Three African nations announced their intentions to leave the International Criminal Court.
Burundi announced its withdrawal from the court after the ICC Prosecutor announced an investigation into murders of anti-government protestors.
The Gambia, the smallest country in Africa, and known for crushing political dissent, reportedly denounced the court on state television as the "International Caucasian Court." Gambia is the birth country of the ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda. Most of the judges on the court are not caucasian, but nine of the current ten cases being prosecuted are in Africa. (The tenth case is in the Republic of Georgia.) There are also investigations in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Palestinian Territories, and Ukraine.
South Africa announced its intention to withdraw following criticism that it failed to execute an ICC arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir of Sudan. South Africa has been urged to reconsider its announcement.
The International Criminal Court prosecutes war crimes, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It has jurisdiction only when the national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute those crimes. It is deeply unfortunate that Burundi and the Gambia are withdrawing from the International Criminal Court to avoid prosecutions. And it's tragic that South Africa wants to withdraw when it was one of the early advocates for the courtt.
The United States is in a weak position to criticize countries withdrawing from the court given that the United States is not itself a party to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court.
(mew)