunities for accountability and effectiveness of victims’ rights to see justice being done for the grave crimes they have suffered. We encourage those States to join Gambia’s path and remain in the ICC.
Theses Gambia and South African decisions also confirm that the announced massive African withdrawal from the ICC is above all rhetoric. Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia are among those that have reaffirmed their support for the ICC. Together with Liberia and Cape Verde, many of those countries also pushed back against adoption of a so-called “ICC withdrawal strategy” at the last African Union summit in January. [1]
“To be really effective and contribute to the fight against impunity for international crimes all over the world, the ICC has also to adapt to make its work more universal. The serious challenges the ICC is confronted with are all the more reasons for States to work together and cooperate as active members with the Court to take necessary reforms to make the court truly universal.”
If the ICC has opened investigations in African countries during its first years of existence, it is in part because African States themselves overwhelmingly supported the creation of the ICC since 1998 by ratifying the Rome Statute and took a global leadership role in advancing the movement for accountability. Many African States have referred their own cases to the ICC to investigate the most serious crimes committed on their soil. Furthermore, in 2016 the ICC has opened an investigation into the situation in Georgia and at this moment six out of the ten situations under preliminary examination concern situations outside of Africa (Afghanistan, Colombia, Comoros/Greece/Cambodia, Palestine, UK/Iraq, Ukraine).