South Africa 'to withdraw from war crimes court'

[MowCowWhoHow III]

Source: BBC

South Africa has formally begun the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), media reports say.

They say diplomats have notified the UN of the move, accusing the ICC of bias against African countries.

Last year, South Africa refused to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide and war crimes.

He was attending an African Union summit in Johannesburg.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37724724

[jamzrockz]

1. Let the domino begin

Why any African country would continue to sign on to the very racist country that ONLY targets them is beyond me. Until the all the war criminals in the many US and EU are arrested, I don't see any reason why they should continue to be part of the court.

[MisterFred]

2. Well...

Even if the ICC ONLY targets African war criminals, and even if it does so for racist reasons, it seems to me that the people that benefit the most from that are... Africans!

They absolutely should remain part of the ICC. Does this make life more dangerous for African leaders? Yes. But it is NOT the countries being targeted. It is still war criminals being targeted. And that's a good thing, even if it's not a good (global) as we'd like.

[jamzrockz]

3. If it actually

helped ordinary Africans, I would be all for it. But I don't see it that way.

Lemme ask you, would you be in favor of a court/justice system that only punished black people when they committed a crime against other black people but did nothing when a non black person committed worse crimes against other black people?

[MisterFred]

4. Let me make it simpler.

People who commit war crimes should be tried. As many as possible. I understand your concerns of fairness.

It is not fair to decide to let Omar al-Bashir go free because of flaws in the system. It is not fair to let organizers of mass rape go free because of flaws in the system.

As for helping Africans - Jean-Pierre Bembe was convicted. This is justice for ordinary Africans. It may also be a deterrent for using rape as a weapon. This is good for ordinary Africans. The conviction process involved testimony from thousands of victims. Combined with the conviction, this will provide a sense of empowerment: for ordinary Africans.