Three African nations in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have announced they will immediately withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling it an “instrument of neo-colonialist repression”.
These three countries in the Sahel issued a joint statement, revealing that they would not recognise the authority of the United Nations‘ top court, based in The Hague.
“The ICC has proven itself incapable of handling and prosecuting proven war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide, and crimes of aggression,” said the three leaders.
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The court is yet to respond to the decision by the three nations, all of which have close ties to Russia, whose leader, Vladimir Putin, has been subject to an ICC arrest warrant.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger made it clear they wanted to set up “indigenous mechanisms for the consolidation of peace and justice”.
These Sahel states accused the ICC of targeting underprivileged countries, echoing criticism from Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, who has previously accused the ICC of holding an anti-African bias.
In 2002, the ICC was set up to legally pursue cases of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression.
Since it began, 33 cases have been launched, with all but one involving an African country. When a nation steps back from the ICC, it officially takes effect one year after the UN is notified.
Military junta forces have been in control of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, after coups in the Sahel nations between 2020 and 2023.
They make up the three only members of the Confederation of Sahel States.
The armies of these nations have faced accusations of crimes against civilians, as levels of violence have exacerbated in the region against jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Also, all three countries simultaneously withdrew from the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), as they had rejected Ecowas’ demands for them to restore democratic rule.
In recent years, Russia has strengthened its ties with the three Sahel nations, all of which have become increasingly isolated from the West, notably the former regional colonial power, France.
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Back in 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
