The ICC does not target African countries – Ms. Fatou Bensouda

General News of Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-02-20

Ms. Fatou Bensouda, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), rejected the widely held idea in Africa that the Court is selective and mainly targets African countries.

She lamented that the work of the ICC has been viewed with suspicion over the years by some member states of the African Union.

Ms. Bensouda, a Gambian citizen and Chief Prosecutor of the ICC since June 2012, highlighted this point at a meeting with former President John Dramani Mahama on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in 2019. Germany last Friday.

More than 600 senior international decision makers from the political, economic, academic and civil society sectors attended the conference.

In a statement issued by Mrs. Joyce Bawah Mogtari, spokesperson for the former president, the bilateral meeting "is focused on relations between the court and Africa, how to improve the continent's confidence Africans and citizens with regard to the courts and human rights around the world. "

Mr Mahama was at the Munich Conference as Chair of the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa, a platform for African leaders, stakeholders and opinion leaders to explore and exchange ideas. ideas on Africa's proposed solutions to security issues.

Democracy

According to the statement, Ms. Bensouda congratulated Mr. Mahama for his role in consolidating democracy in Africa and added that she was also impressed by the work of the former president as chairman of the Tana Forum.

Context

The ICC entered into force in July 2002 after having ratified it by 60 countries. It is the first permanent international criminal court to prosecute the most heinous crimes that concern the international community.

The founding treaty of the Court, known as the Rome Statute, confers jurisdiction on the ICC for four main crimes: the crime of genocide, the crime against humanity, the war crime and the crime of aggression.