Exit from ICC not caused by bias – minister
JUSTICE Minister Michael Masutha says South Africa’s exit from the International Criminal Court (ICC) was prompted less by perceived bias and more by “the legal difficulties primarily that we experienced in dealing with the court”.
He was participating in a debate on the programme The Stream on Al Jazeera.
Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was used as an example during the debate. The ICC has issued two warrants for his arrest. Last year‚ when al-Bashir visited South Africa for the African Union Summit‚ the High Court ruled that he should not be allowed to leave the country until an application calling for his arrest had been heard.
Al-Bashir left anyway‚ but earlier this year the supreme court upheld the high court ruling‚ dismissing the South African government’s claim that all delegates attending the AU summit were subject to diplomatic immunity.
“We were under the erroneous impression that the statute read as a whole was complementary rather than having elements of contradiction. Our ability to engage in diplomatic relations is being limited by this continued legal uncertainty,” Masutha said.” Lawyer Angela Mudukuti disagreed. She said: “It’s one thing to talk about discrepancies at the ICC, but if you look at domestic framework and what the courts have said‚ it’s clear . . . South Africa not only signed and ratified the Rome Statute but domesticated it . . . making it domestic law in this country.”
Daily Maverick contributor Saul Musker criticised the exit strategy and the lack of an attempt to “resolve that problem from within the system”.
“This decision is effectively throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”
But Masutha said South Africa had tried to change the ICC from within first.