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- muma2018: The International Criminal Court should not Respond Politically to South Africa’s Declaration of Intent to Withdraw from the Court If the International Criminal Court responds politically and negotiates with South Africa on the obligation to arrest, the Court will further threaten its credibility and set a negative precedent of political negotiations. In the past few weeks three countries have declared their intent to withdraw from the... (more)
- magli: Do African ICC Parties Wish to Withdraw from the ICC? Let Them Leave! The purported withdrawal of a small number of African states from the ICC has created a rather unacceptably high degree of hype, which obscures the undeniable positive developments that the international criminal justice has achieved. International criminal justice is a project, which, for better or for worse, has been principally... (more)
- kbanafshe: What are the Consequences of Withdrawing from the International Criminal Court? In the past decade millions of African lives have been lost; this is due to a series of gross genocidal campaigns and humanitarian crimes that have swiftly taken place across the nation. The integral role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is to administer justice, punish perpetrators of crimes and deter future atrocities from taking place. That being said a number of critics... (more)
- isaac.brown: The Registry Should Focus Outreach Efforts on States Parties at Risk for Withdrawal from the Rome Statute The Assembly of States Parties should provide more funding to the Registry for its outreach function. The registry should expand its operations beyond situation states to states parties seen as a risk for withdrawal. This outreach strategy should focus on States where the governments are sufficiently democratically accountable for public... (more)
- Katelyn_Rowe: The ICC Should Investigate More Non-African Countries to Dissuade Other African Withdrawals Summary In order to dissuade additional African countries from withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, the Office of the Prosecutor should open more investigations in non-African countries, particularly Colombia, because this may counter the current geopolitical bias narrative that Burundi has used to justify its... (more)
- Shirin.Tavakoli: Traditional Justice Mechanisms Can Satisfy Complementarity Summary The recent decision by the governments of South Africa, Brundi, and Gambia to leave the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”) has created various reactions from the international community. One main reason that these countries’ notice to withdraw is significant is the fear that other African nations will soon follow their footsteps and... (more)
- emrenslo: Sanctions as a Penalty for Withdrawing from the ICC Summary Targeted sanctions should be imposed by states parties of the ICC on the leaders of Burundi and Gambia, and not ruled out against South Africa, as a result of these countries announcing their intent to withdraw from the ICC. Argument In recent weeks, the governments of the Republic of Burundi, the... (more)
- Mehrunisa Ranjh: Diplomacy as a Response to ICC Withdrawals Summary The International Criminal Court (ICC) should deploy a strategy of radical diplomacy in response to the recent withdrawal from the court of South Africa, Burundi, and the Gambia, before taking any action that could potentially compromise the integrity, independence, or enforcement power of the court. Argument South Africa, Burundi, and the... (more)
- taylmer: From what I have noticed, African nations are seeing crimes against humanity being committed by Western countries, with little being done to show accountability. African nations believe they are being targeted, and by many accounts that's exactly what has happened. African nations appear easy to target. Western nations appear much harder, due to their legal systems still being intact. One example is that of Australia. Asylum seekers and refugees are being tortured in detention centres, with... (more)
- Terminusbound: I Support the Withdrawal. The logic that underpins the African states decision to withdraw from the ICC is not that the ICC is a racist institution. The Logic addresses the basic problem that the ICC is a impotent outside of the context of third world states. It is not that the ICC only wants to prosecute Africans, it is that the ICC can only prosecute Africans. The ICC has no power to prosecute living European war criminals or American war criminals. The ICC has no power to prosecute living... (more)
Comment on the Withdrawal Question: “In recent weeks, the governments of the Republic of Burundi, the Republic of South Africa, and the Islamic Republic of the Gambia have announced their intention to withdraw from the ICC. How will this affect the emerging system of international criminal justice in the short and long term? What steps might be taken to strengthen that project?”
I agree with you and would like to add the following:
It is true that the ICC needs some reforms so that member states of the Rome statue can begin to see each other as equal partners and feel responsible for the running of the ICC. The ICC contains seeds of its own destruction but they are curable, for instance articles 13(b) and 16 of the (Rome) ICC statue gives special powers to the Security Council to refer or defer an ICC prosecution. Like where China and Russia vetoed the security resolution to refer the Syrian war to ICC for crimes against humanity. If we try to analogize this in the light of the rule of law at domestic jurisdiction level, of several states; one of the very core foundations of judicial justice is the independence of the judiciary. Can we really say that the ICC is independent, the answer is definitely no!
The ICC needs several reforms, to start with it needs to address the following matters:
• The independence of the Court from the influence of the 5 permanent members of the security council
• The involvement of the African parties on the choice of cases that should be prosecuted by the ICC
• Free from political interference
• Only state parties should have a voice on the ICC matters nonmembers like the USA should stay away
I hope this is fixed as soon as possible because the exodus of African states from the ICC mainly affects the ordinary African citizens. They will be the big losers should we fail to find hold things together.