Committee recommends African Union withdraws from ICC

An advisory committee recommended that the African Union withdraw its membership from the International Criminal Court, claiming it lacks objectivity.

The African Union (AU) charged an Economic, Social and Cultural Council with examining its relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC) last April. This committee advised all AU member states to leave the ICC, unless the court meets three conditions, including giving heads of state immunity from prosecution.

The committee asserted that the ICC is biased against African nations, targeting them more than other countries for rights violations.

Committee spokesperson Joseph Chilengi told journalists the ICC is not an independent body, as it follows UN Security Council guidance, adding that the court would never indict North American or European citizens.

“The European Union provides over 70 percent of the ICC’s budget, something which also violates the Rome statute [that set up the court], which says that no one member state can pay more than 22 percent of the budget. And as we know, he who pays the piper calls the tune,” Chilengi said.

Chilengi, reportedly dismissed reporters who stressed to him that the European Union is not a state, insisting that it behaves like one.

Several proponents of the suggestion that the AU leaves the ICC have been or are currently under criminal investigation by the international court, including Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.

Kenyatta was indicted in relation to ethnic crimes in the violence following the 2007-08 elections, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people.

The ICC issued an international arrest warrant against Bashir, who has been accused of crimes against humanity, among other charges. Despite his indictment, Bashir attended the AU summit after receiving assurance from Rwandan leadership that they would not detain him.

The ICC is also conducting an ongoing trial against former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, as well as investigations in Kenya, the Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Uganda and Mali. Many AU leaders cite this as proof of bias against African nations, with AU chairman, President Idriss Deby, stating in February, “Elsewhere in the world, many things happen, many flagrant violations of human rights, but nobody cares.”

Critics have countered this argument by stating that many of the ICC’s investigations in African nations came at the behest of the nations themselves.

The AU tasked another committee with considering a roadmap for possible withdrawal from the ICC in January. But critics have asserted that concerns about the AU deciding to withdraw from the ICC have been overstated.

Human Rights Watch criticized recommendations for the AU to leave the ICC, hailing it “a disservice to Africa and other victims and to the AU’s own Constitutive Act, which rejects impunity under Article 4. It also increases the risk that one of these days efforts to promote withdrawal may bear fruit.”

Yet, even if the AU officially leaves the ICC, it is likely to have few practical ramifications, aside from emphasizing the AU's critique of the court’s objectivity.

The summit ended on Monday and was attended by many AU members, including President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.