Image copyright AFP Image caption President Yahya Jammeh has ruled Gambia since 1994

The Gambia says it will pull of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after accusing the tribunal of persecuting and humiliating Africans.

The small West African nation joins South Africa and Burundi in withdrawing from the court.

The ICC was set up to try the world's worst crimes but has been accused of unfairly targeting African leaders.

Gambian Information Minister Sheriff Bojang said the court had ignored Western war crimes.

He said the ICC, for example, had failed to indict former British Prime Minister Tony Blair over the Iraq war.

Speaking on state television, he said the ICC was "an International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans".

The ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, is a former Gambian justice minister.

President Yahya Jammeh has ruled The Gambia since taking power in a coup in 1994.

Elections are due in December, but opposition leader Ousainou Darboe and 18 others were jailed for three years earlier this year over an unauthorised protest.

The country has been unsuccessfully trying to have the European Union indicted by the court over the deaths of thousands of African migrants trying to reach the continent by boat.

The ICC and global justice:

Came into force in 2002

The Rome Statute that set it up has been ratified by 123 countries, but the US is a notable absence

It aims to prosecute and bring to justice those responsible for the worst crimes - genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes

In the court's 14-year history it has only brought charges against Africans.

What is the International Criminal Court?

South Africa said last week that it had formally begun the process of withdrawing from the ICC because it did not want to execute arrest warrants which would lead to "regime change".

Last year, a South African court criticised the government for refusing to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the court.

Burundi has also said it will leave the court, while other Africa countries like Kenya and Namibia have said they might.

All but one of the ICC's 10 investigations have been Africa-based.</s>Dakar (AFP) - Gambia has announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, accusing the Hague-based tribunal of the "persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans".

The announcement late Tuesday comes after similar decisions this month by South Africa and Burundi to abandon the troubled institution, set up to try the world's worst crimes.

Information Minister Sheriff Bojang said in an announcement on state television that the court had been used "for the persecution of Africans and especially their leaders" while ignoring crimes committed by the West.

He singled out the case of former British prime minister Tony Blair, who the ICC decided not to indict over the Iraq war.

"There are many Western countries, at least 30, that have committed heinous war crimes against independent sovereign states and their citizens since the creation of the ICC and not a single Western war criminal has been indicted."

The withdrawal, he said, "is warranted by the fact that the ICC, despite being called International Criminal Court, is in fact an International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans".

The ICC, set up in 2002, is often accused of bias against Africa and has also struggled with a lack of cooperation, including from the United States, which has signed the court's treaty but never ratified it.

Gambia has been trying without success to use the court to punish the European Union for deaths of thousands of African migrants trying to reach its shores.

The decision will also come as a personal blow to the court's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, a former Gambian justice minister.

The court at the weekend asked South Africa and Burundi to reconsider their decisions to leave, which came as a major blow to the institution.

"I urge them to work together with other States in the fight against impunity, which often causes massive violations of human rights," Sidiki Kaba, president of the assembly of state parties to the ICC founding treaty, said in a statement.

South Africa's decision followed a dispute last year when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the country despite being the subject of an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes.

Earlier this month, Burundi said it would leave the court, while Namibia and Kenya have also raised the possibility.

Kaba said he was concerned that South Africa and Burundi's decisions would pave the way for other African states to leave the court.

The tribunal is tasked with "prosecuting the most serious crimes that shock the conscience of humanity, namely genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression".

The court's former prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo criticised Burundi and South Africa, accusing them of giving leaders on the continent a free hand "to commit genocide".

"Burundi is leaving the ICC to keep committing crimes against humanity and possible genocide in its territory. Burundi's president wants free hands to attack civilians."

He added that former South African president Nelson Mandela had "promoted the establishment of the Court to avoid new massive crimes in Africa. Now under the Zuma leadership South Africa decided to cover up the crimes and abandoned African victims. The world is going backward".

"The chaos is coming. Genocide in Burundi and a new African war are in motion," he said.</s>A third African country, Gambia, says it will leave the International Criminal Court as fears grow of a mass pullout from the body that pursues some of the world's worst atrocities.

Gambia announced the decision on television Tuesday night, accusing the court of unfairly targeting Africa and calling it the "International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of color, especially Africans."

The move comes after South Africa, once a strong ICC supporter under former President Nelson Mandela, last week notified the United Nations secretary-general it would leave the court. Early last week, Burundi's president signed legislation to leave the court as well.

The withdrawal of the African countries has been criticized by human rights groups. "Shameful club of leaders who ignore victims of atrocity crimes," the EU director for Human Rights Watch, Lotte Leicht, tweeted Wednesday. The court was set up to pursue cases of alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Gambia's decision is also striking because the ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, is Gambian.

The information minister of the tiny West African country, Sheriff Baba Bojang, said in the statement late Tuesday that the court is involved in "the persecution of Africans, and especially their leaders."

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

Under the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, signatory countries have a legal obligation to arrest anyone sought by the tribunal, but some African states have allowed people wanted by the ICC, notably Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, to visit, and some say leaders ought to be immune from prosecution.

Gambia's information minister accused "at least 30" Western countries of having committed war crimes against their citizens since the ICC was founded more than a decade ago and said none has been targeted by the court. He singled out former British prime minister Tony Blair for his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Gambia has begun the process of withdrawing from the ICC, which involves notifying the U.N. secretary-general and takes effect a year after the notification is received, said the minister.

So far, the U.N. has said it has received notification only from South Africa.

Rights groups often accuse Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, of abuses including a clampdown on political opponents. The next presidential election is in December.

Officials with other top African critics of the court, including Uganda and Kenya, have said in recent days they have not yet decided whether to leave the ICC as well. Uganda said it will be a "hot topic" at an African Union meeting in January.</s>A third African country, Gambia, says it will leave the International Criminal Court as fears grow of a mass pullout from the body that pursues some of the world's worst atrocities.

Gambia announced the decision on television Tuesday night, accusing the court of unfairly targeting Africa and calling it the "International Caucasian Court."

The move comes after South Africa, once a strong ICC supporter under former President Nelson Mandela, notified the United Nations secretary-general it would leave the court.

Early last week, Burundi's president signed legislation to leave the court as well.

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

Gambia's decision is also striking because the ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, is Gambian.

The information minister of the tiny West African country, Sheriff Baba Bojang, said in the statement late Tuesday that the court is involved in "the persecution of Africans, and especially their leaders." He accused "at least 30" Western countries of having committed war crimes against their citizens since the ICC was founded more than a decade ago and said none has been targeted by the court.

The minister said Gambia has begun the process of withdrawing from the ICC, which involves notifying the U.N. secretary-general and takes effect a year after the notification is received.

Rights groups often accuse Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, of abuses including a clampdown on political opponents. The next presidential election is in December.

Officials with other top African critics of the court, including Uganda and Kenya, have said in recent days they have not yet decided whether to leave the ICC as well. Uganda said it will be a "hot topic" at an African Union meeting in January.</s>Gambia has been trying without success to use the ICC to punish the European Union for deaths of thousands of African migrants trying to reach its shores. By (AFP/File)

Dakar (AFP) - The Gambia has become the latest African nation to announce its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, accusing the war crimes tribunal of persecuting Africans.

The move by the poor West African nation follows similar decisions this month by South Africa and Burundi to abandon the troubled institution, set up to try the world's worst crimes.

Banjul's announcement late Tuesday will be a personal blow to The Hague-based tribunal's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer and former justice minister.

Gambian Information Minister Sheriff Bojang said on state television that the ICC had been used "for the persecution of Africans and especially their leaders" while ignoring crimes committed by the West.

He singled out the case of former British prime minister Tony Blair, who the court decided not to indict over the Iraq war.

"There are many Western countries, at least 30, that have committed heinous war crimes against independent sovereign states and their citizens since the creation of the ICC and not a single Western war criminal has been indicted."

"The ICC, despite being called International Criminal Court, is in fact an International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans".

The ICC, set up in 2002, is often accused of bias against Africa and has also struggled with a lack of cooperation, including from the United States, which has signed the court's treaty but never ratified it.

The Gambia has been trying without success to use the court to punish the European Union for deaths of thousands of African migrants trying to reach its shores.

The announcement comes just weeks before a December 1 presidential election in The Gambia, which has been ruled by Yahya Jammeh since he took power in a 1994 coup.

Rights groups accuse Jammeh, who is seeking a fifth term, of having created a climate of fear and of having quashed any dissent against his regime.

South Africa's announcement on Friday followed a dispute last year when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the country despite being the subject of an ICC arrest warrant for alleged war crimes including genocide.

The ICC has appealed to both South Africa and Burundi to reconsider.

"I urge them to work together with other States in the fight against impunity, which often causes massive violations of human rights," Sidiki Kaba, president of the assembly of state parties to the ICC's founding treaty, said in a statement Monday.

Kaba had said he was concerned that South Africa and Burundi's decisions would pave the way for other African states to leave the court, a possibility also raised by Kenya and Namibia.

The tribunal was set up in 2002 and is tasked with "prosecuting the most serious crimes that shock the conscience of humanity, namely genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression".

Former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo accused Burundi and South Africa of giving leaders on the continent a free hand "to commit genocide".

"Burundi is leaving the ICC to keep committing crimes against humanity and possible genocide in its territory. Burundi's president wants free hands to attack civilians," he said.

He added that former South African president Nelson Mandela had "promoted the establishment of the court to avoid new massive crimes in Africa".

"Now under the Zuma leadership South Africa decided to cover up the crimes and abandoned African victims. The world is going backward," he said, referring to current President Jacob Zuma.

"The chaos is coming. Genocide in Burundi and a new African war are in motion."</s>Burundi's Justice Minister Aimée Laurentine Kanyana notified the United Nations on Thursday of the country's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, which will take effect one year from Oct. 27, Burundi's U.N. Ambassador Albert Shingiro said.

Shingiro posted a photo on Twitter of Kanyana handing the withdrawal document to Edmond Mulet, chief of staff for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Burundi becomes the second country to quit The Hague-based court after South Africa submitted its withdrawal, to take effect one year from Oct. 19.</s>Burundian MPs raise their hands to vote for withdrawal from the International Criminal Court on October 12, 2016. PHOTO | AFP

Burundi on Thursday formally notified the UN of its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, dealing a blow to the tribunal seen as a pillar of international justice.

South Africa was the first to take the formal step at the UN last week and Gambia has also said it plans to pull out of the Rome treaty that created the ICC.

The withdrawal takes effect one year after the letter is received.

The United Nations is calling on South Africa and Burundi to reverse their decisions.

"That withdrawal can be withdrawn," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Burundi's move came after a UN envoy was dispatched to Bujumbura for crisis talks.

UN envoy Jamal Benomar was in Bujumbura meeting with leaders to try to defuse tensions over the ICC pullout and the government's decision to break ties with the UN rights office.

Set up in 2002, the ICC is often accused of bias against Africa.

The ICC in April launched a preliminary investigation of allegations of killings, torture and other rights abuses in Burundi.

A report by UN rights experts has blamed President Pierre Nkurunziza's security forces and police for the violence that has torn the country since 2015.</s>
• Why have all 23 ICC cases involved African nations?

Burundi, South Africa and now Gambia have withdrawn from the International Criminal Court (ICC), creating fears of a mass African exodus from what Sheriff Bojang, Gambia’s information minister, recently called the “International Caucasian Court.”

Last night’s episode of The Stream on Al Jazeera explored the reasons behind South Africa’s exit and what this means for the prosecution of genocide, war crimes and human rights abuses globally.

The Stream hosts Malika Bilal and Ahmed Shihab-Eldin started the show with some context. “The ICC is governed by an international treaty, The Rome Statute, that was signed and ratified by more than 120 countries in 1998,” said Shihab-Eldin. “Since then, all 23 cases tried before the court have involved African nations. In fact, nine of its 10 current investigations are related to countries in Africa.”

“The extent of the ICC’s power is limited,” Bilal added. “It can only investigate crimes in countries that ratified the Rome Statute. To get involved anywhere else, the court needs a referral from the United Nations Security Council, where the United States, Russia and China have veto power. None of these countries have ratified the Rome Statute so they don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC, making it unlikely they would ever refer themselves.”

While admitting that the ICC “does have a disproportionate number of African cases,” lawyer Angela Mudukuti argued that the ICC isn’t targeting Africa. “If you look at the majority of the cases currently before the court, a lot of them are self-referrals, where autonomous, independent African governments have referred the situation in their own country to the ICC. So it’s more about Africans making use of the court they helped create… If you look at all of those cases, there is evidence that crimes have been committed and they should be investigated.”

Michael Masutha, South Africa’s Justice and Correctional Services minister, said South Africa’s exit was prompted less by perceived bias and more by “the legal difficulties primarily that we experienced in dealing with the court,” especially around diplomatic immunity.

Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was used as an example during the debate. The ICC has issued two warrants for his arrest. Last year, when Bashir visited South Africa for the African Union Summit, the High Court ruled that he should not be allowed to leave the country until an application calling for his arrest had been heard. Bashir left anyway, but earlier his year the Supreme Court upheld the High Court ruling, dismissing the South African government’s claim that all delegates attending the summit were subject to diplomatic immunity.

“We were under the erroneous impression that the statute read as a whole was complementary rather than having elements of contradiction,” said Masutha. “So for example, Article 27, as we understood it, would not be interpreted to suggest that it actually nullifies Article 98… which seems to recognize continued application of the customary international law of diplomatic immunity.”

“Right now South Africa’s diplomatic system is hamstrung,” he added. “Our ability to engage in diplomatic relations is being limited by this continued legal uncertainty.”

Mudukuti disagreed. “It’s one thing to talk about discrepancies at the International Criminal Court, but if you look at domestic framework and what the courts have said, it’s clear… South Africa not only signed and ratified the Rome Statute but South Africa domesticated it… making it domestic law in this country. At that point, every single provision for the legislation was carefully considered and a conscious decision was made to make sure that there is no immunity for heads of state or senior government officials, because no one is above the law.”

Daily Maverick contributor Saul Musker criticized the exit strategy and the lack of an attempt to “resolve that problem from within the system.” He added, “This decision is effectively throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

But Masutha countered that South Africa had actually tried to change the ICC from within first. To avoid situations like Bashir in the future, the minister said South Africa made representations at the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) in November last year to either “give proper interpretation of the statute… to eliminate the ambiguity” or “amend the statute to create legal certainty.”

Oscar van Heerden, an International Relations scholar, dismissed as “insulting” the “afro-pessimist argument” that “Africa as a continent can’t actually prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide” without the ICC. He used Hissène Habré, the former president of Chad, as an example. “He’s now going to serve life imprisonment… That is the clearest indication that times are changing in Africa, that dictators are actually being held accountable by their citizens.”</s>People demonstrate against the European Union and the International Criminal Court in Bujumbura on October 8, 2016. By (AFP/File)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Burundi on Thursday formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, dealing a blow to the tribunal seen as a pillar of international justice.

South Africa was the first to take the formal step at the United Nations last week and Gambia has also said it plans to pull out of the Rome treaty that created the ICC.

The withdrawal takes effect one year after the letter is received.

The United Nations is calling on South Africa and Burundi to reverse their decisions.

"That withdrawal can be withdrawn," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Burundi's move came after a UN envoy was dispatched to Bujumbura for crisis talks.

UN envoy Jamal Benomar was in Bujumbura meeting with leaders to try to defuse tensions over the ICC pullout and the government's decision to break ties with the UN rights office.

Set up in 2002, the ICC is often accused of bias against Africa.

The ICC in April launched a preliminary investigation of allegations of killings, torture and other rights abuses in Burundi.

A report by UN rights experts has blamed President Pierre Nkurunziza's security forces and police for the violence that has torn the country since 2015.

The UN Human Rights Council decided last month to set up a formal commission of inquiry that could help identify those responsible for the violence.

Burundi has been in turmoil since 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 in the violence and at least 300,000 have fled the country.</s>Gambian Information Minister Sheriff Bojang charged that the ICC had been used "for the persecution of Africans and especially their leaders" while ignoring crimes committed by the West.

"Not a single Western war criminal has been indicted," he said on state television, naming former British prime minister Tony Blair as one who should have faced prosecution in the court.

"The ICC, despite being called International Criminal Court, is in fact an International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans," he said.

The Hague-based court, set up in 2002, is often accused of bias against Africa and has struggled with a lack of cooperation, including from the United States, which has signed the court's treaty but never ratified it.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon's spokesman said the body had not received any official communication from either The Gambia or Burundi but added that Ban would "very much regret it" if they left.

"There is obviously a debate going on about the functioning of the ICC but those concerns should be raised within the assembly of state parties before taking any drastic action like leaving the ICC."

"Rather than joining this drastic march away from justice, other African states should follow the lead of Botswana and many concerned African member states which have encouraged countries to work constructively with the Court to resolve any legitimate issues," it said in a statement.

The Gambian information minister's critique of the ICC runs counter to comments in May by President Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled the poor West African country since taking power in a 1994 coup.

"Let those who want to leave the ICC go, but if African countries were less weak and more united, we could have more clout inside the court."

The Gambia has been trying without success to use the court to punish the European Union for the deaths of thousands of African migrants trying to reach its shores.

The announcement comes just weeks before a December 1 presidential election in which the opposition is to field a single candidate against Jammeh, who is seeking a fifth term.

"I urge them to work together with other States in the fight against impunity, which often causes massive violations of human rights," Sidiki Kaba, president of the assembly of state parties to the ICC's founding treaty, said in a statement Monday.
Gambia says it will join South Africa and Burundi in withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, accusing the court of ignoring "Western war crimes" like the Kunduz hospital airstrike.