Benin president expresses skepticism over ICC
September 27, 2008 (PARIS) — The president of Benin Thomas Boni Yayi accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of targeting African nations in its investigations.
The African leader was asked on his opinion with regards to the move by the ICC to indict Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.
The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder.
“Curiously, this international body — is it just a coincidence? — … doesn’t stop harassing African statesmen, only Africans,” Yayi told Radio France International.
“We have the feeling that this court is chasing Africa,” Yayi said, adding that if that was the case, Africa opposed such a campaign. He had been asked for his view on the Bashir case.
Benin is of the members of the Rome Statute that formed the basis of the ICC. Moreover Benin as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in 2005 voted in favor of resolution 1593 which referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC.
However since Al-Bashir’s indictment many African politicians expressed dismay that the only cases before the ICC are from Africa.
This month Lord Malloch Brown UK Foreign Office Minister for Africa acknowledged that Al-Bashir’s indictment does not have the support of African leaders who he said feel that the ICC is “is real intrusion of Western institution into Africa’s affairs where you can start indicting African leaders while in office.”.
“They [African leaders] say who is next? It is not that they think Bashir is not guilty of things. But they could imagine circumstances that some smooth well spoken opposition leader fooling Westerners into thinking that they were human right abusers right or wrong and then suddenly there was an indictment against them”.
Africa has the most number of countries that are members of The Hague based court.
The governments of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR) have voluntarily referred their cases to the ICC. Besides Darfur these are the only cases investigated by the ICC.
However the office of the prosecutor said that he is analyzing situations in Columbia and Georgia for possible investigations.
The Columbian government however have initiated national proceedings into crimes committed this invoking the complementarity concept in the Rome Statute.
The ICC will only investigate crimes where the local authorities are unwilling or unable to carry out the prosecutions.
Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UNSC triggered the provisions under the Statute that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security.
(ST)
Akol Liai Mager
Benin president expresses skepticism over ICC
Dear President Yayi,
ICC is after genocidal regimes only wherever they are commiting war crimes world wide, however, it have nothing to do with African leaders. Wait for your turn if your regime is one of them or shut up, distant yourself from ICC and no harm will come to you.
Human lives should be taken naturally otherwise those folks who may be responsible for their death will face justice.
If justice was done by UNSC and ICC to Bosnians and Kosovians why not doing it to Dafurians?
Be reminded Mr Yayi that those Volcan leaders behind bars now at Hagues are not African leaders and even if there are, however, they are there to tell the world about what they know of civillian death in cold-blood.
No harm can happened to AL Bashir like that faced by Furs.
Mr Point
Benin president expresses skepticism over ICC
Don’t commit the crime if you don’t want to do the time in prison!
This is another African leader who want to help the terror in Darfur? Supporting the scorched earth and terror raids on civilian victims.
This resident of Benin is a Muslim turned christion. His wife belong to the family of a military dictator.