Sudan to hand Bashir to ICC for Darfur crimes: top official

Yahoo – AFP, Jay Deshmukh and Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali, February 11, 2020

The International Criminal Court has charged Bashir with genocide, crimes against
humanity and war crimes in Sudan's western region of Darfur (AFP Photo/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

Khartoum (AFP) - Sudan has agreed to hand ousted autocrat Omar al-Bashir and others to the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur, a member of Khartoum's ruling body said Tuesday.

The Hague-based ICC has charged Bashir and three of his former aides with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan's western region during a brutal conflict from 2003.

"Those who have been indicted by the ICC, they have to go there," Mohamed Hassan Al-Taishay, a member of the ruling sovereign council said, without mentioning their names.

His remarks, quoted in a statement issued by the sovereign council in Khartoum, came as a government delegation met rebel groups in the South Sudanese capital of Juba.

Taishay said the talks focused on justice and reconciliation in Darfur, where the United Nations says about 300,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict erupted.

Taishay said they had agreed several mechanisms for achieving peace in the region.

"First, all those who have been indicted by the ICC should appear before the ICC," he said.

"Second, a special court be set up to investigate crimes committed in Darfur."

The conflict in Darfur, the size of France, erupted when ethnic minority African rebels took up arms against Bashir's then Arab-dominated government, accusing it of marginalising the region economically and politically.

The ICC has charged Bashir with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the conflict.

Bashir was ousted by the army last April following months of mass protests 

against his rule (AFP Photo/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

It has also indicted three of his former aides, Ahmed Haroon, Abdulrahim Mohamed Hussain and Ali Kushied.

"We cannot achieve justice unless we treat the suffering of the victims because this is a truth that we can't escape from," Taishay said.

"In Darfur, crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed."

Bashir has denied the charges.

Bashir was ousted by the army in a palace coup last April after months of protests against his iron-fisted rule of three decades.

He was detained following his ouster and has since been jailed on corruption charges.

Anti-Bashir protesters, residents of Darfur and rebel groups from the region have consistently demanded that the ousted ruler be handed over to the ICC.

For years before his ouster and despite the ICC indictments, Bashir had regularly visited regional countries as well as Russia and China.

Days before the protests erupted in December 2018, he visited Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, becoming the first Arab leader to do so since the Syrian conflict began in 2011.

In 2018, Bashir helped broker a tentative peace deal in South Sudan after five years of intense conflict in the world's newest country, which won independence from Khartoum in 2011.

Congolese 'Terminator' warlord gets 30-year ICC sentence

Yahoo – AFP, Danny KEMP, November 7, 2019

Ntaganda was sentenced on a litany of crimes including directing massacres of
civilians in Democratic Republic of Congo's volatile, mineral-rich Ituri region in 2002
and 2003 (AFP Photo/EVA PLEVIER)

The Hague (AFP) - A Congolese rebel chief nicknamed the "Terminator" received a 30-year jail term from the International Criminal Court on Thursday for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the longest ever sentence given out by the tribunal.

Bosco Ntaganda was convicted in July of offences including murder, sexual slavery and using child soldiers in a mineral-rich region of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the early 2000s.

Most of the charges against Rwandan-born Ntaganda, 46, related to a series of gruesome massacres of villagers carried out by his fighters.

"Murder was committed on a large scale," presiding judge Robert Flemr said, adding that the Hague-based court had taken the "particular cruelty" of some of Ntaganda's actions into account.

"The overall sentence imposed on you shall therefore be 30 years of imprisonment."

Judges gave him the maximum possible sentence in terms of the number of years but said that "despite their gravity" his crimes did not warrant a full-life prison term.

Ntaganda, dressed in a blue suit and shirt and wearing a red tie, showed no emotion as the sentence was passed in the high-security courtroom.

An ICC spokesman confirmed it was the heaviest ever sentence handed down to date by the court, which was set up in 2002 to try the world's worst crimes.

Ntaganda has already appealed against his conviction earlier this year on 13 counts of war crimes and five of crimes against humanity -- which saw him become the first to be convicted by the ICC of sexual enslavement.

He now has 30 days to appeal against the sentence.

'Held to account'

Human Rights Watch welcomed the prison term.

"Bosco Ntaganda's 30-year sentence sends a strong message that even people considered untouchable may one day be held to account," said Ida Sawyer, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Africa division.

"While his victims’ pain cannot be erased, they can take some comfort in seeing justice prevail."

A refugee from the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda, Ntaganda emerged as a ruthless driver of ethnic Tutsi revolts that subsequently convulsed neighbouring DRC.

Judges said Ntaganda was a "key leader" of the Union of Congolese Patriots rebel group and its military wing, the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), in the DRC's volatile Ituri region in 2002 and 2003.

More than 60,000 people have been killed since the violence erupted in Ituri, according to rights groups, as militias battle each other for control of mineral resources.

The court heard fearful villagers dubbed him "Terminator", after the film featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a merciless robotic killer, during two bloody operations by Ntaganda's soldiers against civilians in rival villages in 2002 and 2003.

Fighters loyal to him carried out atrocities such as a massacre in a banana field behind a village in which at least 49 people including children and babies were disembowelled or had their heads smashed in.

No mitigating factors

Ntaganda received a series of sentences ranging from eight to 30 years, with ICC rules saying that the overall prison term must reflect the highest individual sentence.

He got 30 years for murder and attempted murder, with judges saying he was directly guilty of the murder of Catholic priest and indirectly responsible for many others by directing the military offensives. He also received a 30-year sentence for persecution.

Ntaganda further received 28 years for the "systematic" rape of "women, girls and men" including girls aged nine and 11; a sentence 14 years for the sex slavery of child soldiers recruited by his group; and 12 years for the sexual enslavement of civilian children.

Judges said they found no mitigating factors, despite defence arguments that he was himself a victim of the Rwandan genocide.

Ntaganda -- known for his pencil moustache and a penchant for fine dining -- said during his trial that he was "soldier not a criminal" and that the "Terminator" nickname did not apply to him.

After the Ituri conflict, Ntaganda was integrated into the Congolese army and was a general from 2007 to 2012, but then became a founding member of the M23 rebel group in a new uprising against the government.

In 2013 Ntaganda became the first ever suspect to surrender to the court, after walking into the US embassy in the Rwandan capital Kigali.

The six years Ntaganda has already served in custody will be deducted from his sentence, the ICC said.

Ntaganda's former FPLC commander Thomas Lubanga was sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2012.

The conviction was seen as a boost for the ICC after several high-profile suspects walked free. The court has also been criticised for mainly trying African suspects.

ICC prosecutor appeals acquittal of I.Coast's Gbagbo

Yahoo – AFP, September 16, 2019

Gbagbo faced charges of crimes against humanity over the 2010-2011
bloodshed (AFP Photo/Peter Dejong)

The Hague (AFP) - The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court appealed on Monday against the shock acquittal of former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo over post-electoral violence that killed around 3,000 people.

Gbagbo, the first head of state to stand trial in The Hague, and his deputy Charles Ble Goude, were both cleared of crimes against humanity in January and released the following month.

"The appeal will demonstrate that the trial chamber committed legal and procedural errors which led to the acquittals of Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ble Goude on all counts," Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's office said.

Judges had cleared the pair "without properly articulating and consistently applying a clearly defined standard of proof," said Bensouda.

Ivory Coast's former prime minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan, who heads Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front party, condemned the appeal.

"These are judicial delaying tactics and political doggedness to keep Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Ble Goude as far away from the country as possible to prevent them from participating in Ivory Coast's political life," he told AFP.

Georges Armand Ouegnin, the head of a pro-Gbagbo coalition of political parties and civic groups, echoed him.

"I am deeply disappointed but I'm hopeful," he said, adding that the pair "are innocent".

"It's important that they come back to Ivory Coast for national reconciliation," he added.

Belgium agreed to host Gbagbo, 73, after he was released in February under conditions including that he would return to court for any prosecution appeal against his acquittal.

Ble Goude is meanwhile living in the Netherlands under similar conditions.

Gbagbo faced charges of crimes against humanity over the 2010-2011 bloodshed following a disputed vote in the West African nation.

Prosecutors said Gbagbo clung to power "by all means" after he was narrowly defeated by his bitter rival -- now president -- Alassane Ouattara in elections in the world's largest cocoa producer.

However, judges dismissed the charges, saying that the prosecution "failed to satisfy the burden of proof to the requisite standard."

The prosecutor had previously indicated in January that she intended in appeal but had to wait until the court's full written reasons for the decision came out in July.

Symbol of Sudan protest movement pushes for further change

Yahoo – AFP, Menna ZAKI, April 27, 2019

Sudanese student Alaa Salah shot to prominence after an image of her leading
demonstrators in chants in Khartoum went viral (AFP Photo)

Khartoum (AFP) - Sudanese student Alaa Salah emerged as a singing symbol of the protest movement that toppled leader Omar al-Bashir, and now insists she will keep demonstrating until civilian rule is secured.

The 22-year-old engineering and architecture undergraduate shot to prominence when a picture of her in a white robe leading chanting crowds from atop a car in Khartoum went viral on social media.

Shortly after on April 11 the army ousted long-time leader Bashir, but since then a 10-member military council has resisted calls to handover power.

Every evening Salah heads down to join the crowds still camped out around the army headquarters in the capital -- leading thousands of demonstrators in singing out their calls for change.

"We are staying at the protest site until all our demands are met," Salah said in an interview with AFP.

"We want a democratic civilian government and that all corrupt figures of the previous regime be prosecuted."

Like many gathered outside the military complex she insists "we don't want just words, we want actions".

"Bashir was just the face of the regime, we want the entire regime to be uprooted."

Protesters in Sudan have seen long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir ousted from power 

and are now pushing the new ruling military council to hand over power to a civilian 

administration (AFP Photo)

'No political aspirations'

Portraits of Salah -- dubbed "Kandaka" or Nubian queen online -- have appeared on murals across Khartoum in the wake of Bashir's fall.

The iconic image captured her wearing the traditional flowing white headscarf and skirt, her golden full-moon earrings reflecting in the fading sunset.

The outfit is a nod to the lead role played by women in the protests that ended three decades of iron-fisted rule by the veteran leader.

"I wore this attire as part of an initiative to support the revolution," she says.

Symbolic too is the chant that she recites to raise the spirits of the demonstrators.

The words are those of a well-known Sudanese poem that says "a bullet does not kill, what kills is the people's silence" -- a sentiment she says aptly captures Sudan's new spirit of defiance.

The protest movement in the country initially erupted in December in response to tripling of bread prices by the authorities.

It swiftly mushroomed into nationwide demonstrations against Bashir led by an umbrella group of unions and opposition political groups called the Alliance for Freedom and Change.

Protest leaders from the alliance successfully mobilised supporters -- young, old, women, men, professionals and students -- by posting their calls for demonstrations online.

"I'm one of those who took to the streets based on the schedules announced by the Alliance for Freedom and Change," Salah said.

She also participated in protests on her campus as the demonstrations on the street drew a brutal crackdown from the authorities.

Officials say at least 65 people have been killed in protest-related violence since December.

Despite her new-found fame as the face of the uprising, Salah insists that she intends to limit her involvement in politics to these protests.

"I have no political affiliation. I am a normal citizen who took to the streets for the sake of our country," she said.

"I don't have any aspirations in politics ...but I like to do social work."

#UPDATE A top opposition leader has called for Sudan to join the International Criminal Court which has indicted its ousted president Omar al-Bashir, as protesters and the military met to discuss civilian rule https://t.co/YWZSPPp2eC

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 27 april 2019

Defiant Sudan protesters seek army talks

Yahoo – AFP, April 8, 2019

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been hit by protests since a December
decision to triple the cost of bread (AFP Photo/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

Khartoum (AFP) - Sudanese protesters on Monday called on the army to hold talks on forming a transitional government, as thousands braved a deadly crackdown for a third day to urge the military to back them.

The east African country has been rocked by more than three months of protests that erupted over a hike in bread prices before transforming into nationwide demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir's iron-fisted 30-year rule.

At the biggest rally so far, thousands of protesters have since Saturday been camped out around the army headquarters in Khartoum which also houses Bashir's residence and the defence ministry.

They are calling on the military to protect them and to back calls for Bashir to resign.

"When the army is here, we have no fear," protesters flashing victory signs chanted as military vehicles with soldiers fanned out around the complex, onlookers said.

Riot police have fired tear gas at the protesters, but they have failed to dislodge them.

Officials say 38 people have died in protest-related violence since December.

Interior Minister Bushara Juma said seven protesters died on Saturday when forces tried to disperse them and 15 were wounded along with 42 members of the security forces. In all, 2,496 protesters were arrested.

The group spearheading the protests on Monday appealed to the army for talks on forming a transitional government.

Map of Khartoum locating the army HQ, Army Road and Omdurman 

(AFP Photo/Vincent LEFAI)

"We call on the Sudanese armed forces to talk directly with the Alliance for Freedom and Change for facilitating the peaceful process of forming a transitional government," said Omar el-Digeir, a senior member of the group.

Digeir said the protest organisers had also formed a council to initiate talks with security forces and the international community aimed at agreeing a transition that gives power to a "transitional government that represents the wish of the revolution".

"We reiterate our people's demand that the head of the regime and his government have to immediately step down," Digeir said.

Reading from a statement, he also called on the armed forces "to withdraw their support for a regime that has lost its legitimacy" and to support the "people's alternative for a transition to a civilian democratic government".

'Protecting the people'

Since protests erupted across Sudan in December agents of the powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and riot police have cracked down on demonstrators, but the army has not intervened.

Soldiers put up barricades in streets near the army compound after reinforcements of intelligence agency members and riot police arrived in the early hours, witnesses told AFP.

Sudanese protest leaders called on the army to protect demonstrators pushing 

for President Omar al-Bashir resign (AFP Photo/STRINGER)

"After that, security forces began firing tear gas at protesters," one said on condition of anonymity.

Gunshots were also heard, witnesses said, but it was unclear who fired.

Some activists on the ground said it was the army shooting in the air, but this could not be confirmed independently.

Protest organisers urged the military to protect the demonstrators.

"We want you, the young officers and soldiers, to remain committed to the role of the national army, which is of protecting the people," said the Sudanese Professionals Association.

A few hours later security personnel again fired tear gas at the demonstrators, witnesses said.

Protest organisers urged the residents of Khartoum and nearby areas to join the demonstrators.

Crowds of people carrying food and water were later seen walking towards the complex to take part in the protest, according to onlookers.

Some companies have told employees not to come into work "until further notice".

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been hit by protests since a December 

decision to triple the cost of bread (AFP Photo/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

The rally outside the army headquarters has been the largest since protests began on December 19 in the central town of Atbara, quickly spreading to the capital and towns and cities across the east African country.

The European Union said an "unprecedented" number of people had come out calling for change since Saturday.

"The people of Sudan have shown remarkable resilience in the face of extraordinary obstacles over many years," the EU's External Action Service said.

"Their trust must be won through concrete action by the government."

Economic mismanagement

The protesters accuse Bashir's administration of economic mismanagement that has led to soaring food prices and regular shortages of fuel and foreign currency.

Sudan's security council on Sunday said the demands of the protesters "have to be heard" after a meeting chaired by the veteran leader.

Bashir, wanted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and genocide in the conflict-wracked region of Darfur, swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989.

He has remained defiant, introducing tough measures that have seen protesters, opposition leaders, activists and journalists arrested.

Key dates in the life of Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's leader who was removed from power on April 11 pic.twitter.com/oFdZ3coI8k

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 11 april 2019

African meals and football for ICC inmates

Yahoo – AFP, Jan HENNOP, Jul 6, 2018

The Scheveningen detention centre in the Netherlands is a stone's throw
from the North Sea (AFP Photo/ROBIN UTRECHT)

Scheveningen (Netherlands) (AFP) - Deep in the heart of a Dutch prison a group of international detainees finish their African-inspired meal before settling in front of a television to watch the latest World Cup football match.

Welcome to another day at the red-bricked Building 4, Scheveningen prison complex -- the cell block for those accused of committing the world's worst crimes.

Three weeks ago Congolese politician Jean-Pierre Bemba became one of the few to leave through the block's heavy green door, after being acquitted of war crimes by judges at the International Criminal Court.

The Congolese warlord-turned-politician spent 10 years as the ICC's "guest" at the detention unit, situated inside the Dutch prison in The Hague's seaside suburb of Scheveningen, a stone's throw from the North Sea.

"When a new detainee first arrives, we sit him down and have a chat. I tell him: 'A -- you're safe here and B -- you'll be treated with respect," says Paddy Craig, the weathered and grey-haired ICC chief custodial officer.

"But I also tell them we expect respect in return. We are open, but this is after all a detention centre," adds Craig, a former Royal Marine with 27 years of policing experience.

He has a strict policy of not discussing individual prisoners and declined to answer questions relating directly to Bemba.

However, during a rare visit inside the unit, which still houses the likes of Ivorian ex-president Laurent Gbagbo and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude, journalists gained a glimpse of life behind bars.

The International Criminal Court's Scheveningen detention centre houses those accused 

of committing the world's worst crimes (AFP Photo/MAARTJE BLIJDENSTEIN)

'Unbelievable bakers'

For the ICC's remaining six detainees like African rebel warlords Bosco Ntaganda and Dominic Ongwen, the day starts at 7:00 am when cells are unlocked.

Cells are basic at 15-square metres: a single bed, open toilet, basin, a chair and a few cupboards make up the bulk of the furniture. Possessions include a razor, shaving cream, toothpaste, a toothbrush and a towel. But there is a television inside, and a desk for a computer although there is no internet access.

Inmates are responsible for keeping their cells and communal areas clean.

When not getting ready for a court appearance, the men can roam the wing, meet in its two communal areas or pump iron in its well-equipped gym.

Looking around it quickly becomes clear that cooking is a favourite past-time.

"Some are unbelievable bakers. Some days you cannot believe the smells that come from this area," Craig says.

But diplomatically, he did not want to say who was the best chef.

Rwandan-born Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda is one of six detainees in 

the ICC detention centre (AFP Photo/PETER DEJONG)

Combined football teams

Inmates can also spend scheduled time outside in a fenced-off courtyard with an ageing, but functional tennis court, or play football in an adjacent gymnasium.

"Often the ICC's detainees play against their counterparts of the now defunct ICTY (the Yugoslav war crimes court)," says Craig.

But overcrowding is not a problem.

Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic died in the centre while on trial in 2006.

And the ICTY's numbers have been whittled down to two: wartime former Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, so teams are often filled out by the 29-strong contingent of correctional officers.

The matches are the only time the detainees of the two courts meet, as they are otherwise kept on separate locked floors.

Inside two communal areas are a table-tennis table and table football set, an aquarium with a handful of goldfish, chess and other board games.

Although there are no restrictions on visits, the ICC's Trust Fund for Victims help with one to two visits a year if the detainee has no money, says Craig.

Ivory Coast's strongman Laurent Gbagbo is on trial for war crimes (AFP Photo/

SIA KAMBOU)

Inmates get 200 free minutes every month to phone loved ones and friends at home, using a list of 25 strictly vetted telephone numbers. All phone calls are recorded.

The unit also has "private rooms" for conjugal visits between spouses, usually lasting a few hours.

Shared meals

It's clear that food plays an important part in the daily lives of the international detainees.

In a kitchen area, a larder stands packed with supplies -- much attesting to the African origins of most men on trial. A cooking roster is pasted on a nearby fridge door.

"The detainees sometimes share their meals with warders. Chicken, garlic and peanut dishes are a favourite," says Craig.

But as he himself has to remain impartial as the head of the ICC prison, he does not share meals.

S. African court slaps down bid to leave ICC

Yahoo – AFP, Susan NJANJI, February 22, 2017

The International Criminal Court has been rocked by threats of withdrawal in
recent months, with complaints focusing on its alleged bias against Africa
(AFP Photo/Martijn Beekman)

Johannesburg (AFP) - A South African court on Wednesday ordered the government to withdraw its "unconstitutional" bid to pull out of the International Criminal Court, in a boost to the embattled Hague-based institution.

The decision was a blow to President Jacob Zuma but a welcome piece of good news for the ICC, which has been rocked by threats of withdrawal amid complaints of an alleged bias against Africa.

South Africa announced it had lodged its decision to pull out with the United Nations in October, following a dispute over Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visiting the country in 2015.

South African authorities refused to detain Bashir despite him being the subject of an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes, saying he had immunity as a head of state.

"The cabinet decision to deliver the notice of withdrawal... without prior parliamentary approval is unconstitutional and invalid," said judge Phineas Mojapelo in the North Gauteng High Court.

The president and ministers were "ordered forthwith to revoke the notice of withdrawal".

Justice ministry spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said the government would "reflect on the reasons for the judgement and decide whether to appeal or not".

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party, which was one of the groups that brought the court case, welcomed the ruling.

"The withdrawal by the South African government from the ICC was irrational," DA lawmaker James Selfe told AFP.

"We would like South Africa to stay in the ICC because we believe that it is consistent with our constitution and with the legacy of Nelson Mandela.

"The government should go back to the drawing board and reconsider the thing afresh in light of this judgement."

- ICC under threat? -

After the election of President Adama Barrow, The Gambia's new government in February asked the UN to halt its process of withdrawal from the ICC.

Burundi has registered to leave, while Kenya is considering the move.

Currently nine out of the ICC's 10 investigations concern African countries, the other being Georgia.

However experts point out that many of the current investigations -- in the Central African Republic, Uganda, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- were referred to the ICC by the governments of those states.

Bashir has evaded arrest since his ICC indictment in 2009 for alleged war crimes in Sudan's Darfur conflict in which 300,000 people were killed and two million forced to flee their homes.

South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal accused the government of "disgraceful conduct" over Bashir's visit and ruled that the failure to arrest the Sudanese leader was unlawful.

The ICC was set up in 2002 in The Hague as a court of last resort to try the world's worst crimes where national courts are unable or unwilling to act.

The court is unable to carry out investigations in countries which have not ratified its founding Rome Statute, unless the United Nations refers a case for investigation.

Will AU members really withdraw from the ICC?

African Union (AU) leaders have backed a strategy for a collective withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). But it seems that many countries have reservations and that very little will change for now.

Deutsche Welle, 1 February 2017

The news of the adopted AU strategy to withdraw from the Hague based court, came as more of a footnote of the AU summit. There were no big announcements but an AU official who asked not to be identified told the Reuters new agency that "the leaders of AU member states endorsed the strategy of collective withdrawal, with reservations."

At a closer look, the strategy is however more of a recommendation than an actual decision to withdraw from the ICC and a treaty which established the court known as the Rome Statute. The decision is not binding and as country representatives who are in support of the ICC noted, the decision to leave the ICC is up to each individual country.

According to DW's reporter in Addis Ababa, Coletta Wanjohi, several countries which include Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania had reservations about the paper.  Other countries asked for more time to consider the withdrawal strategy.

No concrete steps to withdraw

The call by countries like Kenya, Burundi and South Africa to withdraw from the ICC is, however, not new. The "withdrawal strategy" was initially tabled by Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta a year ago. Until 2014, Kenyatta and his vice president William Ruto were themselves accused of instigating war crimes during the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya. The proposed strategy was then discussed by AU foreign ministers, who wanted to bring their grievances to the UN Security Council. Many African countries are of the opinion that the court is unfairly targeting them.

Cape Verde is one of the countries which 

wants to remain in the Rome Statute

"What happened in Addis Ababa is unprecedented" said Allan Ngari an expert on international crime with the Intstitute for Security Studies in Pretoria. "That a regional body would adopt a decision to withdraw from an international instrument." Ngari however noted that the AU itself is not party to the Rome Statute and it remains up to individual states to decide whether they want to remain within the statute or leave it.

Ngari moreover explained that even the countries which have said that they will leave the ICC and the Rome Statute have so far failed to take any concrete measures to do so. "Kenya introduced a bill in its national parliament to repeal that act that domesticated the Rome Statute," Ngari explained.  The bill, he explained, however, was not passed and expired in January 2017.

Similarly South Africa has proposed several amendments to the Rome Statute. The country was heavily criticized for its failure to cooperate with the court and detain Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir during his visit South Africa in 2015. "If you want to amend the Rome Statute, you must be a party to the Rome Statute," explained Ngari. There are processes to change the treaty from the inside and this is what South Africa and other AU members are doing.

Last year, The Gambia also threatened to leave the ICC. Under the new President Adama Barrow, the country might however review this decision.

Strengthening African justice systems

Whether African countries will follow the recommendations of the strategy paper or not, a handful are still adamant that they will withdraw if nothing changes. "We believe that it needs to improve its working methods. It has been in place for 12 years and it has had three or four convictions," argued Sam Kutesa, Uganda's foreign affairs minister. "It spends $ 180 million (167 million euros) per annum. This is totally incompetent," he added.

Sudan's Secretary of Economics and Development, Hussain Karshaoum, also argued that instead of sticking with the ICC, African countries should instead strengthen their own justice systems. "You have to strengthen the African Courtof Justice and to call for every African state to ratify it as a last resort. The second thing is to strengthen the judicial system at the domestic level," he said.

The outgoing vice chairperson of the AU Commission Erastus Mwencha said what African countries really want is a level playing field. "What happens at the ICC should apply throughout the world and African leaders have said we are ready to sit down and see how we can reform it."

The foreign affairs ministers had planned to discuss a possible reform of the ICC and amendments to the Rome Statute with the UN Security Council. The ministers however said that officials who were sent to the meeting were not senior enough to discuss the proposed changes.