Military-run Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announce joint ICC withdrawal

The 3 West African countries accidental they are leaving the International Criminal Court to question ‘sovereignty’.

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, 3 nations successful West Africa tally by subject governments aft coups successful caller years, person announced their exit from the International Criminal Court (ICC), referring to it arsenic “neocolonial repression” and accusing the judicial assemblage of selective justice.

In a associated connection connected Monday night, the 3 countries said the ICC had go incapable of prosecuting warfare crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and genocide without elaborating.

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“[The ICC is an] instrumentality of neocolonial repression successful the hands of imperialism,” the associated connection read, adding that the countries were seeking much “sovereignty”.

The 3 states added that they wanted to make “indigenous mechanisms for the consolidation of bid and justice”.

The 3 countries, which are ruled by subject officers, person already near the Economic Community of West African States and alternatively formed their ain bloc known arsenic the Alliance of Sahel States.

Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali person besides rolled backmost defence practice with Western powers, astir notably their erstwhile assemblage ruler, France, and opted for person ties with Russia.

The countries’ withdrawal from the ICC was not unexpected aft the coups that brought the subject to powerfulness successful the 3 states from 2020 to 2023.

Within the 3 countries, the subject governments are warring equipped groups linked to al-Qaeda that power territory and person staged attacks connected service posts.

Human Rights Watch and different advocacy groups person accused the fighters, the subject and spouse forces of Burkina Faso and Mali of imaginable atrocities.

United Nations experts said successful April that the alleged summary executions of respective twelve civilians by Malian forces mightiness magnitude to warfare crimes.

Moreover, the ICC has had an probe unfastened successful Mali since 2013 implicit alleged warfare crimes committed successful the bluish regions of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal, which had fallen nether the power of equipped groups.

Withdrawal from the ICC takes effect 1 twelvemonth aft the determination is submitted to the UN General Secretariat.