By Pieter Scribante, Economist and Political Analyst, NKC African Economies



On Tuesday, February 11, Sudan’s transitional government and rebel groups from Darfur agreed, in principle, that the individuals who are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) should appear before the tribunal. 



This announcement was made on Tuesday in Juba, the capital of
neighbouring South Sudan, where government authorities and the Darfur rebels
are engaging in peace talks. 



Former President Omar Al-Bashir, who was deposed in a military-led
coup in April 2019, is the most high-profile among the individuals wanted by
the ICC: He faces charges of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity
committed in Darfur. 



However, as things currently stand, the government has no
intention of extraditing Mr Bashir to The Hague. Al-Hassan Al-Taishi, a member
of the Sovereign Council, stated that during the negotiation in Juba, the two
sides agreed on a mechanism that would include “the appearance of those who
face arrest warrants before the ICC”. 



However, this agreement does not specify when and how Mr Bashir,
and the other parties involved, will be tried. 



Thus far, Mr Bashir has only been prosecuted domestically on
charges of money laundering and corruption, with further charges pending. He
has survived international prosecution due to disagreements within the
Sovereign Council. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and the Forces of Freedom and
Change (FFC) – the civilian coalition in the Sovereign Council – have expressed
their support for sending Mr Bashir to The Hague. 



However, President Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the military bloc of
the Sovereign Council vehemently oppose this. The senior military officers held
powerful positions under Mr Bashir and likely fear the repercussions if he is
convicted and the implications of their complacency and cooperation. 



Currently, the government maintains the stance that Mr Bashir
should face the ICC, but it has no intention of sending him out of the country.




The government favours a compromise in which the trial will take
place in Sudan, through a hybrid ICC/domestic court. This has the benefit of
smoothening the peace talks in Juba, gaining international support for Sudan,
and allowing the government to keep a firm hand on the prosecution. 



However, there are several problems with this plan. Sudan is not a
signatory of the Rome Statute and does not recognise the ICC’s authority, thus
the Court does not have jurisdiction in the country. Additionally, a trial of
this nature is highly unorthodox. It is unlikely that the ICC would agree to a
hybrid system – which could potentially include Sudanese officials – as it
risks diminishing the reputation and verdict of the Court. 



While the agreement between the Sovereign Council and the rebels
in Darfur is extraordinary, it does not necessarily mean that Mr Bashir will
have his day in court for his crimes committed in Darfur. 



It is unclear how this will play out, and currently, this is just
an agreement in principle. Sudan is under no legal obligation to hand Mr Bashir
over to the ICC. Moreover, the ICC has not agreed to the hybrid system nor to a
domestic prosecution. 



However, this move has gained international attention and support
for Sudan. This coincides with UN Secretary General António Guterres’s call to
remove Sudan from the US State Sponsor of Terrorism List (SSTL) and “to
mobilise massive international support to enable Sudan to overcome its
challenges”. 



This latest development plays directly into the government’s strategy of bringing peace to the Darfur region and riding a wave of optimism, which could help the ongoing talks with the US and increase the chances of being removed from the SSTL.

Op-Ed: Sudan’s Bashir one step closer to the ICC

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kerstin-carlson-344474">Kerstin Carlson</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-denmark-1097">University of Southern Denmark</a>

In June this year two lawyers filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) naming European Union member states’ migration policies in the Mediterranean as crimes against humanity. 

The court’s Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, must decide whether she wants to open a preliminary investigation into the criminality of Europe’s treatment of migrants. 

The challenge against the EU’s Mediterranean migrant policy is set out in a 245-page document prepared by Juan Branco and Omer Shatz, two lawyer-activists working and teaching in Paris. They <a href="https://www.statewatch.org/news/2019/jun/eu-icc-case-EU-Migration-Policies.pdf">argue that EU migration policy</a> is founded in deterrence and that drowned migrants are a deliberate element of this policy. The international law that they allege has been violated – crimes against humanity – applies to state policies practiced even outside of armed conflict. 

Doctrinally and juridically, the ICC can proceed. The question that remains is political: can and should the ICC come after its founders on their own turf?

There are two reasons why the answer is emphatically yes. First, the complaint addresses what has become a rights impasse in the EU. By taking on an area stymying other supranational courts, the ICC can fulfil its role as a judicial institution of last resort. Second, by turning its sights on its founders (and funders), the ICC can redress the charges of neocolonialism in and around Africa that have dogged it for the past decade.

<h2>ICC legitimacy</h2>

The ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court. Founded in 2002, it currently has 122 member states. 

So far, it has only prosecuted Africans. This has led to persistent critiques that it is a neocolonial institution that “only chases Africans” and only tries rebels. In turn, this has led to pushback against the court from powerful actors like the African Union, which <a href="http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/african-union-resolution-urges-states-to-leave-icc/">urges its members to leave the court</a>. 

The first departure from the court occurred in 2017, when <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/world/africa/burundi-international-criminal-court.html">Burundi left</a>. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/17/world/asia/philippines-international-criminal-court.html">Philippines</a> followed suit in March of this year. Both countries are currently under investigation by the ICC for state sponsored atrocities. <a href="https://justiceinconflict.org/2018/09/10/a-graceful-exit-for-south-africas-icc-withdrawal-plans/">South Africa threatened withdrawal</a>, but this seems to have blown over.

In this climate, many cheered the news of the ICC Prosecutor’s <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/04/23/afghanistan-icc-abandons-field">2017 request to investigate</a> crimes committed in Afghanistan. As a member of the ICC, Afghanistan is within the ICC’s jurisdiction. The investigation included atrocities committed by the Taliban and foreign military forces active in Afghanistan, including members of the US armed forces. 

The US, which is not a member of the ICC, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/08/03/us-hague-invasion-act-becomes-law">violently opposes</a> any possibility that its military personnel might be caught up in ICC charges. In <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/Pages/item.aspx?name=pr1448">April 2019</a> the ICC announced that a pre-trial chamber had shut down the investigation because US opposition made ICC action impossible. 

Court watchers <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/04/23/afghanistan-icc-abandons-field">reacted with frustration and disgust</a>.

<h2>EU migration</h2>

An estimated <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/20/the-list-europe-migrant-bodycount">30,000 migrants have drowned</a> in the Mediterranean in the past three decades. International attention was drawn to their plight during the migration surge of 2015, when the image of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/31/alan-kurdi-death-canada-refugee-policy-syria-boy-beach-turkey-photo">3-year-old Alan Kurdi</a> face-down on a Turkish beach circulated the globe. More than one million people entered Europe that year. This led the EU and its member states to close land and sea borders in the east by erecting fences and completing a Euro 3 billion deal with Turkey to keep migrants there. NATO ships were posted in the Aegean to catch and return migrants. 

Migrant-saving projects, such as the Italian Mare Nostrum programme that <a href="https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/548713624.pdf">collected 150,000 migrants in 2013-2014</a>, were replaced by border guarding projects. Political pressure designed to reduce the number of migrants who made it to European shores led to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/12/migrant-rescue-ships-mediterranean">revocation and non-renewal of licenses</a> for boats registered to NGOs whose purpose was to rescue migrants at sea. This has led to the current situation, where <a href="https://qz.com/1639293/only-one-refugee-rescue-boat-operated-by-aid-groups-remains-in-the-mediterranean-sea/">there is only one boat patrolling</a> the Mediterranean.

The EU has handed search and rescue duties over to the Libyan coast guard, which has been accused repeatedly of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jan/21/eu-support-for-libya-contributes-to-extreme-abuse-of-refugees-human-rights-watch-study">atrocities against migrants</a>. European countries now negotiate Mediterranean migrant reception on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/23/eu-countries-agree-plan-to-handle-migrants-and-refugees">a case-by-case basis</a>.

<h2>A rights impasse</h2>

International and supranational law applies to migrants, but so far it has inadequately protected them. The <a href="https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf">law of the sea</a> mandates that ships collect people in need. A series of refusals to allow ships to disembark collected migrants has <a href="https://www.jus.uio.no/nifs/english/research/projects/oslos/events/seminars/2018-11-14-migration.html">imperilled this international doctrine</a>. 

In the EU, the <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/PERI/2017/600414/IPOL_PERI(2017)600414_EN.pdf">Court of Justice</a> oversees migration and refugee policies. Such oversight now includes a two-year-old deal with Libya that some claim is tantamount to “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/05/eu-deal-libya-refugees-libyan-detention-centres">sentencing migrants to death</a>.” 

For its part, the European Court of Human Rights has established itself as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-european-court-of-human-rights-is-no-friend-to-migrants-42129">no friend to migrants</a>.” Although the court’s 2012 decision in <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2012/02/italy-historic-european-court-judgment-upholds-migrants-rights/">Hirsi</a> was celebrated for a progressive stance regarding the rights of migrants at sea, it is unclear <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/emil/20/4/article-p396_3.xml?lang=en">how expansively that ruling applies</a>.

European courts <a href="https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng-press#%7B%22itemid%22:%5B%22003-6443361-8477507%22%5D%7D">are being invoked</a> and making rulings, yet the journey for migrants has only grown more desperate and deadly over the past few years. Existing European mechanisms, policies, and international rights commitments are not producing change. 

In this rights impasse, the introduction of a new legal paradigm is essential. 

<h2>Fulfilling its role</h2>

A foundational element of ICC procedure is complementarity. This holds that the court only intervenes when states cannot or will not act on their own. 

Complementarity has played an unexpectedly central role in the cases before the ICC to date, as African states have self-referred defendants claiming that they do not have the resources to try them themselves. This has greatly contributed to the ICC’s political failure in Africa, as rights-abusing governments have handed over political adversaries to the ICC for prosecution in bad faith, enjoying the benefits of a domestic political sphere relieved of these adversaries while <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/A/bo47223014.html">simultaneously complaining of ICC meddling in domestic affairs</a>.

This isn’t how complementarity was supposed to work. 

The present rights impasse in the EU regarding migration showcases what complementarity was intended to do – granting sovereign states primacy over law enforcement and stepping in only when states both violate humanitarian law and refuse to act. The past decade of deadly migration coupled with a deliberately wastrel refugee policy in Europe qualifies as just such a situation.

Would-be migrants don’t vote and cannot garner political representation in the EU. This leaves only human rights norms, and the international commitments in which they are enshrined, to protect them. These norms are not being enforced, in part because questions of citizenship and border security have remained largely the domain of sovereign states. Those policies are resulting in an ongoing crime against humanity. 

The ICC may be the only institution capable of breaking the current impasse by threatening to bring Europe’s leaders to criminal account. This is the work of last resort for which international criminal law is designed. The ICC should embrace the progressive ideals that drove its construction, and engage.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120851/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kerstin-carlson-344474">Kerstin Carlson</a>, Associate Professor International Law, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-denmark-1097">University of Southern Denmark</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/migration-in-the-mediterranean-why-its-time-to-put-european-leaders-on-trial-120851">original article</a>.

Migration in the Mediterranean: It’s time for the ICC to put European leaders on trial, here’s why

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6060250198001" allowfullscreen="" border="0" frameborder="0"></iframe></div>
</div>
As the world marks the Day for International Justice (DIJ), which commemorates the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998 that helped to establish the International Criminal Court (ICC). Asamah Kadiri, Partner and Head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution joins CNBC Africa for more.

Understanding Africa’s role in international justice

André Guichaoua | Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
The multi-party systems established in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia in the early 1990s have endured despite electoral violence. But democratic hopes have been dashed or perverted throughout the rest of the region. The governments built on the ruins of the civil wars in Angola, Burundi, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda and Rwanda have all relied on armed political groups to stay in power.
From June 2015 to August 2017 an uninterrupted series of general elections took place in Central and East Africa. Those in Burundi (2015)and the DRC (initially set for 2016) were expected to be the most problematic. In both the incumbent presidents were seeking to extend their mandates beyond a second term. In the Congo, Uganda and Kenya, the risk of violent clashes was palpable.
The ruling regimes were not only dated, but worse for wear. At the time of the elections, the presidents of Angola (José Eduardo Dos Santos), the Congo (Denis Sassou N&#8217;Guesso) and Uganda (Yoweri Museveni), all members of the revolutionary or progressive New Generation of African leaders, were all in their seventies and had been in power for 30 or more years. The Presidents of Rwanda (Paul Kagamé), the DRC (Joseph Kabila) and Burundi (Pierre Nkurunziza), having served terms of 21, 14 and 10 years respectively, took steps to change their countries’ constitution to seek a third term.
Despite the bleak regional outlook and contagious scepticism among voters, these pious “democratic” rituals have become critical events over the past 20 years. This is true even in the most authoritarian countries where so much is predetermined. From the parties in the running to the authorised candidates and even the results.
As artificial as they may be, these rites still represent a risk for those in power. Rulers need expert skill to ensure both maximum control over their institutions and demonstrations of love from their people. Consequently, the outcome of the race – between increasingly artful electoral manipulation and limitless possible manifestations of democratic expression – is never entirely certain.
From Kinshasa to Kampala, from Brazzaville to Luanda and Bujumbura, courageous dissenters have organised numerous protests, usually with the approval – and sometimes active support – of the general population. These protests express the frustrations and expectations of a generation fed up with regimes clinging to power and responding to growing disillusion with increasing authoritarianism.
The ruling parties have, on the whole, proved themselves highly resourceful and resilient against the desire for change. Their victory has been comprehensive. Only Kenya is the exception: a second vote is set for October 26 following the Supreme Court’s surprise decision to invalidate the election results. In the DRC, Joseph Kabila’s delaying tacticshave so far allowed him to remain in power. And while Dos Santos eventually withdrew his candidature due to illness, the election of his chosen successor has ensured power in Angola remains in his faction’s hands.
<h2>In power until 2034</h2>
The string of Central and East African elections got off to a bad start. In April 2015, the president of Burundi controversially sought a third term in office. Although devastated by 10 years of internal strife, Burundi had become a symbol of peaceful transition in the region. Three months of tactical manoeuvring and brutal repression were required to bring victory to the incumbent president. This pushed the country back to the brink of civil war and further plunged it down the ranks of the world’s poorest countries.
The resulting crisis and the violent response by this relatively inexperienced president threw discredit on other outgoing presidents in the region, all flagrant repeat offenders. They were forced to up their game.
In February 2016, Museveni took office for the fifth time in Uganda amid relative calm. In March, in a tenser national atmosphere, Congolese president Denis Sassou-Nguesso started on the first of the three extra terms allowed by the recent constitutional reform. He could still be in power in 2031, at nearly 90 years of age.
Not to be outdone, Rwandan President Paul Kagame presided over a constitutional referendum in 2015 enabling him to remain in power until 2034. The reform was approved by 98% of voters, with a voter turnout of more than 98%.
Overall, pending the outcomes in Kenya and DRC, each of the self-proclaimed candidates who won the recent bout of electoral contests can boast enviable popular mandates, and even landslide victories.
<h2>Every leader for themselves</h2>
In the eyes of these leaders their longevity, and that of their counterparts in the region, constitutes in and of itself a justification for remaining power.
Their relations, alliances and conflicts were carved out in a shared past, marked by civil wars and fiercely violent regional clashes. Widespread structural insecurity plagues the entire region as a result. The insecurity is fuelled by governments’ failure to lay down formal, mutually beneficial, political frameworks for cooperation and regional integration. Yet such frameworks would allow them to develop the human resources and agricultural and mining potential of the region in an equitable manner.
In 2013, as part of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, African Intervention Brigades were authorised to take offensive measures to neutralise the main militia groups in the country’s Eastern region. The Brigades’ main target was the M23, a movement supported by Rwanda and Uganda, according to intelligence later submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The return to low-scale warfare is a sign of a regulated joint governance of the instability.
Despite the presence of peacekeeping forces, numerous political and criminal armed groups still control vast, lawless zones. In their own ways, these groups secure the exploitation of natural resources. They supply a lucrative cross-border trade run at the highest levels of government. These activities bring in significant profits for the ruling classes. They also allow countries in the sub-region to export goods they do not produce themselves. And they ensure the continued viability of the various regional and international trade routes towards the Indian Ocean.
At every stage of wealth creation, profits are essentially redistributed according to private interests. It is therefore easy to understand why each head of state believes themselves best placed to serve both national and personal interests, and the interests of the political-ethnic groups they represent.
<h2>The price of longevity</h2>
When they came to power, the new generation of leaders from the Great Horn of Africa embodied the new ideal of “good governance”. They were “strong men” at the head of “strong and sustainable democracies”, ensuring the order and security necessary for development.
During the course of these elections, none of these so-called democrats, so regularly and resoundingly “elected” by their citizens, had any thoughts of retirement. Setting aside Kabila, whose fate is still undecided, at least two of them, in Burundi and Uganda, had no qualms about changing their country’s constitution to ensure their own reelection.
But in a region of considerable wealth, it’s by no means certain that government can indefinitely be determined by the life expectancy of leaders who are still incapable of developing the regional cooperative frameworks that would ensure peace, security and prosperity for their citizens.

Elections in Africa: democratic rituals matter even though the outlook is bleak

By Stephanie van den Berg
THE HAGUE &#8211; The International Criminal Court on Thursday rebuked South Africa for not arresting Sudan&#8217;s president on a genocide warrant when he visited Johannesburg in 2015, but declined to refer Pretoria to the United Nations for possible censure over the lapse.
The ICC indicted Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2008 over the deaths and persecution of ethnic groups in Sudan&#8217;s Darfur province between 2003 and 2008. But he has continued to travel internationally, visiting Jordan as recently as March.
The first part of Thursday&#8217;s ICC ruling was expected as the war crimes court has consistently rejected arguments put forward by the South African government, namely that it could not arrest Bashir because visiting heads of state at the African Union Summit held in the country enjoyed diplomatic immunity.
ICC judges said that heads of state or government clearly fall under the court&#8217;s jurisdiction and cannot be exempted at home or abroad, echoing the conclusion of a South African domestic court.
The second stage of the ruling was surprising as it was the first time the ICC found one of its members had defied its rules, yet took no action by reporting South Africa to the U.N. Security Council or ICC member states for possible censure.
&#8220;The decision is something of an indictment of the U.N. Security Council and the (ICC&#8217;s) Assembly of State Parties,” ICC expert and legal scholar Mark Kersten told Reuters.
Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser, reading a summary of the ruling, noted that past referrals of countries to the Security Council for noncompliance were &#8220;futile&#8221; in terms of leading to further action and also &#8220;not an effective way to obtain cooperation&#8221; with the ICC.
&nbsp;
BASHIR DENIES WRONGDOING
Bashir denies wrongdoing and has rejected ICC jurisdiction. It was the Security Council itself that referred Sudan&#8217;s case to the ICC in 2005.
&#8220;It is shocking that other (ICC member states) such as Jordan are also failing in their obligations to arrest Bashir, and this decision makes it clear they do so in flagrant violation of international law,&#8221; Amnesty International said in a statement.
The ICC&#8217;s decision not to refer South Africa might also be intended in part to dissuade it from pulling out of the court.
In February, the African Union called for member states to leave the ICC over a perceived bias by prosecutors in focusing on African conflicts.
Kenya, Namibia, Burundi and South Africa have threatened to ditch the ICC and Pretoria began the formal withdrawal process last year before being blocked by a domestic court for not getting parliament&#8217;s approval first before pulling out.
&#8220;I believe (Thursday&#8217;s) ruling will raise the costs of withdrawal for South African President Jacob Zuma,&#8221; Kersten said.
In The Hague, South African Ambassador Bruce Koloane said that for the time being &#8220;(we are) still a member effectively of the ICC, we still have to honour all our obligations”.
In South Africa, opinions on what to do next were divided.
Pretoria&#8217;s foreign affairs department said the government would study the ruling &#8220;and its implications and seek legal opinion on available options&#8221;.
Siphosezwe Masango, who chairs parliament&#8217;s international relations committee, said he remained convinced South Africa was right not to arrest Bashir, &#8220;a sitting head of state&#8221;.
Pretoria&#8217;s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said the ICC ruling was an indictment of Zuma&#8217;s ANC government, noting it had upheld the domestic court&#8217;s position.
&#8220;The ANC seems intent on relegating South Africa to the status of a scumbag nation which protects the law-breakers and corrupter of this world,&#8221; DA Federal Executive Chairperson James Selfe said.
(Additional reporting by James Macharia in Johannesburg, Wendell Roelf in Cape Town, Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; editing by Mark Heinrich)

ICC declines to refer S.A to UN on Sudan’s Bashir arrest

Gauteng, Africa’s richest province and the economic engine of South Africa is a place of hope. It is a place where many come to escape poverty and seek enormous opportunities. These are the words of Gauteng Premier David Makhura, who was<a href="http://cnbc.africa/videos/2017/05/23/this-is-how-africas-richest-province-is-performing-what-it-still-plans/"> speaking </a>at the release of the province’s Midterm Report, which highlights its performance from May 2014 to November 2016.
But for many living in the province it has become a place associated with crime, drugs and corruption. A province of acute unemployment, where citizens take the law into their own hands. Makhura in his <a href="http://cnbc.africa/videos/2017/05/23/this-is-how-africas-richest-province-is-performing-what-it-still-plans/">keynote address </a>discussed ways to fix this, the findings of the report, highlights and challenges of the Transformation Modernisation and Re-industrialisation Programme, which was introduced by the current administration.
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GTV_VNyqY9I" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Gauteng’s premier also outlined what his administration plans to do in the final two years of its term, see full list below of its priorities. He stressed that the province’s focus will be on enhancing capacity to deliver on every mandate it has set itself in its ten-pillar programme for transformation, modernisation and reindustrialisation.
To further enhance transparency and public accountability, the Premier said he will sign delivery agreements with executive council members and release these publicly so that citizens can hold public office bearers and senior departmental officials accountable.
MECs will also make public, performance agreements signed with heads of departments, which make clear their targets and measurable goals for the next two years. These agreements will be posted on the government’s website and other public platforms, so that the people can follow as government report on progress.
His address was followed by a <a href="http://cnbc.africa/videos/2017/05/23/this-is-what-gauteng-has-to-do-now-to-ensure-service-delivery/">panel discussion</a> during which researchers and academics gave their views on what the province needs to do to ensure delivery happens and happens now.
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P1rlnMp0wrs" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
UJ’s Pamela Mondliwa argued that implementation is important; IRR’s Kerwin Lebone emphasised collaboration between departments. For example he suggested that community safety and human settlements should collaborate against crime in the Joburg CBD like they did in 2010 when South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup.
Prof Modimowabarwa Kanyane from the HSRC reckoned you should put municipalities into the thinking of the province on issues of service delivery.
Abdullah Verachia from GIBS surmised that growth opportunities that drive economic growth need to be established that will achieve the province’s vision.
A full list of the priorities are listed below:
Build an inclusive economy
<ul>
<li>We continue to engage directly with business leaders to unlock the employment and empowerment potential of key sectors in our Province; Together with our partners we will work towards a target of 400 000 jobs;</li>
<li>We will increase the number of jobs created in the manufacturing and services sectors and to build SMMEs especially township based enterprises through targeted public procurement of goods and services;</li>
<li>We will work in partnership with economists from all Gauteng-based universities and research institutes to make Gauteng the leader in innovation, research and development and the knowledge-based economy;</li>
<li>We will promote the growth of the automotive, aerospace and defence, agro-processing and agribusiness, innovation, research and development industries;</li>
<li>Together with municipalities we will prioritise the renewal of the Johannesburg inner-city, regeneration of Sedibeng and West Rand Districts economies and the building of new mega human settlements and post-apartheid cities;</li>
<li>We are now implementing the ‘second wave’ of empowerment which will ensure that Black businesses and township enterprises become more sustainable;</li>
<li>To further drive radical economic transformation, in partnership with key industry leaders we are assisting Black firms and township enterprises to get involved in localisation and manufacturing initiatives to produce goods locally and sell them to domestic and foreign markets;</li>
</ul>
Upscaling Youth Empowerment programmes
<ul>
<li>We will further expand and enhance the Tshepo 1 Million programme focusing on creating opportunities for young people to enter the labour market and access skills and entrepreneurial development;</li>
<li>Working with various partners in the private sector, we are confident that we will reach the new target of empowering one million young people by 2019;</li>
</ul>
 Investing in economic and social infrastructure
<ul>
<li>We will roll out a massive infrastructure investment programme worth over R42 billion over the next three years will contribute to more than 100 000 direct jobs;</li>
<li>Our infrastructure investment will support the priority economic sectors and help to redress spatial imbalances in the five development corridors to spread the benefits of reindustrialisation, employment and empowerment equitably across Gauteng;</li>
<li>We will work with all municipalities to deliver state of the art infrastructure in the following areas:</li>
<li>Public Transport and Logistics;</li>
<li>Mega Human Settlements;</li>
<li>Renewable Energy and other energy projects;</li>
<li>ICT and Broadband;</li>
<li>Government precincts;</li>
<li>Water and Sanitation;</li>
<li>Healthcare facilities; and</li>
<li>Libraries and other social amenities.</li>
</ul>
Roads and Transport
<ul>
<li>We will Improving transport system to benefit all citizens with a particular focus on travel efficiency and reliability by 2019;</li>
<li>We will establish the Transport Authority to improve planning and improve passenger information system;</li>
<li>We will build 9 strategic new roads to reduce congestion and improve linkages between various economic nodes and development corridors;</li>
<li>Road maintenance will be improved through 90% of Daily Road inspections and 100% of potholes repaired within 72 hrs;</li>
<li>More than 250 km of road network will be resurfaced cumulatively by 2019 as part of the preventative maintenance programme;</li>
<li>Our Driver Learner Testing Centres (DLTCs) will be mordernised to reduce queues and waiting times;</li>
<li>We will Improve efficiency of public transport system with a special focus on the bus services and minibus taxies;</li>
</ul>
Human Settlements
<ul>
<li>We will continue the other spheres of government and the private sector to deliver on the concept of the integrated human settlements, which will include social and community facilities, that are close to economic opportunities, while ensuring security of tenure;</li>
<li>Through the increase in the construction of Mega Human Settlements projects, 31 projects being launched by 2019, creating more than 200 000 housing opportunities;</li>
<li>We will fast track the handing over of title deeds to households and communities to give the people security of tenure;</li>
</ul>
Education
<ul>
<li>We will improve teaching and learning conditions in all Gauteng schools and provide learners with opportunities to get access to post schooling education and training;</li>
<li>We will roll out e-learning infrastructure to 3300 Grade 11-12 classrooms in no-fee paying schools;</li>
<li>We will work towards achieving a 90% pass rate for matric with a 50% bachelor pass rate;</li>
<li>We will also provide bursaries to deserving learners and provide learnerships as well as experiential learning opportunities for the youth;</li>
</ul>
Health
<ul>
<li>Following the Life Esidimeni tragedy we have initiated a review of the health system in the Province;</li>
<li>In addition to implementing the 18 recommendations of the Health Ombud Report, we are working hard to restore confidence in our public health system;</li>
<li>A wide-ranging inspection and assessment is being instituted at all centres that care for the most vulnerable, including the elderly, persons with disabilities and children;</li>
<li>We are committed to improving experiences of citizens, patients and their families across all public health facilities;</li>
<li>We will reduce Accident and Emergency and Out Patient waiting times at health facilities as per national standards, improve staff attendance and ensuring 99% of essential and vital medication is available at hospital and district pharmacies;</li>
<li>We will also introduce an electronic patient management system to improve patient care;</li>
</ul>
Deepening social cohesion and nation building
<ul>
<li>We will continue to work together across race, class, gender and political affiliation and build partnerships for social cohesion;</li>
<li>We will continue to combat racism and xenophobia in all its forms;</li>
<li>A Provincial Migration Desk is being established to provide services and advice to migrants;</li>
<li>Sports, arts and culture will remain priorities in deepening social cohesion. This includes continuing to build Gauteng as the home of the creative industries and competitive sports;</li>
<li>We will continue to build partnerships with a variety of sporting bodies and the private sector in implementing a shared vision and common programme to make sport accessible to all and to nurture talent and excellence in sport;</li>
<li>We will further host major national and international sporting events which provide opportunities to showcase our talent and to bring sport-related tourism to the province;</li>
<li>Community sports, recreation and cultural facilities and activities will be enhanced, including the construction of new libraries and the upgrading of libraries with ICT infrastructure and connectivity;</li>
<li>We will continue to promote the creative industries and arts and culture including major events such as the Gauteng Carnival to celebrate our rich cultural diversity;</li>
</ul>
Eradicating urban poverty and hunger
<ul>
<li>We will upscale the number of participants in our Welfare to Work programme to 30000 by 2019 as part of our efforts to eradicate poverty;</li>
<li>Young women who dependent on child support grants as their only source of income will be equipped with skills and decent employment opportunities;</li>
<li>We will continue to roll out the War on Poverty programme, reaching 788 000 of the poorest households by 2019;</li>
<li>We will continue to work with communities to develop food gardens and identify land for urban agriculture projects and other forms of food relief to reduce hunger and support sustainable livelihoods;</li>
</ul>
Community Safety
<ul>
<li>We will work with the police and law enforcement agencies reduce crimes such as carjacking; robbery &#8211; residential and commercial (trio crimes) by 50% in 40 high crime areas;</li>
<li>Together with the SAPS we will ensure that police officers are high profile crime areas supported by appropriate equipment including patrol vehicles;</li>
<li>We will improve law enforcement in crimes related to alcohol and drug abuse (driven by taverns &amp; shebeens) in high crime areas including ensuring that 100% of taverns and shebeens in high crime areas close at 2am and there is a 50% reduction illegal shebeen and tavern operation.</li>
<li>Our focus is also on 50% reduction in pedestrian road fatalities (an equivalent of 567 fatalities; cumulatively until 2019);</li>
<li>A range of interventions will be implemented to reduce and eradicate gender-based violence and these will include focused interventions in rape ‘hotspots’ and improving conviction rates, through improved forensics, forensic social workers and the provision of support for complainants within the criminal justice system;</li>
<li>We will expand quality services for survivors through women safety desks and psycho-social support services and enhance Green Doors and Victim Empowerment Centres.</li>
<li>We will also further enhance the Men as Safety programme and build the campaign to mobilise men and boys against abuse and monitor implementation of the Domestic Violence Act through police stations;</li>
</ul>
Improving Public Finance Management, Transparency and Probity
<ul>
<li>We will ensure public confidence in the management of public finances and leverage public procurement to promote and support the township economy revitalisation programme;</li>
<li>We will strive to obtain clean audit outcomes across all departments and entities in the province;</li>
<li>We will also ensure that all competitive bidding for goods and services are conducted through the open tender system and ensure that all invoices are paid within 30 days.</li>
</ul>
Fighting corruption and promoting clean governance
<ul>
<li>We will continue to act against maladministration, incompetence and corruption and will take steps against those found guilty of financial misconduct;</li>
<li>To further strengthen integrity, promote clean governance and administration, we will implement approved anti-corruption and integrity guidelines and appoint a civil society-led Integrity Promotion and Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee;</li>
<li>We will further implement measures to detect and prevent public servants from doing business with the state and take action against those found guilty of fraud and corruption;</li>
</ul>
Responsive and caring government
<ul>
<li>The Ntirhisano Rapid Response System and Service Delivery War Room introduced in 2014 will intensify its work with communities to resolve ongoing day-to-day and service delivery challenges and continue to bring government closer to communities;</li>
<li>Ntirhisano service delivery teams will pay periodic unannounced visits to all facilities that provide services to our communities to ensure that early interventions are made where citizens are receiving substandard services;</li>
<li>Other interventions include the further development of the War Room network across the GCR, proactive household profiling and responding to service needs at a household level, continuing the integration of community workers within the Ntirhisano system.</li>
</ul>

SA’s economic engine, Gauteng’s focus will be on delivery, accountability: Makhura

In response to today’s announcement that the South African government has decided to revoke its notice to the UN of its intention to withdraw from Rome Statute, Amnesty International’s Africa Director for Research and Advocacy, Netsanet Belay said: “This formal revocation of the notice of withdrawal from the ICC presents yet another opportunity for the government of South Africa to rethink its decision to thwart the pursuit of justice. While the international community appears indifferent to mass atrocities committed with impunity around the world, it is even more important today that South Africa reclaims its position as a champion of African victims of crimes under international law.
 
&#8220;It remains to be seen if this revocation means a shift in Government’s intention to withdraw from the ICC or rather a temporary step to comply with the High Court decision and exhaust domestic procedures before formalising its withdrawal.
 “If the Government’s revocation of its withdrawal becomes permanent, it means the nation follows the lead of Gambia which also revoked its withdrawal from the Rome Statute recently.
 
“We urge South Africa to align itself with the majority of African states that have unequivocally rejected calls for withdrawal and stood firm in their support for the ICC.”
 
Amnesty International has today submitted a briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services in response to the call for public comment on the proposed Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Repeal Bill. Click here to download the briefing.
 
Background
 
The news of South Africa revoking its notification of withdrawal from the Rome Statute follows a decision by the North Gauteng High Court two weeks ago which held, in a case brought by the opposition Democratic Alliance, that the government’s action in withdrawing from the ICC without consulting Parliament was unconstitutional and invalid, and which ordered the government to revoke its withdrawal.
The government had officially deposited its instrument of withdrawal from the ICC with the United Nations on 19 October 2016. 
On 16 February 2017, Gambia also revoked its withdrawal from the Rome Statute.
 
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation today received a briefing by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on the High Court ruling on the ICC withdrawal and subsequent revocation.

South Africa: Revocation of withdrawal from the ICC a chance to rethink thwarting pursuit of justice

By Pap Saine and Lamin Jahateh
Gambia&#8217;s new government has told the United Nations it will remain in the International Criminal Court (ICC), state media reported on Monday, reversing the previous administration&#8217;s plan to withdraw from the tribunal.
Former president Yahya Jammeh announced in October that he would pull Gambia out of the ICC, accusing the world body of ignoring alleged war crimes of Western nations and seeking only to prosecute Africans.
But President Adama Barrow, who defeated Jammeh in a December election, pledged during the campaign to undo Jammeh&#8217;s decision, restore human rights and repair the country&#8217;s badly-damaged foreign relations.
&#8220;As a new government that has committed itself to the promotion of human rights &#8230; we reaffirm The Gambia&#8217;s commitment to the principles enshrined in the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court,&#8221; said a statement read on state television and radio.
The statement added that Gambia&#8217;s foreign minister notified U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of the decision in a letter last month.
The announcement constitutes a rare victory of late for the embattled tribunal. South Africa and Burundi also signaled last year they would quit the ICC and African Union member states earlier this month endorsed an unspecified &#8220;strategy of collective withdrawal&#8221;.
In another sign of Barrow&#8217;s intention to break with his predecessor, police opened their first investigations on Monday into unresolved deaths and disappearances under Jammeh.
Jammeh came to power in a coup in 1994 and his government established a reputation for torturing and killing opponents. He has denied these allegations.
The initial investigation ordered by Barrow will focus on at least 30 people whose family members reported them dead or missing, police inspector general Yankuba Sonko told reporters in the capital Banjul. The police also opened a complaint register so that additional people can file reports.
Jammeh fled to Equatorial Guinea last month under regional military pressure after refusing to accept his defeat to Barrow. Equatorial Guinea does not have an extradition treaty with Gambia.
 
 
 
(Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Tom Heneghan)﻿

Gambia announces plans to stay in International Criminal Court

The African Union is due to choose a new leader on Monday in a vote more likely to expose differences over the International Criminal Court and other issues than reaffirm the continent&#8217;s solidarity and common purpose.
In a clear split, three of its four major regions – the south, the east and the largely Francophone west – are supporting their own nominees to head the bloc, making deadlock followed by horse-trading likely.
Leading candidates to replace South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the first woman to serve as the continent’s top diplomat, are Kenyan foreign minister Amina Mohammed and Senegal’s Abdoulaye Bathily, analysts say.
In another potentially divisive move, the 54 heads of state gathered in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, will have to decide whether to approve the re-admission of Morocco.
The North African kingdom quit the AU’s predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, three decades ago amid a dispute over the body&#8217;s recognition of Western Sahara, most of which has been controlled by Morocco since 1976.
However, King Mohammed VI has been on a diplomatic charm offensive in the last year to try to win Rabat’s readmission.
Continental heavyweights Algeria and South Africa have been backers of the Sahrawi Republic, the domestic political movements that lays claim to the territory along the northern Sahara’s Atlantic seaboard. Neither has said explicitly it will oppose Morocco&#8217;s re-entry.
Preliminary meetings have also been dominated by disputes over the International Criminal Court (ICC), which countries such as South Africa and Kenya say is a tool of Western imperialism that unfairly targets the continent.
Conversely, Nigeria, Botswana and other states say the Hague-based court is an important legal backstop for countries whose domestic justice systems have been compromised by civil conflict.
“You have all these calls for unity but actually if you look at the AU now, it is more divided than ever – over Morocco, the regional divisions and the ICC,” said Liesl Louw-Vaudran, an AU expert at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. “It’s unprecedented.”
Dlamini-Zuma, who is tipped as a replacement for her ex-husband, Jacob Zuma, at the helm of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) this year, was due to end her term in July last year but had to extend her time when the AU failed to reach agreement on a successor.
Her election 4-1/2 years ago after intense lobbying by South Africa rankled many countries because it breached an unwritten rule preventing major states holding the AU chair.
During her time in charge, the medical doctor has focused on reforming the AU’s dysfunctional internal bureaucracy and drawing up a long-term for improving the lives of Africa’s marginal citizens, especially women and children.
However, she has been criticized for failing to heal the rifts created by her election and not doing more to prevent conflict in countries such as South Sudan, which the United Nations says is tilting towards genocide.﻿

African Union to choose new leader

<div>
KAMPALA (Reuters) &#8211; A group of Ugandan lawmakers have sent a petition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ask for an investigation into possible atrocities by security forces when they clashed with a tribal militia late last year.
According to an official toll, 62 people were killed in November when a combined force of soldiers and police officers clashed with a tribal leader&#8217;s guards in the Rwenzori region near Uganda&#8217;s western border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
William Nzoghu, a legislator from the area and one of six members of parliament who sent the petition, said the number of people killed exceeded 200 and that police and the army &#8220;jointly committed a genocide and crimes against humanity&#8221;.
<div class="teads-inread">
<div>
<div class="teads-player"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="teads-inread">
<div>
<div class="teads-player"></div>
</div>
</div>
&#8220;We are saying let the ICC come and investigate,&#8221; he told Reuters late on Wednesday.
The area, which has been beset by unrest in recent years, often votes for the opposition in general elections.
Critics of the 72-year-old, long-standing president, Yoweri Museveni, accuse his government of deliberately stoking violence in the region as retribution for its residents&#8217; rejection of his ruling party candidates.
In an emailed response, the ICC&#8217;s Office of the Prosecutor told Reuters it had received the petition and that it would announce a decision in &#8220;due course&#8221;.
Rights group Amnesty International said that during the clashes several people appeared to have been &#8220;summarily shot dead and their bodies dumped&#8221;. It described the killings as extrajudicial.
The tribal leader, Charles Wesley Mumbere, was arrested at the time and subsequently charged with treason, murder and other crimes. Scores of his guards were also detained.
At a court appearance, some of them &#8211; bearing open wounds on visible parts of their bodies &#8211; alleged torture by security forces and said they had been denied medical attention.
Security officials reject claims that the Rwenzori area is being deliberately destabilised, and instead accuse Mumbere and others in the area of seeking to secede from Uganda.
In the last general election in February 2015, the Rwenzori region heavily favoured Kiiza Besigye, Museveni&#8217;s main opponent.
Electoral officials declared Museveni, in power since 1986, the winner but Besigye rejected the results and says he won.
The east African country has many tribal leaders who largely hold ceremonial roles, though they also wield considerable social influence in their respective areas.
 
(Additional reporting by Thomas Escritt in Amsterdam; Editing by Aaron Maasho and Louise Ireland)
<div class="linebreak"></div>
</div>
© Thomson Reuters 2017 All rights reserved﻿

Ugandan lawmakers petition International Criminal Court

<div>
THE HAGUE (Reuters) &#8211; The International Criminal Court&#8217;s prosecutor said her investigations into alleged war crimes would not be impacted by the plans of three African countries to withdraw from the court and she would keep going after the perpetrators of atrocities.
Fatou Bensouda said her office would press ahead with the preliminary investigation in Burundi and her work had the support of more than 120 other member states.
Gambia, South Africa and Burundi notified the United Nations in October and November of their plans to withdraw from the ICC. The withdrawals become effective one year after the notification is filed.
<div class="teads-inread">
<div>
<div class="teads-ui-components-label"></div>
<div class="teads-player"></div>
<div class="teads-ui-components-credits"><a href="http://inread-experience.teads.tv/" target="_blank"></a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="teads-inread">
<div>
<div class="teads-player"></div>
</div>
</div>
To date, all but one of the court&#8217;s 10 investigations have been in Africa and its five convicted suspects are from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Mali.
The ICC rejects allegations of bias against African nations, arguing many of the cases were brought by African governments themselves and that it has 10 preliminary inquiries or investigations into alleged atrocities in Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Iraq, the Palestinian Territories and Ukraine.
Bensouda, a Gambian former justice minister, said the court began its work in 2002 with overwhelming African support and that African countries had requested the ICC&#8217;s intervention.
&#8220;Even if one country decides to withdraw from the ICC, this I believe, for the continent, speaking as an African, is a setback for the continent and this is also a regression for the continent,&#8221; she said.
Russia, which is not a member of the court but signed its founding Rome Statute, said this month it would remove its signature and the Philippines is considering withdrawing its membership.
&#8216;DON&#8217;T LOOK AWAY&#8217;
Bensouda countered concerns of a mass departure of member states and said all other states had renewed their commitment to the court, which has a mandate to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
The ICC is a court of last resort, only intervening in member countries when national jurisdictions are unable or unwilling to prosecute mass atrocities.
Bensouda launched a preliminary investigation in Burundi in April after political violence killed hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee abroad.
&#8220;We will continue to do our work with respect to what we have started in Burundi,&#8221; she said, saying its obligations under the Rome Statute remained until the one-year notification period ended.
If, during that time, prosecutors determine that crimes must be formally investigated, Burundi would be obligated to cooperate with the court, she said.
In the Philippines, which joined the court in 2011, the prosecutor warned in October that the extrajudicial killing of thousands of alleged drug users and dealers could constitute crimes that fall under her jurisdiction. The allegations are not the subject of a preliminary investigation, the first legal step toward a prosecution.
&#8220;It is important as prosecutor of the ICC to raise concerns,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It is also important that I don&#8217;t look away because this is exactly why this court was established.&#8221;
(Editing by Janet Lawrence)
<div class="linebreak"></div>
</div>
© Thomson Reuters 2016 All rights reserved﻿

Under fire, ICC's African prosecutor says she will uphold fight against atrocities

South Africa and Burundi&#8217;s decision to quit the International Criminal Court (ICC) and an attack by Gambia against its supposed &#8216;Caucasian&#8217; justice are likely to embolden other African states to leave the world&#8217;s only permanent war crimes tribunal.
Although criticising the Hague-based institution for perceived anti-African bias has long been a favourite pastime for many African leaders, in most cases it amounted to pandering to a domestic audience without much real intent.
That has now changed, with the precedent established of local politics justifying actual withdrawal.
With South Africa &#8211; a continental heavyweight and key backer of the ICC in the late 1990s &#8211; making clear it could no longer tolerate the court&#8217;s denial of immunity to sitting leaders, the departure gates have been flung open.
All eyes are now on Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the ICC&#8217;s chief tormentor who made history in 2013 by becoming the first sitting head of state to appear before the court, on charges of crimes against humanity.
The case relating to Kenyatta&#8217;s alleged role in post-election violence in 2008 in which at least 1,200 people died collapsed in 2014 for lack of evidence.
But in January this year, with charges still hanging over his deputy, William Ruto, Kenyatta took to the floor at the African Union (AU) to call for a &#8220;roadmap for withdrawal&#8221; for Africa&#8217;s 34 ICC members.
Supporting South Africa&#8217;s subsequent stance, Kenyatta took aim in particular at Article 27 of the ICC&#8217;s 1998 Rome Statute which affirms the &#8220;irrelevance of official capacity&#8221; &#8211; in other words, nobody, no matter how powerful, is above the law.
Kenyatta, who faces another election next year, then played the global security card, saying this compromised Kenya&#8217;s ability to fight Islamist militancy, a genuine concern in the wake of a major attack in 2013 on Nairobi&#8217;s Westgate mall.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve had to contend with the ICC pursuing weak, politicised cases. This has become a huge distraction from our duty serve our people and this continent fully. That is not what Kenya signed up for when we joined the ICC,&#8221; he said.
 
&#8220;USELESS PEOPLE&#8221;
Kenya&#8217;s parliament has passed two resolutions since 2010 calling for withdrawal, but government spokesman Manoah Esipisu said the cabinet was still deciding &#8211; in the wake of South Africa&#8217;s move &#8211; whether to go ahead.
&#8220;It is accurate to say that a decision of the executive is pending,&#8221; he said.
Neighbouring Uganda, whose President Yoweri Museveni labelled the ICC &#8220;a bunch of useless people&#8221; at his inauguration in July, is already shaping up for a fresh push at the next AU summit in January for an African exodus.
&#8220;The ICC deserves what&#8217;s happening to it now,&#8221; junior foreign affairs minister Okello Oryem said.
&#8220;Our argument has always been that there&#8217;s a need for the whole of Africa to withdraw from the ICC. We hope that matter will come up at the next AU summit and then we&#8217;ll be able to pronounce ourselves.&#8221;
 
RUNNING FOR COVER?
Most worrying for the ICC, which has been fighting to counter the allegations of anti-African bias and &#8216;neo-colonialism&#8217;, is that local or regional politics stood behind the three recent decisions to pull out.
Although Gambia, which derided the ICC as the &#8216;Infamous Caucasian Court&#8217;, does not yet appear to have sent its formal divorce papers, President Yahya Jammeh, who has been accused of serial rights abuses since seizing power in a 1994 coup, is unlikely to back off ahead of an election in December.
While also citing ICC neo-colonialism, Burundi&#8217;s move followed the ICC&#8217;s opening of an initial probe into the rape, torture and murder of hundreds of people during an 18-month political crisis.
South Africa&#8217;s decision can be traced back to visit a year ago by Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir when Pretoria flouted its obligations to arrest him under an ICC warrant for alleged war crimes.
It even violated a domestic court order in allowing Bashir to leave, a clear demonstration of the shift in Pretoria&#8217;s foreign policy under President Jacob Zuma from the international idealism of Nelson Mandela to plain African realism.
The ICC admits it is rattled but is determined to keep going, and in particular to counter the allegations of anti-African bias.
&#8220;We must remain strong,&#8221; chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian, told reporters in The Hague this week. &#8220;This is a challenge we see now. We will see it more. It is not going to go away.&#8221;
To date, all but one of the court&#8217;s 10 investigations have been in Africa and its five convicted suspects are from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Mali.
However, it argues that many of these cases were brought by African governments themselves, not outsiders, and that it has 10 preliminary investigations into alleged atrocities elsewhere in the world, including in Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, the Palestinian Territories and Ukraine.
&#8220;Even if half the African countries leave, it would be very unfortunate and damaging to the concept of international justice but it won&#8217;t shut the court down,&#8221; one ICC official, who did not want to be named, told Reuters.
&#8220;This was bound to happen when dictators – for the most part that&#8217;s what they are – decide to run for cover.&#8221;
 
(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols, Edmund Blair, Elias Biryabarema, Thomas Escritt and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Giles Elgood)﻿

ICC's toughest trial: Africa vs. 'Infamous Caucasian Court'

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; African states unhappy with the International Criminal Court(ICC) should work to reform it from within rather than pulling out, Botswanan foreign minister Pelomoni Venson-Moitoi, a candidate to become the next African Union (AU) chief, said.
With the AU increasingly divided over the ICC, South Africa announced last week that it planned to quit, but Venson-Moitoi said she believed an African war crimes court could be beefed up to work alongside its Hague-based counterpart.
Although South Africa argued that the ICC&#8217;s Rome Statutes were at odds with its laws granting leaders diplomatic immunity, other African countries see the tribunal purely as an instrument of colonial justice that unfairly targets the continent.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t see why we should be pulling out. The good thing is that a few more members now, within the AU, agree that pulling out is not the solution. We should be working towards fixing,&#8221; she told Reuters in an interview, without elaborating.
After she spoke, Gambia said late on Tuesday it too was withdrawing from the ICC, calling it &#8220;an International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans&#8221;.
Venson-Moitoi&#8217;s main rival for the AU chair is Kenyan foreign minister Amina Mohamed. Kenya has also been leaning towards ICC withdrawal since charges were brought against President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, over links to post-election bloodshed in 2008 in which at least 1,200 people were killed.
The cases against both collapsed for lack of evidence.
The AU is likely to choose its successor to South Africa&#8217;s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma at its annual summit in January.
Should she prevail, Venson-Moitoi said she would try to get the Tanzanian-based African Court on Human and Peoples&#8217; Rights, which unlike the ICC currently grants immunity to sitting leaders, to &#8220;work together&#8221; with the Hague tribunal.
 
CLEAN ELECTIONS
The outspoken 65-year-old also advocated more robust and rigorous AU monitoring of regional elections as an antidote to the controversy, disputes and violence that habitually follow polls in many African countries.
&#8220;I&#8217;m quite aware of what it takes to run a fair election, to avoid abuse, to avoid conflict,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You must manage the whole process so that when the number comes out at the end, it confirms a clean process.&#8221;
In its 50 years since independence, Botswana has built a reputation as a stable, peaceful and prosperous democracy with a no-nonsense political leadership.
Last month, President Ian Khama caused fury in neighbouring Zimbabwe when he told Reuters that his 92-year-old counterpart, Robert Mugabe, was too old to remain in office.
Venson-Moitoi reaffirmed the sovereignty of member states but said she would be demanding answers personally from leaders whose internal problems spilled into neighbouring states, as has happened this year with refugees fleeing violence in Burundi.
&#8220;I&#8217;m a hands-on person. I would get on the next plane and go there. That&#8217;s how I work. If it means going there and talking to the refugees, I&#8217;d go there and talk to them myself,&#8221; she said.
Such comments are likely to ruffle feathers in the AU, where interfering in a member nation&#8217;s internal affairs remains a big taboo, but Venson-Moitoi said a dose of honesty and plain-speaking would do her, and the continent, no harm.
&#8220;That&#8217;s what Africa needs. There is nothing wrong with being outspoken &#8211; if you are outspoken for the right reasons. If you are outspoken in the interests of Africa, I don&#8217;t see anything wrong with that.&#8221;
 
(editing by David Stamp)﻿
<div></div>

Botwana FinMin urges: Stay and fix the ICC

The government of Gambia said on Tuesday it was withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, accusing the world body of ignoring the &#8220;war crimes&#8221; of Western nations and seeking only to prosecute Africans.
The decision by the tiny West African nation, whose president, Yahya Jammeh, has called on the court to investigate African migrant deaths on the Mediterranean, comes just days after South Africa said it was quitting The Hague-based tribunal.
&#8220;This action is warranted by the fact that the ICC, despite being called the International Criminal Court, is in fact an International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans,&#8221; Information Minister Sheriff Bojang said on state television.
<div class="teads-inread">
<div>
<div class="teads-ui-components-label"></div>
<div class="teads-player" id="teads1"></div>
<div class="teads-ui-components-credits"><a href="http://inread-experience.teads.tv/" target="_blank"></a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="teads-inread">
<div>
<div class="teads-ui-components-label"></div>
<div class="teads-player" id="teads0"></div>
<div class="teads-ui-components-credits"><a href="http://inread-experience.teads.tv/" target="_blank"></a></div>
</div>
</div>
The ICC was not immediately available for comment. But coming so soon after South Africa&#8217;s announcement, Gambia&#8217;s move added to pressure on the world&#8217;s first permanent war crimes court.
The ICC has had to fight off allegations of pursuing a neo-colonial agenda in Africa, where all but one of its 10 investigations have been based.
Burundi has already said it plans to leave and Kenya&#8217;s parliament is considering following suit.
The statement from Gambia, whose citizens make up a disproportionately high proportion of the African migrant flow to Europe, said it had sought to bring the European Union before the ICC over the deaths of migrants but received no response.
&#8220;There are many Western countries, at least 30, that have committed heinous war crimes against independent sovereign states and their citizens since the creation of the ICC and not a single Western war criminal has been indicted,&#8221; it said.
The ICC&#8217;s current chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, is Gambian and was as an adviser to Jammeh in the early years of his rule after he seized power in a coup in 1994. She later served as justice minister.
It is not the first time Jammeh has pulled his country &#8211; a popular beach destination for European tourists &#8211; out of an international institution.
In 2013, he withdrew Gambia from the Commonwealth, the 54-member grouping including Britain and most of its former colonies, branding it a &#8220;neo-colonial institution&#8221;.
Rights groups accuse Jammeh of cracking down on political opponents as he eyes a December election, where he will seek his fifth term after he scrapped term limits.﻿

Gambia also to withdrawal from International Criminal Court

South Africa is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, according to a document seen by Reuters on Thursday, a move that would take effect one year after notice is formally received by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
A U.N. spokesman declined to confirm receipt of the document, which is signed by South Africa&#8217;s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and dated Oct. 19.
&#8220;The Republic of South Africa has found that its obligations with respect to the peaceful resolution of conflicts at times are incompatible with the interpretation given by the International Criminal Court,&#8221; according to the document.
South Africa&#8217;s foreign affairs department spokesman Clayson Monyela declined to comment, saying the justice minister would hold a news conference on the issue at 0800 GMT.
The International Criminal Court, which opened in July 2002 and has 124 member states, is the first legal body with permanent international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Burundi appeared set to become the first state to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the 1998 treaty establishing the global court, after its parliament voted last week to leave. President Pierre Nkurunziza signed a decree on Tuesday, but the United Nations has not yet been officially notified.
South Africa said a year ago that it planned to leave the ICC after its government was criticised for ignoring a court order to arrest Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is accused of genocide and war crimes, when he visited last year.
Several African countries have expressed concern that the focus of the Hague-based court has been on Africa rather than elsewhere in the world.
&#8220;The Republic of South Africa is committed to fight impunity and to bring those who commit atrocities and international crimes to justice and as a founding member of the African Union promotes international human rights and the peaceful resolution of conflicts on the African continent,&#8221; the document said.
&#8220;In complex and multi-faceted peace negotiations and sensitive post-conflict situations, peace and justice must be viewed as complementary and not mutually exclusive,&#8221; the South African document said.﻿

South Africa to withdraw from the International Criminal Court

Congolese former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba and his defence team bribed witnesses to lie in his favour at a war crimes trial that ended in the highest ranking conviction by the International Criminal Court, judges ruled on Wednesday.
The court said 14 key witnesses had been coached about what to say, and found Bemba and four other defendants guilty of conspiring to present false evidence to the court.
Supporters of Bemba, who is appealing his conviction and 18-year sentence for overseeing a campaign of rape and murder in Central African Republic more than a decade ago, had no immediate comment.
When they found him guilty in March this year, judges ruled the politician, who served as vice president from 2003 to 2006, failed to discipline or restrain his Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) soldiers as they rampaged through the neighbouring country in 2002 and 2003.
As part of a systematic effort to interfere with the trial, Bemba and his team used secret phones and code language to instruct witnesses in exchange for cash, promises of relocation, computers and other bribes, the court found.
&#8220;No legal system in the world can accept the bribing of witnesses, the inducement of witnesses to lie, or the illicit coaching of witnesses, nor can the International Criminal Court,&#8221; Presiding Judge Bertram Schmitt said.
&#8220;Today&#8217;s judgment sends the clear message that the court is not willing to allow its proceedings to be hampered or destroyed.&#8221;
Those convicted face sentences of up to five years, or a fine, or both.
Schmitt allowed suspects other than Bemba to remain free pending their sentencing hearings, for which he did not set a date, saying they had cooperated with the court and were not considered a flight risk.
The four others convicted include Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, a member of Bemba&#8217;s legal team; and Fidele Babala Wandu, a politician and close associate of Bemba.﻿

Ex-Congolese VP convicted of witness tampering

War crimes judges on Tuesday sentenced a former Islamist rebel who admitted wrecking holy shrines during Mali&#8217;s 2012 conflict to nine years in prison, in the first such case to focus on destruction of cultural heritage.
During a brief trial at the International Criminal Court in August Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi asked for forgiveness and said he had been swept up in an &#8220;evil wave&#8221; by al Qaeda and the Ansar Dine Islamist groups that briefly seized control of the ancient sites.
In June and July of 2012 &#8220;10 of the most important and well-known sites in Timbuktu were attacked and destroyed. &#8230; a war activity aimed at breaking the soul of the people,&#8221; said presiding Judge Raul Pangalangan.
Prosecutors had demanded a sentence of 9 to 11 years for al-Mahdi, who sat quietly in a gray suit, nodding as the verdict was read aloud.
Judges said the sentence took into account al-Mahdi&#8217;s expression of remorse and cooperation with the court.
 Al-Mahdi admitted to involvement in the destruction of key historic mausoleums and religious sites in Timbuktu dating from Mali&#8217;s 14th-century golden age as a trading hub and centre of Sufi Islam, a branch of the religion seen as idolatrous by some hardline Muslim groups.
 
(Reporting By Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)﻿

ICC

Op-Ed: Sudan’s Bashir one step closer to the ICC

Migration in the Mediterranean: It’s time for the ICC to put European leaders on trial, here’s why

Understanding Africa’s role in international justice

Elections in Africa: democratic rituals matter even though the outlook is bleak

ICC declines to refer S.A to UN on Sudan’s Bashir arrest

SA’s economic engine, Gauteng’s focus will be on delivery, accountability: Makhura

South Africa: Revocation of withdrawal from the ICC a chance to rethink thwarting pursuit of justice

Gambia announces plans to stay in International Criminal Court

African Union to choose new leader

Ugandan lawmakers petition International Criminal Court

Under fire, ICC's African prosecutor says she will uphold fight against atrocities

ICC's toughest trial: Africa vs. 'Infamous Caucasian Court'

Botwana FinMin urges: Stay and fix the ICC

Gambia also to withdrawal from International Criminal Court

South Africa to withdraw from the International Criminal Court

Ex-Congolese VP convicted of witness tampering

Nine years in prison for destruction of Timbuktu shrines

News Tips

Advertise With Us

ICC

Op-Ed: Sudan’s Bashir one step closer to the ICC

Migration in the Mediterranean: It’s time for the ICC to put European leaders on trial, here’s why

Understanding Africa’s role in international justice

Elections in Africa: democratic rituals matter even though the outlook is bleak

ICC declines to refer S.A to UN on Sudan’s Bashir arrest

SA’s economic engine, Gauteng’s focus will be on delivery, accountability: Makhura

South Africa: Revocation of withdrawal from the ICC a chance to rethink thwarting pursuit of justice

Gambia announces plans to stay in International Criminal Court

African Union to choose new leader

Ugandan lawmakers petition International Criminal Court

Under fire, ICC's African prosecutor says she will uphold fight against atrocities

ICC's toughest trial: Africa vs. 'Infamous Caucasian Court'

Botwana FinMin urges: Stay and fix the ICC

Gambia also to withdrawal from International Criminal Court

South Africa to withdraw from the International Criminal Court

Ex-Congolese VP convicted of witness tampering

Nine years in prison for destruction of Timbuktu shrines

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters