The month of November 2016 was indeed a turbulent month for the International Criminal Court (“ICC”), as it witnessed a wave of African Countries (South Africa, Burundi and The Gambia) pulling out of the Court, with Kenya and Namibia considering withdrawal. Because November is usually when the Annual Meeting of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the ICC takes place (the governing body of the Court), the timing couldn’t have been more perfect for these African leaders to send a strong message about their dissatisfaction with the existing structure. the African Union adopted a resolution at its biannual summit in January 2017, calling on all African States to collectively withdraw from the Court.
As expected, several commentators have analysed the implications of the withdrawal of the three African states for the future of international criminal justice (at least in Africa). However, most of the commentators missed the mark in their analysis because they adopted a single narrative which utilized a Western-centric lens, demonized African leaders, overly focused on the symbolism of South Africa’s withdrawal (and then its return, based on the recent ruling of the South African High Court), and derided the African Union’s political weakness. In doing so, these critics sought to promote an overly optimistic future for the Court, exactly at a time when a little dosage of pessimism might jolt the Court back to reality.
African states’ frustrations with the Court cannot be ignored or rationalized away.
