Relations between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the African Union (AU) have been turbulent.
The order by a South African court to Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir to remain in the country to face an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court during the recent African Union Summit has once more brought to the fore turbulent relations between the African Union and the ICC. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, the European Union and the United States of America used the opportunity of Mr Bashir’s presence for the summit to multiply urgent calls for him to be detained to face charges of crimes against humanity and genocide over the conflict in Darfur.
The International Criminal Court was set up in 2002 to prosecute claims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Since its inception, the court has targeted mostly African leaders and the African Union is intransigent in its position. During the African Union extraordinary summit on October 12, 2013, the organization reiterated its stand. “Sitting Heads of State and government should not be prosecuted while in office and we have resolved to speak with one voice to make sure that our concerns are heard loud and clear,” CNN reported on one of the key decisions, quoting Tedros Adhanom Ghebrevesus, the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister. Heads of State in office the court targets for judgment are Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya.
Nsongurua Udombana in an article published in July 2014 revealed the opposition of the African Union Peace and Security Council concerning the request indictment of President al-Bashir issued by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The AU organ in charge of prevention, management and resolution of Africa’s conflicts reportedly issued a release on July 21, 2008 expressing the view that, “in order to achieve long-lasting peace”, it is important to “uphold principles of accountability and bring to justice the perpetrators of gross human rights violations’ in Darfur”.
He wrote that the AU Assembly has also repeatedly urged the UN Security Council to “defer the process initiated by the ICC” against al-Bashir, in accordance with Article 16 of the ICC Statute, which allows the Council to defer cases for one year. This is contrary to the court’s position that justice should not be sacrificed on the altar of peace. Provoked by the perceived intransigence of the ICC Prosecutor, the AU Assembly in 2009, reportedly directed its Commission to convene a meeting of African countries that are parties to the Rome Statute setting up the ICC to exchange views on the work of the ICC in relation to Africa.
As a follow up to the meeting, the AU Assembly, at its 2009 Summit in Libya, took an unprecedented, far-reaching, decision urging its Member States not to cooperate with the And in July 2011, the AU Assembly further called on its Member States not to cooperate in the execution of the arrest warrant and requested the “UN Security Council to activate the provisions of Article 16 of the Rome Statute with a view to deferring the ICC process on Libya, in the interest of Justice as well as peace in the country”.
