Johannesburg - The ANC’s national general council (NGC) decided on Sunday that South Africa must review its membership of the International Criminal Court and engage other African states to do the same.
Given the decision to ultimately withdraw from the ICC, it is now for Parliament to amend the act which domesticated the Rome statute into South African law.
The act will now have to be realigned with the Diplomatic Immunities Act so that visiting heads of state who may have been issued warrants of arrest by the ICC may still attend multilateral meetings.
This will need to be done with urgency as Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is due to visit South Africa on December 4 and 5 for the Forum on China- Africa Co-operation meeting.
Were Parliament not to take these measures, South Africa remains obligated to the provisions of the Rome Statute, and under our laws would still be expected to arrest Bashir if he visited again.
Even once South Africa has deposited its withdrawal from the ICC, it will still be obligated to the Rome Statute for another 12 months – hence the urgent necessity to amend the act in Parliament.
South Africa plans to urgently raise the issue of the ICC at the next AU summit in January, where it would encourage other African signatories to start the process of withdrawal from the ICC.
The ANC believes that the big powers calling the shots at the ICC while they themselves are not members is a double standard the continent and the ANC is no longer prepared to tolerate.
“The ANC continues to uphold and respect human rights and does not condone impunity, war crimes or acts of genocide,” the ANC said on Sunday, “but the problem is the double standards and selective actions of the ICC and the fact that only two of the UN Security Council permanent members are signatories, whereas they have unfettered powers with regard to the ICC.”
The ANC was quick to qualify its decision by confirming its belief that those who commit serious crimes must be prosecuted and punished by an impartial body.
“The matter relating to President al-Bashir is of major concern to the ANC, and we view the allegations levelled against him in a serious light.”
The ANC discussed at length the issue of Western domination of the ICC through the influence the big powers command within its power structures as a result of the huge financial contributions they make to its budget.
The NGC took exception to the fact that permanent members of the Security Council, who are not signatories to the Rome Statute, may participate fully in discussions on the ICC and make referrals of countries to it.
According to the ANC, those countries have taken steps to ensure their officials and military personnel will not be subjected to the jurisdiction of the ICC.
“The manner in which we were treated around the President al-Bashir incident is consistent with the cheeky arrogance Africa has experienced in its interaction with the ICC,” the ANC said.
Following heated discussions at the NGC concerning the ICC on Sunday, the NGC resolved that the government should review its membership, which would be preceded by discussions with other ICC members on the continent, at which South Africa should encourage African withdrawal.
According to the NGC’s discussion documents, the ANC takes the following view: “We perceive the ICC as tending to act as a proxy instrument for these states, which see no need to subject themselves to its discipline, but will persecute African leaders and effect regime change on the continent. It is being used as a court against Africa.”
The Star