South Africa’s Desmond Tutu, the 1984 Nobel Peace prize
laureate, has launched a global campaign to stop African nations from
abandoning the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).
Sudan and Kenya, whose political leaders are
accused of war crimes and genocide, are leading the movement against the
ICC and have already threatened to pull out of the tribunal.
Tutu, the Archbishop emeritus of Capetown and one
of the world’s most renowned human rights activists, has appealed to
leaders of South Africa and Nigeria, two of the most powerful countries
in Africa, “to stop Sudan and Kenya from trying to drag Africa out of
the ICC”.
The campaign has been launched in collaboration
with Avaaz, a global civic organisation, described as one of largest
online activist networks.
The 54-member African Union, which has demanded
the ICC drop the case against Kenya’s leadership, will be meeting in
Addis Ababa over the weekend to discuss, among other things, the role of
Africa in the ICC.
Several African countries, including Uganda,
Rwanda and Ethiopia, have criticised and opposed the upcoming trials of
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, on charges
of crimes against humanity in the 2007-2008 post-election violence that
reportedly left over a thousand people dead.
In an email to over 26 million members of Avaaz,
and responding to charges the ICC is a Western witch-hunt because most
of its investigations have taken place in Africa, Tutu said, “I do not
buy the spin the ICC has an anti-African bias. No.”
Impunity
African leaders who abuse power, he argued, must be held to account for their victims.
“And I am on record saying there are certain former Western leaders, among others, who should join them,” he added.
The largest group of ICC members (31 out of 122)
are from Africa and the majority of cases being investigated are in
Africa, including Sudan, Uganda, Libya, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, the
Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Elise Keppler, associate director of the
International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told IPS
Tutu is sending a key message on the importance of African governments
supporting the ICC as a crucial court of last resort.
This is a message activists across Africa have
been sending to their governments this week – as represented by a letter
to foreign ministers signed by more than 150 groups from more than 35
African countries sent in advance of the African Union summit, she said.
William R Pace, convenor of the Coalition for the
International Criminal Court (CICC), told IPS Tutu and Avaaz are raising
awareness that some African leaders are “promoting a great injustice in
the name of justice.”
“These is little danger that these anti-ICC
leaders can kill the ICC, but they could do serious damage to the Court,
but mostly to their own reputations, to the truth that the ICC is a
major achievement of Africa, and most sadly they can do damage to the
hopes and lives of the millions of African victims of crimes against
humanity,” he added.
The outpouring of support for international
justice and the ICC by civil society and by African leaders like Tutu
and former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan “is a greater story than
tired, old tale of heads of government supporting impunity over
accountability”, said Pace, a steering committee member of the
International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP).
Alice Jay, campaign director of Avaaz, said, “The
Archbishop’s campaign is a stark warning against Africa choosing
impunity over justice.”
She said that in Congo, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire,
the ICC has brought hope to thousands persecuted by armies, militias
and madmen.
“Hundreds of thousands of people are now calling on South Africa and Nigeria to lead the continent to save the ICC,” she added.
Double standards
Far from being anti-African, Tutu said, the ICC’s
chief prosecutor, vice-president and five of its judges are Africans and
its interventions have saved countless lives in Africa.
“Those who fear being prosecuted by the ICC should not be allowed to lead Africa by the nose,” he added.
Asked about charges of anti-African bias, HRW’s
Keppler told IPS that claims the ICC is targeting Africa are simply not
based in fact. She said the majority of the court’s investigations came
about because African governments asked the ICC to get involved. Two
more came from Security Council referrals, she said.
The ICC’s office of the prosecutor acted on its
own initiative in only one case – Kenya – and only after Kenya failed to
pursue justice domestically.
That’s not to say there are no problems with the
reach of justice, she said, pointing out that currently “some powerful
governments are able to ensure that they can evade accountability before
international courts by not joining the ICC or using their veto power
at the Security Council to only refer certain situations to the ICC”.
The lack of referral of Syria to the ICC is case
in point. Both Russia and China, two permanent members of the Security
Council, have threatened to use their vetoes against any attempts to
involve the ICC in Syria.
“But that should be impetus to governments African
and non-African to call out double standards in the application of
justice and press for justice to be possible wherever the most serious
crimes are committed, not cripple the only permanent court with
authority to try grave crimes,” said Keppler.
SOURCE: IPS VIA AFRICA REVIEW
