NAIROBI (Reuters) - Burundi’s parliament voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, a move no other country has taken despite complaints from Africa that the court disproportionately targets the continent.

Only two lawmakers voted in favor of staying under the jurisdiction of the Dutch-based ICC, while 94 voted against and 14 abstained.

Pro-government lawmaker Gabriel Ntisezerana said the court was “a political tool used by powers to remove whoever they want from power on the African continent”.

The bill to remove Burundi from the court’s jurisdiction still must be approved by the upper house of the legislature and then be signed by the president. That would trigger a withdrawal process lasting a year.

The ICC declined to comment on the vote, saying it had not yet been formally notified of the action. The U.S. State Department, however, said it was “concerned” by the country’s human rights situation, including the government effort to withdraw from the court.

“Such a move ... would isolate Burundi from its neighbors and the international community at a time when accountability, transparency and engaged dialogue are most needed,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The ICC opened a preliminary investigation in April into Burundi, focusing on killings, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as enforced disappearances.

Burundi’s government was infuriated last month by a U.N. report that named officials accused of orchestrating the torture and killing political opponents.

Since then, Burundi has banned three U.N. investigators from its territory and condemned a U.N. decision to set up a commission of inquiry to probe the violence, which began last year after President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to seek a third term in office.

Opponents said his candidacy violated the constitution and a peace agreement that ended a civil war in 2005. The opposition mostly boycotted the polls and Nkurunziza won a third term.

The ICC said in April that political violence had killed about 450 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee.

Opposition lawmaker Fabien Baciryanino favored staying under ICC jurisdiction, saying to withdraw was “no more, no less, than inciting the Burundian people to commit more crimes”.

Since it was set up under the 1998 Rome Statute, the court based in The Hague has focused on prosecuting such politically-motivated crimes as genocide and crimes against humanity.

Most of its investigations and indictments have been of Africans, stirring criticism from many governments on the continent.

Nine out of 10 situations under investigation by ICC prosecutors are African. All five verdicts have dealt with African suspects from Congo, Central African Republic and Mali.

South Africa has been in conflict with the court since Pretoria failed to carry out an ICC arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he visited Johannesburg last year.

Court spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said the ICC could not comment on Burundi’s vote because it had not yet been formally notified.

“There is a possibility for countries to withdraw, but it only takes effect one year after being submitted to the UNSG,” he said, referring to the United Nations Secretary-General.

“Withdrawal does not effect the past obligation of a country to cooperate with any ongoing proceedings or investigation.”</s>Burundi's Lower House of parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), after the UN began an enquiry into human rights abuses in the turbulent nation.

The draft law was passed with 94 votes in favour, two against and 14 abstentions. It will next go to the Senate — also dominated by the ruling party — before being approved by President Pierre Nkurunziza.

In April, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she was conducting a "preliminary examination" of the situation in Burundi — the first step towards a full investigation and possible prosecutions — looking into allegations including murder, torture, rape and forced disappearances.

And two weeks ago the United Nations launched a high-level probe into rights violations in Burundi after a report warned of possible "crimes against humanity" and the risk of genocide.

"It is perfectly clear that this is a plot to do harm to Burundi," Gaston Sindimwo, Burundi's vice-president, said last week, referring to the investigations.

Burundi's move to leave the Netherlands-based court also comes amid rising resentment in Africa against the ICC, which leaders accuse of targeting only countries on the continent.</s>KIGALI, Rwanda -- Lawmakers in Burundi overwhelmingly voted Wednesday in support of a plan to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, something no country has ever done.

The decision escalates a bitter dispute with the international community over the human-rights situation in the East African country, which has seen more than a year of deadly violence after President Pierre Nkurunziza made a controversial decision to pursue a third term.

No state has withdrawn from the court, according to the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, a nonprofit that supports the court's work. The court prosecutes cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"We are very alarmed about the trajectory the country is taking," the U.N. human-rights chief, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, said.

Ninety-four out of 110 Burundi lawmakers voted in favor of the withdrawal plan, months after the court announced it would investigate the country's ongoing violence.

The decision, which also was unanimously adopted by the Senate, now needs the president's approval.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby, speaking to reporters Wednesday, said withdrawing from the court would "isolate Burundi from its neighbors and the international community at a time when accountability, transparency and engaged dialogue are most needed."

Some African countries have threatened a withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the court, accusing the court of disproportionately targeting the continent.

Only Africans have been charged in the six cases that are ongoing or about to begin, though preliminary investigations have been opened elsewhere in the world.

"Burundi civil society is clear that their government is withdrawing from democracy, human rights and the rule of law, not the ICC," said William Pace, convenor of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. He added that "African governments overwhelmingly voted for and ratified the treaty, stating that they did not want a repeat of the Rwandan genocide, where there was a breakdown in the rule of law and justice."

Of the 124 countries that are parties to the Rome Statute, 34 are African, the largest continental bloc. The United States is not a party to the treaty.

Burundi's decision is not immediate. Observers say a county wishing to withdraw from the court must write to the U.N. secretary-general stating its intention, and the withdrawal takes effect a year after the day the secretary-general receives the letter.

No such letter had yet been received, said the spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric. He pointed out that Burundi still would have to cooperate with any court proceedings that begin before the withdrawal takes effect.

Vital Nshimirimana, a Burundian rights activist, urged the U.N. to challenge the government's decision.

"Already, we have information that intelligence agents are torturing, killing Burundians behind closed doors," he said. "The world ought to rescue the people of Burundi."

Burundi's government has repeatedly said it is the victim of propaganda by exiles and opponents who want to diminish its credibility.

Hundreds have died in Burundi since Nkurunziza last year pursued and won a third term that many call unconstitutional. Since the ruling party announced his candidacy in April 2015, Burundi has seen violent street protests, forced disappearances and assassinations. More than 260,000 have fled.

On Monday, Burundi's government banned three U.N. human rights investigators from entering the country after the release of a report that cited numerous rights violations allegedly perpetrated by security agencies.

The push among some African countries to withdraw from the court began after the court indicted Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on charges of crimes against humanity for 2007 postelection violence in which more than 1,000 died. The court's prosecutor said threats to witnesses, bribery and lack of cooperation by Kenya's government led to the case's collapse.

Some countries want a separate African court with jurisdiction over rights abuses.

Information for this article was contributed by Mike Corder, Jamey Keaten, Michael Astor and Matthew Lee of The Associated Press.</s>Only two lawmakers voted in favor of staying under the jurisdiction of the Dutch-based ICC, while 94 voted against and 14 abstained. Pro-government lawmaker Gabriel Ntisezerana said the court was "a political tool used by powers to remove whoever they want from power on the African continent."

Earlier this year, the ICC opened a preliminary investigation into Burundi, focusing on acts of killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as enforced disappearances.

Burundi's government was infuriated last month after a U.N. report named officials accused of orchestrating the torture and killing of political opponents. Since then, Burundi has banned three U.N. investigators from its territory and rejected a U.N. decision to set up a commission of inquiry to probe the violence, which began last year after President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to seek a third term in office.

Opponents said his rerun violated the constitution and a peace agreement that ended a civil war in 2005. The opposition mostly boycotted the polls and Nkurunziza won a third term.

The ICC said in April that political violence had killed around 450 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee.

The bill to remove Burundi from the court's jurisdiction will proceed to the upper house of the legislature and then be signed by the president, triggering a withdrawal process that will last a year.

Opposition lawmaker Fabien Baciryanino, who favored staying under ICC jurisdiction, saying withdrawing was "no more, no less, than inciting the Burundian people to commit more crimes".

Since it was set up under the 1998 Rome Statute, the court based in The Hague has focused on prosecuting four main crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. Its heavy focus on Africa has stirred a backlash against the court from countries such as Kenya and South Africa.</s>KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Lawmakers in Burundi overwhelmingly voted Wednesday in support of a plan to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, something no country has ever done.

The decision escalates a bitter dispute with the international community over the human rights situation in the East African country, which has seen more than a year of deadly violence after President Pierre Nkurunziza made a controversial decision to pursue a third term.

No state has withdrawn from the ICC, according to the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. The court prosecutes cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ninety-four out of 110 Burundi lawmakers voted in favor of the withdrawal plan, months after the ICC announced it would investigate the country’s ongoing violence.

Some African countries have threatened a withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC, accusing the court of disproportionately targeting the continent.

Only Africans have been charged in the six cases that are ongoing or about to begin, though preliminary ICC investigations have been opened elsewhere in the world.

Of the 122 countries that are parties to the Rome Statute, 34 are African, the largest continental bloc. The United States is not a party to the treaty.

Burundi’s decision is not immediate. Observers say a county wishing to withdraw from the ICC must write to the U.N. secretary-general stating its intention, and the withdrawal takes effect a year after the day the secretary-general receives the letter.

Vital Nshimirimana, a Burundian rights activist, urged the U.N. to challenge the government’s decision.

“Already, we have information that intelligence agents are torturing, killing Burundians behind closed doors,” he said. “The world ought to rescue the people of Burundi.”

Burundi’s government has repeatedly said it is the victim of propaganda by exiles and opponents who want to diminish its credibility.

Hundreds have died in Burundi since Nkurunziza last year pursued and won a third term that many call unconstitutional. Since the ruling party announced his candidacy in April 2015, Burundi has seen violent street protests, forced disappearances and assassinations. More than 260,000 have fled.

On Monday, Burundi’s government banned three U.N. human rights investigators from entering the country following the release of a report that cited massive rights violations allegedly perpetrated by security agencies.

The push among some African countries to withdraw from ICC began after the court indicted Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on charges of crimes against humanity for 2007 post-election violence in which more than 1,000 died. The ICC prosecutor said threats to witnesses, bribery and lack of cooperation by Kenya’s government led to the case’s collapse.

Some countries want a separate African court with jurisdiction over rights abuses.</s>Burundi has banned three UN investigators from entering the country after they accused the government of gross human rights violations.

The investigators said in a report last month that thousands of people had been tortured, suffered sexual abuse or disappeared during political violence.

They also warned of the danger of genocide from the escalating violence.

The decision comes days after Burundi announced plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

A letter signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Aime Nyamitwe said Pablo de Greiff of Colombia, Christof Heyns of South Africa, and Maya Sahli-Fadel of Algeria were no longer welcome in Burundi.

Their investigation, published in a UN report, had described "abundant evidence of gross human rights violations" possibly amounting to crimes against humanity, by the government of Burundi and people associated with it.

Speaking in New York on Monday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric urged Burundi to continue to co-operate with the investigators.

"It's critical that Burundi and every other country co-operate fully with UN human rights mechanism and that is including working with those representing it," he said.

Burundi's announcement to withdraw from the ICC came six months after the Hague-based court said it would investigate ongoing violence in the country.

The African Union (AU) has repeatedly complained that the ICC treats Africans and Africa unfairly.

Last week, a representative of the non-governmental organisation Trial International was stripped of her visa and ordered to leave Burundi.

The employee was scheduled to provide legal training to Burundian lawyers defending victims of state-sponsored violence.</s>Burundi on Monday barred three United Nations rights experts who had accused the government in Bujumbura of being responsible for abuses and warned of a danger of genocide from the violence.

In a letter sent by Foreign Minister Alain Aime Nyamitwe and seen by AFP, the Burundian government said the three UN investigators were declared persona non grata with immediate effect.

Pablo de Greiff from Colombia, Christof Heyns from South Africa and Maya Sahli-Fadel of Algeria had been appointed in December to lead the independent probe.

"It's critical that Burundi and every other country cooperate fully with UN human rights mechanism and that is including working with those representing it," he said.

The decision to bar the three UN experts came just days after Burundi announced plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, warning of a "plot" to harm the country.

The three experts had concluded in a report released last month that "gross human rights violations have and are taking place, committed primarily by state agents and those linked to them."

Thousands of people have been tortured, suffered sexual abuse or disappeared, while arbitrary detention has happened "on a massive scale", the report said.

UN diplomats said the move was clearly an angry response from Bujumbura to the report which paved the way to a UN decision to set up a formal Commission of Inquiry.

Burundi on Friday said it would pull out of the ICC amid fears that members of the leadership could be indicted as a result of the commission of inquiry's work.

Last week, a representative of the non-governmental organisation Trial International was stripped of her visa and ordered to leave Burundi.

Burundi has been in turmoil since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans in April last year to run for a third term, which he went on to win.

More than 500 people have died, many of them in extrajudicial killings blamed on Burundian police, security forces and militias linked to the ruling party, according to the United Nations.

The UN Security Council is due to discuss the crisis in Burundi on Thursday and hear a report from envoy Jamal Benomar.</s>Bujumbura. Lawmakers at both chambers of the Burundian parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate, Wednesday passed the bill on Burundi’s pullout from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Burundian Justice Minister Aimee Laurentine Kanyana was invited in separate plenary sessions at both chambers of the Burundian parliament to convince lawmakers to vote for the bill.

“The International Criminal Court (ICC) has become an instrument of superpowers to fight against African countries. That is why we (Burundi) want to leave the ICC,” said Burundian Justice Minister Aimee Laurentine Kanyana.

The move which has been applauded by the Burundian ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), was however criticized by opposition lawmakers who said that crimes will go unprosecuted.

That’s why I, as a lawmaker, think that leaving the ICC is very good because the ICC is unfair. It promotes wrongdoers and harasses those seeking the country’s development,” said Ndaruvukanye during the debate.

Leaving the ICC is like burying Burundi considering unpunished crimes currently taking place in Burundi,” Fabien Banciryanino said. MP Andre Ndayizamba stressed that leaving the ICC is a “political and diplomatic error” for Burundi. After the debate at the National Assembly, out of 110 MPs who attended the session, 94 voted for the bill, two were against and 14 others abstained.

The minimum required number of MPs for the bill to be adopted was 73, according to the speaker of the National Assembly, Pascal Nyabenda.

Last week, Burundian First Vice-President Gaston Sindimwo announced that Burundi had decided to pull out of the International Criminal Court (ICC) because it only prosecutes Africans.Burundi’s pullout of the ICC follows Tuesday’s decision to suspend all cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Burundi. (NMG)</s>The International Criminal Court's building (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands. Burundi could thus become the first country in the world to withdraw from the 14-year-old court. PHOTO | FILE

Burundi's pending decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) likely heralds similar action by other African countries, the Burundian ambassador to the United States said on Thursday.

“African countries will quit the ICC one by one in the coming months and years,” Ambassador Ernest Ndabashinze said.

While declining to comment specifically on threats by some Kenyan leaders to withdraw the country from ICC jurisdiction, the envoy cited a sentiment echoed by some African leaders regarding the court.

“Many African governments now view the court as an instrument used to control, manipulate and impose foreign decisions on Africa,” Mr Ndabashinze said in a telephone interview with the Nation.

He pointed to the African Union's call earlier this year for formulation of a strategy for withdrawal from the ICC.

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He said African disgruntlement with the court stems primarily from the ICC's nearly-exclusive focus on countries in the continent in cases related to genocide and war crimes.

However, some African governments have themselves been the source of requests for ICC action, as is the case of six of the nine investigations initiated in the continent.

In addition, some African countries like Botswana have said they have no intention of withdrawing from the ICC.

Burundi's Parliament voted decisively earlier this week to pull the country out of the ICC. That step awaits ratification by President Pierre Nkurunziza, but Ambassador Ndabashinze said that the move is final and irreversible.

Burundi would thus become the first country in the world to withdraw from the 14-year-old court.

He claimed government opponents allegedly involved in an unsuccessful coup attempt last year are using the ICC to protect themselves.</s>People demonstrate outside the office of the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner in Bujumbura on September 24, 2016, against a report by investigators tasked by the UN with probing rights abuses in Burundi. By Tony Karumba (AFP/File)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council on Thursday decided to dispatch a UN envoy to Burundi after the government in Bujumbura broke off ties with UN rights monitors and kept up resistance to the deployment of a UN police force.

UN envoy Jamal Benomar will travel to Bujumbura next week for the crisis talks.

"What we need is a renewed engagement with the government," Benomar told reporters following a closed-door meeting of the council.

During the talks, the envoy said he would "clarify the objective of resolution 2303" authorizing the deployment of 228 UN police to monitor security and "see whether we can find a way forward."

Burundi has said it will accept only a few dozen UN police on its territory, defying the resolution adopted in July.

The visit comes at a time of mounting tensions between the United Nations and Burundi, which this week decided to suspend cooperation with UN rights monitors and pull out of the International Criminal Court.

President Pierre Nkurunziza's government reacted angrily to a report by UN rights experts that blamed state police and security forces for the violence that has torn apart the country since April 2015.

More than 500 people have been killed and at least 300,000 have fled the country since the crisis began over Nkurunziza's bid to run for a third term in office, which he went on to win.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the council will show its "clear support to Benomar before he goes to Bujumbura."

The envoy, however, declined to say whether he will raise the possibility of sanctions or other measures against the government if it continues to obstruct the United Nations.

The resolution adopted by the council in July provides for "targeted measures against all actors, inside and outside Burundi, who threaten peace and security."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged Burundi to reverse its decision to break ties with the UN rights office and said the decision to pull out of the ICC was "regrettable."
The Parliament of Burundi votes overwhelmingly to withdraw Burundi from the Dutch-based International Criminal Court.