Difficult to Create But Easy to Reject: The Case of ICC Rejection by the AU
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Abstract
Even though the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was greatly welcomed by African states, the prosecution of mostly African state officials by the Court since its creation has sparked animosity between the ICC and the African Union (AU), leading to the rejection of the Court’s perceived bias activities in the Africa continent. While it is legally justifiable for the Prosecutor of the ICC to prosecute African state officials, partly because the Court has jurisdiction to entertain crimes committed by African state officials and also because 33 states in Africa have ratified the Rome Statute, it is legitimately inappropriate for the Prosecutor of the ICC to prosecute mostly African state officials given the fact that the ICC has jurisdiction to entertain similar crimes committed in other continents of the world. Accordingly, not all cases and situation prosecuted by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the ICC that are legally justifiable are legitimate. After discussing the creation of the ICC, this article will examine whether it was legally and legitimately justifiable for the Prosecutor of the ICC to target mostly African state officials for almost two decades and whether the creation of the African Criminal Court (ACC) is the African panacea as a consequence of the alleged bias between the ICC and the AU regarding the prosecution of African state officials.
Article Details
How to Cite
Paul S. Masumbe. (2023). Difficult to Create But Easy to Reject: The Case of ICC Rejection by the AU. Polit Journal Scientific Journal of Politics, 3(2), 56-66. https://doi.org/10.33258/polit.v3i2.882
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References
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Abebe, ZB. (2017). The African Court with a Criminal Jurisdiction and the ICC: A Case for Overlapping Jurisdiction. African Journal of International and Comparative, 25, 418.
Achaleke Taku, CC. (2016). International Politics and Policy Considerations for the Inappropriate Targeting of Africa by the ICC OTP’ in RH Steinberg (ed) Contemporary Issues Facing the International Criminal Court (Leiden Brill Njihoff 2016) 338-349.
Akande, D. (2018). The Immunity of heads of States of Nonparties in the Early Years of the IC. 112 AJIL Unbound, 112, 172-176.
Akhavan, P. (2001). Beyond Impunity: Can International Criminal Justice Prevent Future Atrocities? AJIL 95, 27.
Atkinson, LR. (2011). Knights of the Court: The State Coalition behind the International Criminal Court. Journal of International Law and International Relations, 7, 77.
Annika, J. (2018). Judicial Cross-Referencing and the Identity of the International Criminal Court. 43 North Carolina Journal of International Law, 43, 72-129.
Bachmann, SDD. & EL Nwibo, EL. (2018). Pull and Push-Implementing the Complementary Principles of the Rome Statute of the ICC with the African Union: Opportunities and Challenges. 43 Brook. Journal of International Law, 43, 523.
Bachmann, SD. & Abdelkader, Y. (2018). Reconciling Quasi-States with the Crime of Aggression under the ICC Statute. Emory International Law Review, 33, 97.
Bassiouni, MC. (1999). Negotiating the Treaty of Rome on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court. Cornell International Law Journal, 32, 443-469.
Bassiouni, MC. & D Hansen, D. (2016). The Inevitable Practice of the Office of the Prosecutor in RH Steinberg (ed) Contemporary Issues Facing the International Criminal Court (Leiden Brill Njihoff 2016) 3 309-325.
Black Law free online dictionary, https://www.freelawdictionary.org/legality, accessed 23 March 23, 2023.
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Cassese, A. (2012) The Legitimacy of International Criminal Tribunals and the Current Prospects of International Criminal Justice. Leiden Journal of International Law, 25, 491-501.
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DeGuzman, MM. (2016). Is the ICC Targeting Inappropriately? A Moral, Legal and Sociological Assessment’ in RH Steinberg (ed) Contemporary Issues Facing the International Criminal Court (Leiden Brill Njihoff 2016) 333-337.
Democratic Republic of Congo v. Belgium, ICJ 14 February 2002 (N0.121) 58.
Decision on Africa’s Relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC), (2015) AJICJ, 90-91, (paragraphs 10(iv) indicates the intention to expand the mandate of the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights (AFCHPR) with a criminal chamber to try crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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General Assembly Resolution 49/53, United Nations General Assembly Records Supplement 49th Session (1994) No 49 UN. Doc. /49/49) 239.
General Assembly Resolution (GA Res.) 44/39, (1989) UN GAOR, 44th session, Supplement. No 49 UN Doc./44/49) 311.
Hansen, TO. & Mue, N. (2018). The Nairobi Principles on Accountability as a Means of Monitoring and Enforcing the Rule of Law and Accountability for International Crimes in Africa. African Human Rights Journal, Vol.18, 422.
Letter from Trinidad and Tobago representatives to the United Nations Secretary General, UN GAOR, 44th Sessions (1989) Annex 44, Agenda Item 152, UN. Doc .A/44/195.
Murungu, CB. (2011). Toward a Criminal Chamber in the African Court of Justice and Human Rights. JICJ, 9, 1069-1073.
Peake, J. (2016) The Institutional Framework of the Office of the Prosecutor, Legitimacy, and Overcoming Bias Allegations in Steinberg RH (ed) Contemporary Issues Facing the International Criminal Court (Leiden Brill Njihoff 2016) 351-365.
Pkalya, DR. & Maragia, B. (2016). The International Criminal Court and Africa. Africa Journal of International Criminal Justice, 6-7.
Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its forty-six session (1994) United Nations General Assembly Records Supplement UN Doc .A/49/10) 44.
Scheffer, DJ. (1999). The United States and the International Criminal Court. The American Journal of International Law, 93, 12- 22.
Report of the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, (1998).
Teja-Cole, A. (2016) Is the ICC’s Exclusively African Case Docket a Legitimate and Appropriate Intervention or an Unfair Targeting of Africans’ in RH Steinberg (ed.) Contemporary Issues Facing the International Criminal Court (Leiden Brill Njihoff 2016) 366-379.
Situations Under Investigation, https://www.icc-cpi,int/pages/situation.aspx , accessed 21 March 212023,
Situation in Cote d’Ivoire, https://www.icc-cpi.int/cdi, accessed March 21, 2023.
Report on the Committee of Eminent African Jurist on the case of Hissene Habre, presented to the Summit of the African Union in July 2006, available at: htpp://www.hrw.org/justice/habre/CEJA_Repor0506.pdf, accessed 22 February, 2023.
Ssekandi, F. & Tesfay, N. (2017). ‘Engendered Discontent: The International Criminal Court in Africa. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 18, 77.
Protocol on Amendment to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, adopted on 27 June 2014 (204 Malabo1 Protocol);
Tladi, D. (2015). The Immunity Provision in the AU Amendment Protocol. JICJ Vol.13, 3-17.
UNGA Resolution on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, (1996). GA Res.51/207, and UN. Doc. A/51/627.
Yigzaw, DA. (2018). The International Criminal Court: Biased against Africa or Weak towards the Powerful. North Carolina Journal of International Law, 43(3), 204-239.