AllAfrica.com recently published an analysis by Stephen A. Lamony in African Arguments acknowledging that, while all cases brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC) have been against Africans, African governments have shown strong support for the ICC since they helped to facilitate its establishment. In fact, four of the eight formal cases brought to the court were brought by African nations themselves–the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Central African Republic, and Mali. The others, while referred by the United Nations Security Council, were all supported by African nations.
Lamony writes:
Rather than seeking out cases on the African continent, the ICC opened investigations where it was asked to, and where grave crimes were being committed. As current ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has said: “The office of the prosecutor will go where the victims need us … The world increasingly understands the role of the court and Africa understood it from the start. As Africans we know that impunity is not an academic, abstract notion.”
Read more at AllAfrica.com.
This news brief was written by Kaitlin Higgins, editorial assistant for The Burton Wire.
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