Uganda’s attorney general William Byaruhanga has confirmed that the East African nation has not made any attempts to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Observer reports.
The AG released the statement on the status of Uganda’s membership in at the ICC to the country’s parliament in addressing fears that the country will terminate its relationship with the Hague based court following South Africa, Burundi and The Gambia’s announced their intentions to leave the international court.
Uganda, Kenya and Namibia have criticized the ICC for being biased against African leaders in comparison to the Western countries, due to the fact that nine out of ten cases at the ICC are of crimes in Africa.
“(Ugandan) President Yoweri Museveni has over the years described the court as a “biased instrument of post-colonial hegemony’ and a bunch of useless people adding that the court did not have the value that they had expected it to be.” Says the Observer
Uganda’s troubles with the ICC heightened with the invitation and failure to arrest Sudanese president Gen Omar Al Bashir when he attended the swearing-in ceremony of President Museveni in May 2016. President Bashir is wanted for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur.
Under the Rome Statute, countries have a legal obligation to arrest anyone sought by the tribunal. But Byarugaba told parliament that the invitation to Bashir was similar to the invitation extended to all head of states of neighbouring countries for the occasion.
The AG said that President Bashir remains an actor for the stability for Sudan and Africa adding that the ICC has equally acknowledged the concern by African states.
The AG said Uganda is the first country to make a referral to the ICC leading to the indictment of Joseph Kony the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army and four of his top commanders in 2005.
The Gambia has repealed the decision to leave the Rome Statutes after the current President Adama Barrow took office from former President Yahya Jammeh, while a South African court blocked the decision by the government to withdraw from the court.
