Paradoxically, while the recent spate of withdrawals from the ICC further highlights the difficulties of having a truly international criminal justice project—which we already knew when the USA, China and Russia failed to sign up—it is, in key respects, an indicator of recent ICC successes. The withdrawals suggest that the ICC is becoming increasingly credible and successful in destabilizing and disturbing not just the fog of impunity but also the quagmire of patriarchal gender relations.
When Gambia joined Burundi and South Africa in announcing its intention to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) two obvious interpretations sprang to mind. Either such withdrawals might indicate a pre-emptive “quit before they get hit” maneuver, tantamount to an admission of guilt before even being charged for past crimes, or, alternatively, they represent a simple tactic by the failing leaders of failing states to divert attention from present poor governance (former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s attempt to forget his own promise to honour the outcome of presidential elections being a useful example). A third and more intriguing explanation is that they represent male flight from a rare instance of achieved gender equality in the form of the current Chief Prosecutor of the ICC.
