Attempts by African leaders to
secure immunity from prosecution in the International Criminal Court (ICC) have
been slammed as nothing more than an attempt to protect a handful of the
continent's most powerful people.
The proposal was put forward
during a special summit called by the African Union (AU), to discuss the
continent's continued relationship with the Hague based court. This is amid
heightened tensions between the court and particularly Kenya, with that
nation's President and Deputy President both being charged by the ICC with
crimes against humanity.
Several nations in the 54-member
AU have accused the ICC of bias against Africa, and have demanded that the
court drop its cases against Kenya's leadership. African states have also
repeatedly ignored ICC orders to hand over the indicted Sudanese leader Omar
al-Bashir, who is wanted by the ICC for genocide and war crimes in Darfur.
The most recent African state to
support calls for a mass withdrawal from the ICC is Zimbabwe, with Justice
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa saying last week that Africans must "stand up
and stamp their authority" against the court.
Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201310150089.html
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