Republic of Congo: Coalition parties urge gov’t to quit ICC

ICC bias against Africans

Two parties in the Republic of Congo’s ruling coalition petitioned the government late on Thursday to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), a move that threatens to deal a fresh blow to the tribunal in The Hague.

African states have long complained of ICC bias against Africans. Last month, Burundi and South Africa became the first countries to officially notify the United Nations of their intention to pull out of the Rome Statute, the 1998 treaty establishing the ICC.

Gambia also said last month that it would withdraw, accusing the court of ignoring the war crimes of Western nations and seeking only to prosecute Africans.

The two Congolese parties, the Patriotic Front and the 2020 Awakening Movement, led a protest march of about 300 people in the capital Brazzaville, where they argued that court membership was incompatible with a provision in Congo’s constitution that forbids extradition to “a foreign power or organization”.

“This measure in our constitution contradicts the operational mode of the ICC, which aims to ask signatory countries to hand over their citizens for whatever reason,” Paolo Benaza, the spokesman for the Patriotic Front, told reporters.

The parties delivered a memorandum to Justice Minister Pierre Mabiala, who said he would study the proposal before making a recommendation to the government.

The ICC opened in July 2002 and has 124 member states. It is the first legal body with permanent international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Source: Reuters