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African Union: Hague selectively prosecutes African leaders
by Joseph Earnest October 11, 2013
Newscast Media NAIROBI—African leaders have accused The Hague of targeting the continent in prosecutions. A summit comes as tensions mount between the International Criminal Court and the African Union. Leaders of several nations in the 54-member AU have accused The Hague of singling out Africans, and demanded that the ICC - the world's first permanent court to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity - drop proceedings against Kenya's leadership.
"The manner in which the court has been operating, particularly its unfair treatment of Africa and Africans, leaves much to be desired," Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chairman of the AU's executive council, told delegates at the opening of a two-day summit called to consider the union's cooperation with The Hague as well as to elect a new peace and security commissioner for the bloc.
"Far from promoting justice and reconciliation ... the court has transformed itself into a political instrument," he added. "This unfair and unjust treatment is totally unacceptable."
African countries account for 34 of the 122 parties to the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding treaty, which took effect on July 1, 2002. A mass pullout from the court, which some countries have demanded, could seriously damage the institution.
Africans stand trial in all eight cases currently before the ICC. However, the countries themselves have referred four of those cases to The Hague - including those involving Kenya. The ICC has charged Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto, as well as former radio boss Joshua Arap Sang, with crimes against humanity linked to post-election violence in 2007-2008 that left at least 1,100 dead and more than 600,000 homeless.
The trial of Ruto and Sang has already begun, and proceedings against Kenyatta should start on November 12. The accused have so far pledged to cooperate with the court, but tensions have mounted amid accusations of witness intimidation in Kenya and counter-complaints against the ICC that the court's inflexibility has hampered the running of the country. Add Comments>>
Source: Radio Deutsche Welle
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