A CALL FOR AFRICAN NATIONS TO WITHDRAW FROM THE ICC TREATY

By: Qeko

The continual threat by the International Criminal Court against a sovereign state of Malawi is out of order, misguided, unacceptable, and cannot be tolerated anymore. The ICC is at pain and wonders why Malawi didn’t arrest the Sudan President Al Bashir when he came into the country to attend the COMESA head of states meeting in the capital Lilongwe. Al Bashir came into Malawi as a VIP guest of COMESA and if it was not for COMESA meeting in Lilongwe the Sudan president couldn’t have come into the country. The ICC are accusing Malawi that as a signatory of the ICC Al Bashir was supposed to be arrested in Lilongwe. But unfortunately the ICC demands were not met and al Bashir peacefully attended COMESA meeting and flew back to Sudan. Now looking into the ICC misguided, malicious and baseless accusations, there are the following points that we want to put forward in trying to show the world the main agenda of the ICC and how useless this court is to Africa and the many patriotic African people.

Firstly is that the ICC was formed with a hidden agenda to target leaders of poor countries so that they continue to humiliate them in the name of crime against humanity. This is because when the USA, Britain and other powerful EU states are committing serious crimes of mass killing (ie Iraq, Afganstain, Libya) it does not become crime against humanity. But when similar things is done by a poor head of state in a poor country then it becomes a crime against humanity. This definition is only applied to atrocities committed by poor nations and not Britain, USA or powerful EU states. So its about time that the world should wake up and seriously reconsider whether it is ok to be part of a club that functions with double standards and practices selective application of law. The law is applied when its a crime by African or any poor nation and it doesn’t become a crime when its Britain, USA or EU state committing similar atrocities. So nations in the world today they should revisit and review whether it is necessary to continue being part of such a club or get out and not be obligated with such a misguided venture.

Secondly is that as of today this court has allegedly issued 25 warrant of arrest to people from Africa and their eyes is focused on what is happening in Africa as if the world ends with Africa. Serious atrocities are being committed in various part of the world but the ICC is doing nothing but when its about Africa then its gets to work. This is because the ICC has a negative agenda against the African people and the African leaders. The first head of state to be taken to the ICC is an African (Charles Taylor) and the first warrant of arrest on a sitting head of state was issued to an African and in Kenya the ICC had a nerve to try to bring disunity in the government by issuing warrant of arrest to some key leaders in both the ruling and opposition parties. We are not condoning the crimes that these men committed but our problem is the manner in which the ICC is carrying out it mandate against the African people.

Thirdly is that the ICC crossed the line by demanding explanation as to why the Sudan President was not arrested in Malawi. The ICC should know that they are not a government but JUST A SMALL COURT and they should respect and not cross the line. A whole government cannot report to a court that has not mandate. The ICC should know that the Government of Malawi reports to the people of Malawi who voted them into office and not the ICC. The ICC should know that the Government of Malawi is accountable to the electorates and not the them and there is no way the ICC can be dictating terms of reference for our government. If the ICC has got an issue them they should ask the voters because we the voters are the ones who gave the government the mandate to govern us. In as much as the ICC conventions were signed, this does not mean that that signatory is more binding than our own laws that governs the daily administration of our country. The ICC charter is not above the laws of any sovereign state in fact the ICC charter is regulated by the laws that govern nations and states. So its up to sovereign states to decide how to handle and act in situations like the one Malawi had with Al Bashir.

Fourthly is that if the ICC wants the Sudan President arrested, they should simply go to Khartum and have him arrested there than to depend on nations to effect the arrest for them. The ICC should know that they need to be real and do the right thing. Asking nations to arrest a sitting head of state is asking for more conflict and more bloodshed and that cannot be condoned in Africa. We are sick and tired of conflicts and the best thing is to let African people live in peace and harmony and promote African brotherhood. Any nation that arrest Al Bashir will have its politics turned upside down instantly because Sudan is not an island nation but they have many friends across the globe. So anything happening to Sudan becomes a business of the other nations that support the Sudanese. In other words, the ICC is promoting more conflict in Africa because they know that such things are likely to cause more conflicts. If the ICC were true enough they were suppose to be at the forefront of promoting peace and not forcing nations into conflict with each other. What the ICC want is to use an African nation to arrest an African President so as to bring and create more chaos in African and bring more divisions amongst nations.

Fifthly is that the ICC should know that their CV in Africa has been tarnished and doesn’t look good at all and many look at them as a court whose main mandate is to punish Africa leaders. That it was created with a mandate behind to target African leaders. This is because many of those who have been taken the ICC court have been leaders from Africa which is unfortunate. We all are aware and have seen how George Bush and Tony Blair lead their armies to shed blood in Iraq, torturing and killing innocent Iraqs and I don’t have to even tell you how many innocent Afgans have died in the hands of the USA and the British forces there. But despite all this, these two men who belong to the ICC are walking free on this planet. But if these two were from Africa, they could have been at the ICC court long time back. So that is how bias and double standards this court can be. The USA misled the world that Iraq had Weapon of Mass Destruction and they bulldozed the UNO over the issue. Up the now the world is still waiting to see the Weapon of Mass Destruction they once claim Iraq had. They destroyed Iraq and masterminded the hanging of Sadam just as this time around the British and France NATO led forces masterminded the killing of Gadaffi which is unfortunate. If anything, the ICC if it has to return its credibility then it has to review its operation and make sure that they treat all nations the same and not to make other human being super humans and immuned to the law. Why should George Bush and Tony Blair be immuned to the ICC laws? If the ICC agreed that these two are immuned to their law then let every human being be immuned to the same law so as to maintain the standards because double standards in the application of law is illegal and not acceptable at all in the 21st century.

Finally is that the world should know that in as much as the USA calls upon nations behind the back door to sign this ICC charter, they themselves are not signatory to this document. This means that an American citizen can not appear before this court to answer any chargers. A critical analysis of the list of nations that signed this ICC charter shows that they were all forced into this and many of them didn’t even know why there were being bulldozed to signing it. The USA and powerful nations from the North were being putting pressure that poor nations sign this document if they were to receive economic support. So poor nations signed this ICC charter not because they wanted to but they were afraid of losing out on economic support. This is how far rich nations can abuse their power that they can go extra mile to force and abuse poor nations in any way they want for as long as their agendas are met. That is why we are calling on African parliaments to review all the international conventions including the ICC charters and do some review to determine whether it is necessary to still be part of such a club.