The demand of South Africa's ruling African National Congress that the government should pull out of the International Criminal Court is defeatist, naïve and reactionary, saysProfessor John Dugard, the country's pre-eminent expert on international law. In a guest column for AllAfrica, he writes that African states have largely themselves to blame for the fact that the continent has been singled out by the ICC, and rather than withdraw they should use their political muscle to ensure that prosecutions are brought against non-African leaders. Professor Dugard currently sits as a judge ad hoc in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). More commonly known as the World Court, the ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and adjudicates on disputes between states.
Africa occupies a key position in the International Criminal Court (ICC). It is the largest regional group with 34 member states; the present prosecutor of the court is an African woman - Fatou Bensouda of The Gambia; and four of the 18 judges on the court are from Africa, including the vice president, Joyce Aluoch of Kenya. Africa is not therefore a marginal player in the ICC.
Despite this the ICC is more criticized in Africa than any other continent. In large measure this criticism comes from the leaders of non-member states, such as President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and President Omar al Bashir of Sudan, who are themselves accused of committing international crimes.
But the leaders of member states, whose judges serve or have served on the court, have given support to the criticism and condemnation of the court. Perhaps the three most vocal leaders of this group are Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Jacob Zuma of South Africa. Read more
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