The International Criminal Court is “dangerous” and South Africa should withdraw from it.
This is according to a leader of the ruling African National Congress defending the government’s decision not to arrest indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said, ”It is a tool in the hands of the powerful to destroy the weak and it is a court that is focusing on Africa, Eastern Europe and Middle East.”
“If I was in government, I would say give notice, get out of that, it was not what was envisioned. It is a tool in the hands of the powerful to destroy the weak and it is a court that is focusing on Africa, Eastern Europe and Middle East,” ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said on Talk Radio 702.
“Have nothing to do with that, because it is dangerous.”
This call follows South Africa’s failure to detain Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, in violation of its international obligations and in defiance of a High Court order.
President Bashir is wanted in connection with war crimes and genocide in the Darfur conflict that saw 300,000 people killed and more than 2 million displaced.
President Jacob Zuma’s government and the ANC have been criticised for allowing Bashir, who faces charges of genocide at the court, to slip out of South Africa through a military air base after attending an African Union summit last week.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)’s Floyd Shivambu criticised government for ignoring an order by one of its own courts, but also slammed the ICC for selective prosecution of African leaders.
