Road to Ethiopia: International Criminal Court versus Countries in Africa

It is high time Africa and Africans started taking their destinies in their hands. Since the creation of the International Criminal Court, its level of jumping into African affairs have skyrocketed, almost like the speed of light whenever any event is going on in Africa. If the invasion of Afghanistan is for self-defence, how about the 2003 invasion of Iraq? As at then, the Rome statute has been in place. If Britain and the US are not signatories; hence Tony Blair and George Bush can walk freely, Sudan too is not a signatory. So, why the noise on Omar al Bashar?

Going by the confession of Charles Taylor and and the declassified CIA document of him being a CIA agent, one then will be forced to question the kind of brains Africans tend to possess in the age of massive innovative advancements. Even if CIA had used Taylor and now apparently want to discard the monster after helping him out of jail and allowed him commit crimes that can only be equated with those of the colonial eras against his own people, is Taylor a robot without natural reasoning abilities? Why are African leaders so inhumanly destructive because of being stooges to some external elements as well as personal ego and financial aggrandizement?

Those sending weapons down to Africa; both to governments, terrorists, militants and rebels are also those in control of peacekeepers and other 'justice' systems. They determine who is bad or good for Africa and Africans using their stooges and proteges in Africa. Although impunity is really centrally the problem in Africa; the rapaciously destructive capacities of the leaders need to be checked but must be by the people themselves if genuine development is to be achieved not by the external powers who killed those who wanted to fix Africa and put it on track like Steve Bantu Biko, Patrice Lumumba among others.

African leaders are to debate the continent's romance game with the International Criminal Court at a special summit on 11 October amid growing opposition to the tribunal. The African Union consisting of 54 African nations has accused The Hague-based ICC of singling out Africans for prosecution and has previously called for the court to drop crimes against humanity trials of Kenya's leadership. President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto are facing charges on crimes against humanity.

Kenyatta and Ruto, as well as former radio boss Joshua Arap Sang, face crimes against humanity charges for their alleged roles in orchestrating ethnic violence after disputed 2007 elections. The violence left at least 1,100 dead and more than 600 000 homeless. Despite appeals for them to be tried in Kenya, the ICC refused. Last month, Kenyan lawmakers voted on a motion to withdraw recognition of the court's jurisdiction. The ICC has also made it resoundingly clear that any move by the AU to leave will have no effect on the current trials.

If the AU decides to leave, pulling out will be a lengthy process that must be done by nations on an individual basis and this will likely jettison the move because some countries like Nigeria are comfortable. Nigeria has always been an headache to any African solidarity ab initio. It was used to spearhead the Monrovia cravings that killed any radical move to end imperialism in the 60s. This delayed the must needed and desired unity in Africa; hence, the OAU was formed rather than an AU backed by an African High Command which could have prevented most of the destructive wars Africa experienced after the colonialists left, leaving their brainwashed Africans with occidental minds to continue the tales of woes, bloodshed and throes.

The AU member states collectively accused the ICC in May of going after as well as hunting Africans. The trial of Ruto and Sang is already under way, and Kenyatta's trial is set to begin in November. The three pledged their co-operation with the court and maintain their innocence. The ICC maintains that it is not targeting Africa as a continent, pointing out that many of the cases under investigation in Africa were referred to the court by the countries themselves.

The court was founded primarily to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The African diplomats are expected to discuss a possible united pullout from the ICC. African countries account for 34 of the 122 parties to have ratified the Rome Statute, the court's founding treaty, which took effect on July 1, 2002. Mwencha, a Kenyan said the cases of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto were not specifically earmarked for discussion, saying only that the "agenda is very broad".

African countries with the pan-African bloc act appallingly when it comes to being parties and signatories to treaties in the world. They hardly put forward the national interests of their countries, that is if many of the leaders understand what national interest is and its valued functions in world affairs anyway. The Nyerere formula ought to be followed strictly in which African nations will separate the grain from the chaff in treaties especially multilateral ones; pick the ones that are best and opt out or discard the imperialist and colonial-inclined ones. African leaders are the real albatross of the continent by failing to set and observe people-oriented priorities as well as implement policies towards the advancement of the continent.

Amnesty International Calls for the Trial of Gaddafi's Son by ICC; AU to Debate Member States Pull-out

Again the cry is on Africa. After the deposition of Maummar Gaddafi and the turning of Libya into a 'beggar nation' those who never believed anything good can come out of Africa are calling again for the transfer of erstwhile figures of the Gaddafi regime to the Hague for trial. The Kenyan deputy President, William Ruto is currently facing trial at the Hague over the post-election violence of 2007. He is the first serving official to stand trial at the Hague. Uhuru Kenyatta, the Kenyan President is to begin his own trial in October.

Kenya's spokesman for the presidency Manoah Esipisu said the country had not canvassed for the coming AU summit on October 13, but "welcomed the opportunity by African leaders to discuss what is obviously an important matter for the continent". Kenya's Parliament has passed the resolution endorsing the withdrawal of the country as a signatory to the Rome Statute.

"The Kenyans have been criss-crossing Africa in search of support for their cause, even before their parliament voted to withdraw from the ICC," an AU official told Reuters. "An extraordinary summit will now take place to discuss the issue. A complete walk-out of signatories (to the Rome Statute) is certainly a possibility, but other requests maybe made." The summit would be preceded by a meeting of African foreign ministers a day earlier, he said.

Questions continuously have been asked on the real target and mission of the ICC owing to the fact that George Bush and Tony Blair were never even called into question over their involvement in the Iraqi massacre not to talk being indicted by the body. It is always easy pointing to Africa by ICC than to Syria, Britain and the United States because the powers are present there.

Amnesty International called on Libyan authorities to hand over Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, second son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and former intelligence chief Abdallah Senussi to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Both are wanted for crimes against humanity. Amnesty met with both detainees last week ahead of the referral of their cases to the Indictment Chamber in Tripoli on September 19.

However, Libya insists they be put on trial inside the country. “The referral of these cases to the Indictment Chamber brings us one step closer to the start of national trial proceedings for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, in violation of Libya’s legal obligation to surrender him to the ICC,” Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Hassiba Hadj Sahrahoui, said. In 2012, the ICC charged Saif al-Islam with crimes against humanity during the revolution that toppled his father the year prior. The court also ruled that he be extradited to The Hague.

The perceived selective justice of the ICC is making it lose all credibility if it ever has any in the face of many reasonable African nations. The next AU summit will discuss the revocation of the acceptance of the statute by African states in solidarity with Kenya. No one doubts the fact that impunity of African leaders and their gluttonous acts for bloodshed and wanton desire for destruction all because of greed and avaricious tendencies must be checkmated but it is about time Africans take their destiny in their hands than rely on those who brought the continent to this state since 1443.