The first one to quit was Burundi. A few days later, South Africa announced it will withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Three days later, Gambia followed suit. It probably won’t end there. Other African nations are likely to jump on the bandwagon and leave the court in The Hague, Netherlands.
The three withdrawals within the last two weeks should not be seen in isolation. Countries including Kenya – whose president, Uhuru Kenyatta, was unsuccessfully prosecuted by the ICC – Namibia, Chad and Uganda could be next in line. The writing is on the wall.
The African Union (AU) has been actively lobbying for a “mass withdrawal” of its member states from the ICC for many months. Kenyatta, who claims the ICC is targeting only African leaders, is in fact a major force behind this lobby. Kenya’s parliament, however, has not approved the withdrawal.
Some might say Kenyatta has a point: Since the ICC entered into force in July 2002, it so far opened inquiries involving nine nations, which include Kenya, Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan, Congo, the Central African Republic, Uganda, Mali and most recently, Georgia.
“Elsewhere in the world, many things happen, many flagrant violations of human rights, but nobody cares,” Chad’s president, Idriss Deby, who has been in power since 1990, complained during an AU summit in July.
Namibia’s cabinet voted in favour of a withdrawal from the ICC in March, but is yet to formalise the decision.
Last week, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni described the ICC as “useless” in response to South Africa and Burundi’s decision to leave the tribunal. “It is a very good decision... In fact it is (the ICC) that is very useless,” Museveni told a local newspaper  during a visit to Zambia.
There is, however, also a strong pushback from a handful of AU nations, including Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, and even ICC non-member Algeria. Burundi, South Africa and Gambia each have their reasons for leaving.
Conflict-ridden Burundi kicked back after the ICC said it would investigate outbreaks of violence in the East African nation that killed hundreds and forced hundreds of thousands to flee the country. On October 12, Burundi’s parliament overwhelmingly voted to withdraw from the court. Six days later, President Pierre Nkurunziza signed legislation to formalise the withdrawal.
Three days later, on October 21, South Africa argued that the founding treaty of the ICC “is in conflict and inconsistent” with diplomatic immunity under customary law.
The notice of withdrawal followed non-co-operation procedures against South Africa at the ICC after the country failed to institute a warrant of arrest against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir when he visited the country in June 2015 to attend an AU Summit.
Gambia’s exit is perhaps the most surprising, especially since the nation’s former justice minister Fatou Bensouda is the current ICC chief prosecutor.
The country is withdrawing because the ICC focused on “the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans”, according to Gambia’s Information Minister Sheriff Baba Bojang.