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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?”
My point of departure is an emphatic objection to South Africa's withdrawal as a State Party, however, I have grave difficulties with some of the arguments advanced. South Africa opted, when it could have gone the Nuremberg route, for reconciliation and the Truth & Reconciliation Commission arguably barely scraped the surface. This essentially meant that many who committed atrocities against the black majority got away with murder (and indeed much more). The second point I need to make is that it is quite dangerous to assert (albeit reference is made to an article in the Economist), that our judiciary is somehow involved in a process which would suggest a blurring of the separation of powers doctrine. It might be semantics but the suggestion that the 'Supreme Court' is putting or has put an end to President Zuma's 'authoritarianism' is somewhat hyperbolic. I venture to say that so strong is our democracy & respect for the rule of law that not even the President escapes scrutiny by Chapter 9 institutions. Our domestic courts are there to interpret & apply the law & to measure law and conduct against Constitutional prescripts. They have no role to play in the political landscape at all. Thirdly, I'm in agreement that the Omar Al Bashir matter was approached incorrectly but closer scrutiny would reveal that the reasons advanced by the South African government for allowing President Omar Al Bashir to set foot on South African soil was influenced by an incorrect understanding and interpretation of the law. If South Africa had an open-door, read defiant, policy, then President Al Bashir would've attended the inauguration of President Zuma as well as the 2010 World Cup. However, Al Bashir was advised on both occasions that he would be arrested. It is interesting that nothing is mentioned in this discussion about Russia and its notice to the UN to the effect that it has no intention of becoming a State Party. The discretionary prosecutorial model of the ICC has become the bush behind which parties seek to hide. It is so easy in such articles to refer to the likes of President Zuma as corrupt yet the same kind of candor would be missing in the case of superpowers. Context is of critical importance, if we want to see the ICC functioning.