Gambia follows Burundi and South Africa in withdrawing from ICC

Mass pullout anticipated from the ICC anticipated, as Gambia withdraws

A 3rd African country, Gambia, says it will leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) as fears grow of a mass pullout from the troubled institution.

Gambia announced the decision on television Tuesday night, accusing the court of unfairly targeting Africa and calling it the “International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of color, especially Africans.”

The move comes after South Africa, once a strong ICC supporter, last week notified the United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General it would leave the court. Early last week, Burundi’s president signed legislation to leave the court as well.

Gambia’s decision is also striking because the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, is Gambian.

The information minister of the West African country, Sheriff Baba Bojang, said in the statement late Tuesday that the court is involved in “the persecution of Africans, and especially their leaders.”
Only Africans have been charged in the ICC cases that are ongoing or about to begin, though preliminary ICC investigations have opened elsewhere.

Under the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, signatory countries have a legal obligation to arrest anyone sought by the tribunal, but some African states have allowed people wanted by the ICC, notably Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, to visit, and some say leaders ought to be immune from prosecution.

Gambia’s information minister accused at least 30 Western countries of having committed war crimes against their citizens since the ICC was founded more than a decade ago and said none has been targeted by the court. He singled out former British prime minister Tony Blair for his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Gambia has begun the process of withdrawing from the ICC, which involves notifying the U.N. Secretary-General and takes effect a year after the notification is received, said the minister. So far, the U.N. has said it has received notification only from South Africa.

Officials with other top African critics of the court, including Uganda and Kenya, have said in recent days they have not yet decided whether to leave the ICC as well. Uganda said it will be a “hot topic” at an African Union meeting in January.

Source: Associated Press