The African Union blasted the world’s only permanent war crimes court on Wednesday for its unrelenting focus on the continent, as it called for a case against Kenya’s deputy president to be dropped.
“We have arrived at the conclusion that the International Criminal Court, whose establishment was strongly supported by Africa… is no longer a court for all,” Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The Ethiopian minister was speaking on behalf of the AU at the 14th session of the Assembly of States Parties, an annual meeting between the 123 countries that have signed up to the Hague-based ICC’s founding statute.
The AU, led in particular by Kenya, has accused the court of unfairly targeting Africans for prosecution as the majority of its cases come from the continent.
This included a failed case to try Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and a faltering case against his deputy William Ruto, for allegedly masterminding deadly post-election violence in the east African country in 2007-2008 in which some 1 200 people died.
