The military-led West African nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger
has announced their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court,
ICC, branding it a neo-colonial imperialist tool.
The juntas which took over in Bamako, Ouagadougou and Niamey
after coups between 2020 and 2023 have since allied themselves in a
confederation called the Alliance of Sahel States and distanced
themselves from the West.
The three countries said in a joint statement that the court, based in The
Hague, is an instrument of repression in the hands of imperialism.
They noted that ICC has proven itself incapable of handling and
prosecuting proven war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of
genocide, and crimes of aggression.
According to them, they want to create indigenous mechanisms for the
consolidation of peace and justice.
A state’s withdrawal only takes effect one year after the official
submission of the case to the United Nations General Secretariat.
Founded in 2002, the International Criminal Court’s mission is to
prosecute the perpetrators of the most serious crimes, such as war
crimes, when countries lack the will or capacity to do so themselves.
