Yesterday Friday the 21st of October 2016, South Africa announced that it will withdraw from the
International Criminal Court, this has sent a troubling wind to the institution set up to the world’s worst crimes.
The decision was a result of a dispute that started last year when Sudanese President
Omar al-Bashir visited South Africa for an African Union summit despite
facing an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes. South Africa refused to arrest him, saying he had immunity as a head of state.
South Africa's Justice minister Michael Masutha in Pretoria had told reporters that the
ICC was “inhibiting South Africa’s ability to honour its obligations
relating to the granting of diplomatic immunity”. He added that “There is a view in Africa that the ICC in choosing who to prosecute
has seemingly preferred to target leaders in Africa.”
Many have been reacting to South Africa's withdrawal. Human rights watch said in a statement that the withdrawal “shows startling disregard for justice from a country
long seen as a global leader,”
While Amnesty International said South Africa was “betraying millions of
victims of the gravest human rights violations and undermining the
international justice system”. The US also said it was “concerned” by Pretoria’s decision. “We do think that the ICC has made valuable contributions in the
service of accountability in a number of situations and we hope that
other governments would share that,” State Department spokesman John
Kirby told reporters.
