The African Union on Monday made its biggest stand to date against the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday, calling for the Hague-based tribunal to drop its case against Kenya's recently elected president. President Uhuru Kenyatta; his deputy William Ruto; and two others are accused of being behind the post-election ethnic bloodshed in late 2007 that left more than 1,000 dead and displaced hundreds of thousands.
But, the fact that the ICC's existence has done little to deter violence on the continent, combined with the fact that the court has only issued arrest warrants against people from Africa, has left many thinking that the international tribunal is no longer the answer.
"There shouldn't be a court in the north judging people from the south," said AU security commissioner Ramtane Lamamra in a press conference, echoing sentiments across the continent that the world's court is not impartial. It's been just two months ago since Kenyatta was elected by a significant margin against his opponent. Against a backdrop of mounting criticism on the continent against the ICC, the Kenyan case is proving a chance for the AU to say the "people's will" should trump the court's.
"What then is the problem of the ICC when the Kenyan people have spoken through their vote," said Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, an influential leader in East Africa. Africans have in recent years gone from being some of the most ardent supporters of the ICC - in the hopes the threat of criminal trials would deter potential war criminals - to among its biggest detractors.
Kenya's case was originally referred to the ICC in 2009 by Kofi Annan, the Ghanian former UN secretary general, after the parliament in Nairobi refused to investigate the post-election massacres. In the years since, Kenya has adopted a new constitution, reformed its courts and held an election - in which the two ICC suspects were elected as president and vice president. The AU now wants their cases handed back to Kenya.
"That doesn't mean that Africa is for impunity. But you have to balance the need for justice with the equally important need to listen to the will of the people, like in the case of Kenya," said Lamamra. Lamamra also slammed leading global powers, noting that three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council- China, Russia and the United States - are not members of the ICC's founding statute, but still refer Africans to the court.
The Lord's Resistance Army, a brutal Ugandan rebel group, was the first case to ever be pursued by an ICC prosecutor. The first conviction at the court took place last year, as Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese war criminal, was found guilty of recruiting child soldiers.
The court is due to hear another high-profile Congolese case this year. The dreaded Bosco Ntaganda - a once feared rebel leader known as "The Terminator" in the country's east - voluntarily handed himself over to the ICC in March.
Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Rwanda and asked to be transferred to The Hague, where he has been wanted for a number of years for grave human rights abuses. Analysts said that, most likely, international justice was not the main reason for his surrender to the court. Rather, they say, the Congolese rebel feared for his life, as he had lost support within his M23 militia. Congolese rebel groups are often supported by neighbouring countries. M23, for example, has allegedly received key support from Rwanda and Uganda. Observers are waiting to see if any high profile Rwandan figures are implicated during Ntaganda's trial - and how Africa might react.
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