Burundians cheer court withdrawal

THOUSANDS of Burundians on Saturday answered the government’s call to celebrate the country’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, cheering the day using slogans such as “bye bye, ICC”.

Burundi on Friday became the first ever nation to leave the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal.

Burundi mediator Edouard Nduwimana Nduwimana branded the ICC “arrogant”, saying the tribunal was “contemptuous towards us”.

Activists have mourned what was seen as a major blow to international justice, with Lambert Nigarura, president of the Burundi Coalition for the ICC, saying that Bujumbura’s decision to withdraw came “at a time when the machine continues to kill with impunity in Burundi”.

ICC officials said on Friday, however, that a preliminary probe launched by the prosecutor in April 2016 into possible crimes against humanity in the central African nation would continue.

The probe, started by ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, was initiated after reports of “killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as cases of enforced disappearances” in the country.

The reports came amid a violent political crisis triggered when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for a third term in office, winning July 2015 elections, which were boycotted by the opposition.