West African Nations Exit ICC
(MENAFN) Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have declared their departure from the International Criminal Court (ICC), criticizing the The Hague-based tribunal as a mechanism of imperialist “neocolonial repression.”
The three West African nations announced on Monday that their decision, intended to “fully assert” their sovereignty, is effective immediately.
Bamako, Niamey, and Ouagadougou had ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC in 2000, 2002, and 2004, respectively.
In a collective declaration issued under the Confederation of Sahel States (AES), Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger noted that they had cooperated with the court since becoming members, but argued it has revealed itself as a “global example of selective justice.”
“The ICC has proven itself incapable of handling and prosecuting proven war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide, and crimes of aggression,” the AES asserted.
The countries further accused the tribunal of maintaining “an inexplicable, disconcerting, and complacent silence” regarding certain offenses, while “relentlessly” pursuing actors “outside the closed circle of beneficiaries of institutionalized international impunity.”
In recent years, the court has faced scrutiny for allegedly protecting individuals from influential nations while largely targeting figures from Asia and Africa.
In March, international relations specialist Ali Hammoud told a news agency that the ICC lost its legitimacy by advancing the political interests of specific powers.
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