ICC chief hits out at SA over Bashir

invite or not to invite. We are always trying to work within the legal framework, thus when someone is wanted by the ICC, member states have to arrest them,” Bensouda said.

She was responding to journalists’ questions on Thursday, on the sidelines of a high-level summit organised by the government of Botswana, on the position of the ICC regarding the recent controversy surrounding Bashir’s escape from South Africa.

Bensouda would not comment further on the matter since it is before ICC judges and South African courts.

But she said she could not understand why African leaders were now saying the ICC was targeting them, especially since they had signed up voluntarily.

Africans were also benefiting from the court’s processes in prosecuting suspected perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes, she said, adding more than 100 000 African victims were benefiting from ICC processes in different cases.

“I think we should be thinking about justice for the victims and not looking for ways in which we shield alleged perpetrators from justice,” she said.

Many Africans had asked the ICC to intervene in conflicts that local courts had failed to resolve.

In some instances, the ICC would intervene at the request of the UN Security Council, as it had done in Libya and Darfur.

She declined to comment on recent reports that South Africa was considering pulling out of the ICC.