The International Criminal Court will not open a formal investigation into claims of post-election violence following the disputed 2016 presidential election.
Through a statement issued on Friday by the ICC Chief Fatou Bensouda,
“There is no reasonable basis to believe that the acts allegedly committed in Gabon in the context of the 2016 post-election violence amounted to crimes against humanity that the court is mandated to investigate and prosecute’’ said Bensouda
Lawyers representing Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping sent a case file to the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor In December 2016, accusing the government of crimes against humanity.
The accusation relates to violence which broke out for two days following the controversial re-election of President Ali Bongo in August.
However in its statement the ICC noted that the legal requirements for opening an investigation into the situation in the Gabonese Republic (“Gabon”) had not been satisfied.
Ping and 15 non-governmental organisations had complained about the violence and Bensouda’s office carried out a preliminary examination into the accusations.
The prosecutor said Friday that the court’s decision “by no means diminishes the seriousness of the violent acts and human rights violations that appear to have occurred in Gabon in the course of the post-election crisis”.
Should new information come to light “warranting the reconsideration of my Office’s conclusions, the preliminary examination could be re-opened.”
Meanwhile Gabon has hailed this decision by the ICC that they term as brave. Legislative elections in the country are scheduled for October 2018
