Six out of the nine African situations under ICC investigation came about as a result of requests or grants of jurisdiction by African governments – Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Uganda, and twice the Central African Republic.
Two other investigations in Africa, involving the Darfur region of Sudan and Libya, were referred to the court by the United Nations Security Council, with African states on the Council either voting for or abstaining. None voted against these two referrals.
In Kenya, the ICC prosecutor received the authorization of an ICC pre-trial chamber to open investigations after the government of Kenya repeatedly failed to investigate the 2007-08 post-election violence domestically.
In 2016, Gabon called on the ICC to investigate alleged Rome Statute crimes committed in the country, prompting the opening of a preliminary examination.
In January 2016, the ICC prosecutor opened the court’s first formal investigation outside Africa—into Georgia.
The ICC is conducting several preliminary examinations of situations outside Africa – including in Afghanistan, Colombia, and Palestine, and into alleged crimes attributed to the armed forces of the United Kingdom deployed in Iraq, and alleged crimes by Ukrainian, separatist, and Russian forces in Ukraine since 2013.
There is no consensus in the Africa Union to leave the ICC. The 2016 meeting of the African Union in fact saw several states oppose a motion for withdrawal en masse, the first time in many years the regional body had failed push the resolution through. A decision to withdraw from the Statute is up to individual states, not the AU.
The anti-ICC backlash first intensified after the 2009 ICC arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan was issued alleging his responsibility for serious crimes committed in Darfur.
Many African governments cooperate frequently with the ICC in its investigations and preliminary examinations.
Many of African states have amended their constitutions in line with the Rome Statute to ensure domestic accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
The post-colonial conflicts that beset a large part of the African continent for decades have often featured those in power committing serious international crimes with unimaginable levels of impunity. In Africa, victims of serious crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, have endured injustice for far too long.
Within many African countries, particularly those that have gone through or are still going through prolonged conflict, national judicial systems remain weak. Existing local justice mechanisms in the majority of African countries are just incapable of dispensing credible justice, especially when those responsible for crimes are the powerful, and in many cases leaders in society.
The majority of African countries lack legislation that fully incorporates Rome Statute definitions of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes into domestic law, making international justice mechanisms like the ICC the most reliable avenues to achieving justice for victims and punishing perpetrators.
