Under the Rome Statute, court ordered reparations are available to victims after the accused is found guilty. In the case of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, this involves over 5,000 victims.
Acts of rape and sexual slavery committed by members of a Congolese armed group against other members are war crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
Plenty of African states bristle at the rest of the world’s eagerness to prosecute crimes committed on the continent. Some are finding other ways to do it.
Criminal responsibility is a question of answerability; it declares certain actions to be wrong and calls those who are accused of having perpetrated such wrongs to answer for their actions.
South Africa’s decision to leave the ICC suggests that its foreign policy is caught in a dilemma between lofty ideas, an unsettled identity crisis, and shifting priorities in a complex world.
It is a question of when, not whether, Kenya will pull out of the ICC. But it is also clear that there is some incentive for Nairobi not to withdraw immediately
There are fears that the withdrawal of countries from the ICC would mark the end of international criminal justice in Africa. This need not be the case.
Ironically the campaign to withdraw from the ICC was mainly initiated by the very same governments and heads of state that had earlier referred cases to the ICC when it suited their own interests.
The ICC has made important advances by investigating cases outside Africa and completing ones that further define what is not allowed in war. South Africa’s withdrawal is concerning, but not fatal.
Arguably Africa’s most powerful diplomatic player, South Africa is now backing out of the world’s most important mechanism for bringing war criminals to justice.