DO AFRICAN STATES BENEFIT FROM THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT?

ABSTRACT

I do not share the view that the ICC is anti-African. The ICC
is not putting Africa on trial. The ICC is fighting impunity
and individuals who are accused of crimes.--Kofi Anan

INTRODUCTION

The idea of Africanism and the continuous strive for complete independence of African States in
every sphere has propelled the abandonment of concepts and international divorce scenarios
between African States and International organizations, thus the popular view that the
effectiveness of the ICC starts and ends with African victimization.

Being an international arbiter, it amounts to a hasty and unanalysed supposition to accuse the
ICC of victimising a region. Upon analysis of the situation, it appears that the ICC consistently
keeps tabs on the eye of the storm, Africa and is indeed beneficial to the continent.

THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

The need for a permanent body to try cases of international crime and a realization of the
failure of several jurisdictions to dispense justice in such cases birthed the International Criminal
Court on July, 1998 by virtue of the Rome Statute which took effect from 2002 after ratification
by Sixty (60) States. This was after interim attempts in the creation of the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR). The Court seeks global cooperation to protect all people from the crimes codified in the
Rome Statute, such as genocide, crimea of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In it's twenty (20) years existence, the court boasts of six convictions, two being high profile.
One was obtained in 2012 of the Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga sentenced to fourteen
(14) years imprisonment for war crimes in the recruitment of child soldiers and the 2014
conviction and sentence of the Congolese militia leader, Germain Katanga to 12 years
imprisonment and payment of $1 million in reparations, on four counts of war crimes for a
2003 massacre of villagers in eastern Congo. What would have been the third conviction was
that of the former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba on charges of war crimes and
crimes against humanity for atrocities committed in the Central African Republic in 2002-2003.
However, the appeals chamber of the ICC voted to overturn this decision.

THE SENTIMENTALLY UNCREDITED BENEFITS OF AFRICAN STATES:

The ICC stands trial in the African Court of public opinion for victimization flowing from the
perceived failure of the Court to benefit Africans, thus the withdrawal of South Africa, Burundi
and Gambia. However, the role of the ICC is not to conduct a selective trial schedule per region,
but curtail impunity and rid States of leaders and citizens responsible for ceaseless violations of
the right to life and property. The ICC has evolved into an international accountability
architecture which complements the tragic systems of accountability in majority of African
States and has ensured peace in affected areas through reparation of victims.

i. An accountability mechanism: the ICC effect

Based on the understanding of the bureaucratic workings of the ICC, which needs the Security
Council or individual states to refer cases, the ICC still strives for success. With investigations on
situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, the Central African Republic,
Sudan, Kenya, Libya, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Georgia and Burundi and Forty-four(44) indictments,
victims of international crimes obtain justice denied at the domestic level. The benefits are thus
enjoyed by two categories of African States, those with systems unable to try high profile
criminal cases (judicially disadvantaged) and conflicting states.

Judicially disadvantaged states: are complimented by the institution of prosecution in the ICC. A
major feature of the judicial system in various African states is the lack of independence and
inability to dispense justice. The structural immunity sold to the rich, cloaks them with a robe of
untouchability which the ICC steps in to address. The indictment and trial of Laurent Gbagbo, a
former Ivorian President and the Ivoran politician Charles Blé Goudé who were not triable in
their jurisdictions for crimes against humanity due to existent deals envinces such
complementary role played by the ICC. This relevance as also displayed in the indictment of
Omar Al Bashar indeed makes the ICC, "the hope of the common African man".

Conflicting states: are characterized by non functional judicial systems. Hence, the ICC
intervention in some of these areas helps to ensure that the human elements who commit
atrocities in the guise of quelling the conflicts are prosecuted. Evidence of this is seen in the
indictments and trials from the situations in Congo, Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic.

In all, African states benefit from the ICC effect at ensuring that individuals do not thread the
path of those indicted or convicted.

ii. The long run effect of peace

Contrary to the views expressed by critiques, especially ex South African President, Thabo
Mbeki in a 2003 interview with Al Jazeera, that exercise of universal jurisdiction could disrupt
the quest for peace and national reconciliation in nations struggling to recover from violent
conflicts or political oppression, this writer believes that peace is unattainable without Justice.
This view is also backed by international human rights organizations such as Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch.

However, the argument which most critiques often refer to is the need to pay attention to local
preferences, that is, most locals prefer delayed justice to delayed peace. Both concepts have
become indivisible as justice tends to indentify the causes of the problem and rid society of
them, after which peace is attainable.

CONCLUSION

The ICC is indeed fraught with growing pains in its twenty (20) years existence. However, the
body has been able to ajudicate on several cases. The perceived victimization of African States is
credited to Africa being the eye is the storm as regards violations. It is however advised that the
refferal process of the ICC be amended to allow the body prosecute cases in other areas,
especially the Ukrainian and Myanmar situations.