"Bashir is Dividing Us": Africa and the International Criminal Court

Abstract

The African Union has become increasingly hostile towards the International Criminal Court, particularly in the wake of the ICC arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, although the public hostility masks deeper divisions among African countries. Indeed, evidence of arguments among African states and between Africa and Western countries over the proper functioning and scope of the ICC is indicative of a number of paradoxes and conflicts which have emerged as Africa reorients its identities and interests to embrace international human rights norms while also asserting itself on the global stage.

On Legitimacy Crises and the Resources of Global Governance Institutions: A Surprisingly Weak Relationship?

“…Previous qualitative research on legitimacy crises lends support to the validity of these estimates. For instance, case studies on the WTO (Elsig, ; Esty, ), the IMF (e.g., Seabrooke, ), the ICC (Mills, ; Novak, ) and the OAS (Prevost, ) come to similar conclusions. In the case of the EU, previous studies on anti‐EU protests (Uba and Uggla, ) and on the Dutch and French referenda (Van Apeldoorn, ), as well as Eurobarometer data showing a significant rise in negative attitudes toward EU membership, are congruent with our findings and thus support our quantitative measurement.…”

The contentious relationship between Africa and the International Criminal Court (ICC)

“…However, when the Court institutes investigations or prosecutions against one of their peers, they immediately become uncooperative and dismissive in an effort to protect each other from accountability (Mills, 2012). The practice of African leaders protecting each other from investigation and possible prosecution undermines the authority of the ICC.…”

“…However, South Africa's fall out with the ICC came in June 2015 when the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir who is wanted by the Court on charges of crimes against humanity attended an African Union summit meeting in Johannesburg (Mills, 2012). President Jacob Zuma justified his government's actions stating that the arrest of al-Bashir would tantamount to illegitimate regime change in Sudan (Tladi, 2015).…”

L’Afrique contre la Cour pénale internationale ? Éléments de sociogenèse sur les possibles de la justice internationale

“…L'analyse minutieuse de Mills sur les rapports entre l'UA et la CPI ouvre certaines pistes à cet égard, en soulignant que l'Union africaine s'inscrit elle-même dans des espaces politiques africains uctuants 49 . Ainsi, les poursuites lancées par le procureur contre deux chefs d'État en exercice ont certes exacerbé l'hostilité à l'encontre de la Cour pénale internationale, mais elles n'ont pas non plus conduit à un consensus des États membres de l'UA.…”