Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa covering President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. government, UN, IMF, World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington and New York.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has announced the country’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed the decision, citing concerns over the court’s alleged bias against African countries.
The move comes after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin last month, which would have required South Africa to detain Putin during the upcoming BRICS meetings in the country. The ANC believes this demonstrated the ICC’s unfair treatment of some nations and leaders.
The ICC has indicted 54 individuals, almost exclusively African, leading many African leaders to accuse the court of bias against the continent. The ANC’s decision also follows criticism by Amnesty International, which has questioned the fairness of the ICC’s treatment of African countries.
The ANC’s withdrawal from the ICC is a reflection of the growing sentiment in many African countries, which view the court as a tool of Western countries to target and control African leaders. Other African states have also refused to cooperate with the court and are considering abandoning it altogether.
The decision by South Africa’s ruling party is sure to spark debate on the role of the ICC in promoting justice and holding individuals accountable for war crimes and other atrocities. It remains to be seen how the ICC will respond to South Africa’s withdrawal and the growing criticism from African leaders.
Hello Simon
Decided to follow you because of the way the American Press is unfairly treating you. Keep up the good work.
As to this story I am two ways. Either this is about the ICC being heavy handed in Africa or it is a push by the BRICS to break away from the west.
As to Man Boobs Putin
This clown is second to Hillary Clinton in Arkencide and it would be karma that he found his end in that fashion. AS to arresting him, why give countries the drama. I am sure Dmitri Medicated would fuss and fume for the cameras and then waltz into whatever is left of Russia.. So I will refrain from stating what I really think about this subject and yet that end for the Wicked Witch of Arkansas is something I cannot support for legal reasons but would not be upset over. I would not even fuss and fume.
That said: As to other stable African Countries I think a better approach is not to abandon the ICC but to instead form their own and then start imposing their rules on the ICC especially as to how things function and who gets to make these calls. The problem is there is such seemingly uncontrolled chaos in Africa for so long now that outsiders have felt they had to get involved. If there were some kind of base of African countries that were stable and could respond to this initially and essentially take control of matters internally then they could answer the ICC and in cases involving Africans be the ones that call the shots.
I don’t know much about this myself but just speculating that if a group of African countries could show the world they had control then they could start calling the shots. This would require some independence on their part.
I have no idea how reasonable what I am saying is though. That all depends on African politics. I have heard several African nations are trying to form a single federated state similar to the EU so maybe their is some hope for that. Not sure!
There are a bunch of western leaders that should have indicted way before Putin. All these people aren’t Human! They have Human bodies & Reptilian souls icheckyoursoul.com