By Oluwakemi Kindness
Chad has announced plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), arguing that the court’s work has been ineffective and disproportionately focused on African countries.
In a statement on Monday, the Chadian government says the decision followed an extensive review of the ICC’s operations since it was established in 2002, concluding that its effectiveness has been “limited and uneven” across different regions of the world.
The government criticized what it described as the court’s concentration on Africa, noting that nine of the 13 investigations opened by the ICC involve African countries, while only four investigations have been launched elsewhere with what it called little tangible progress.
It also pointed out that the ICC currently has seven people in custody, six of whom are being prosecuted in cases linked to African countries.
According to the government, the decision also followed discussions with the United States. A statement published last week by Chad’s foreign ministry said a senior US official had urged N’Djamena to review its membership of the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC.
“The American side expressed its concerns about the functioning of this institution and called on Chad to review its accession to the Rome Statute,” the ministry said.
Chad’s announcement comes amid allegations by national and international organisations over its suspected involvement in the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.
If completed, Chad will join Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which announced in September that they would withdraw from the ICC, accusing the court of serving as an “instrument of neo-colonial repression” against African states.
The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, was established to prosecute individuals accused of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so.
