EVER since an incumbent president, Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, was indicted in 2008 for genocide and other alleged crimes, the pendulum began to swing against the International Criminal Court (ICC), at least in Africa. Some people, especially African leaders, think it biased, since all those so far convicted have been African. Earlier in October a South African deputy minister said his government was planning to leave the court. Kenya’s parliament, nettled by the indictment of the two men later elected president and deputy president for crimes against humanity following a murderously disputed election, has previously called for Kenya to quit too. Uganda’s president has urged African countries to leave en masse.
Even though more than half of the countries in the African Union (AU) are signatories to the ICC statute and were once its keenest backers, the AU has set up a rival court. Under a protocol proposed (but not yet ratified) last year this new court may exempt incumbent leaders and senior officials from being charged. That would make it a feeble substitute for the ICC, which aims...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/1NaRyaX
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