South Africa pulls out of ‘unfair’ war crimes court

SOUTH Africa is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, claiming the war crimes tribunal unfairly targets Africans.

It became the second nation to tell the United Nations it will pull out, following Burundi, whose president Pierre Nkurunziza is accused of murdering scores of opponents.

South Africa said that while it remained determined to tackle the continent’s dictators and warlords, the ICC’s interpretation of its duties was sometimes incompatible with the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

It accused the ICC of focusing on Africa despite ‘clear evidence of violations by others’. The move has outraged opposition parties and campaign groups. There are fears other African nations, such as Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, may follow.

The ICC was set up in July 2002 to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It has 124 members. All four of those to have been convicted by the court in The Hague are Africans, as are all 32 who have been indicted. Attempts to refer other nations, including Syria, to the court have been blocked by UN Security Council members Russia, China and the US. A separate UN tribunal is dealing with war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.