SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that his government decided to again attempt to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Ramaphosa’s announcement comes ahead of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) Summit to be hosted in Durban, South Africa, in August.
But ahead of the BRICS Summit, President Ramaphosa announced that the decision to withdraw from the ICC was reached by the African National Congress following a weekend meeting.
He made the announcement following a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
“Yes, the governing party has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC. Largely because of the manner in which the ICC has been seen to be dealing with (these) types of problems,” said Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa.
The South African president was apparently referring to what he described as the unfair treatment of certain countries by the ICC.
Ramaphosa: Governing parties want to exit ICC
South Africa first attempted to withdraw from the tribunal in 2016.
However, this attempt was revoked after a high court ruling found it unconstitutional.
And that attempt of withdrawal came after South Africa was found to have violated its ICC obligations for failing to arrest ex-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during his 2015 visit to the country for an African Leaders’ Summit.
Now, South Africa’s latest attempt to withdraw from the ICC comes following the tribunal’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March. The International Court has accused Putin of unlawful deportation of children from occupied Ukrainian areas.
But Russia says they were only evacuating civilians from the predominantly Russian-speaking region of Donbas, which they said was facing persecution and was being heavily shelled by the Ukrainian Army.
An April report also surfaced that Putin has accepted an invitation to attend the upcoming BRICS Summit despite the arrest warrant and calls not to allow the Russian president to attend the event.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa was also asked on Tuesday if his country would arrest Putin.
To this, the South African President replied that the matter was under consideration. However, his Party Secretary Fikile Mbalula said Putin was welcome in South Africa any time, and the ICC only serves the interest of a few.
However, after Ramaphosa’s announcement of ICC withdrawal, his Presidential Office released a statement saying that the president misspoke when he claimed that the country would withdraw from the ICC.
South Africa still an ICC participant—presidency
A statement published by Ramaphosa’s office said,
“This clarification follows an error in a comment made during a media briefing held by the governing African National Congress (ANC) on South Africa’s status with regard to the ICC. Regrettably, the president erroneously affirmed a similar position during a media session today.”
“South Africa remains a signatory to the ICC in line with a resolution of the 55th National Conference of the ANC – held in December 2022 – to rescind an earlier decision to withdraw from the ICC”.
As a BRICS member country, South Africa shares good relations with Russia and has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
South Africa even hosted controversial joint military exercises with Russia and China earlier this year which coincided with the one-year anniversary of the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
South Africa’s leading opposition party, the Democratic Alliance – has called for Putin to be arrested if he does come to South Africa, but other parties have urged the government to welcome Putin and instead pull out of the ICC.
And earlier this month, Ramaphosa said he would say a delegation to the United States to clarify his non-aligned stance on Putin and the Ukraine conflict.
The ICC, a tribunal established in 2022 to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity when its 123-member states are not willing to or not able to do so themselves, enjoys the support of many UN members and European Union members.
However, other superpowers, like the United States, Russia, and China, are not members of the ICC, arguing that the court could be used for politically motivated prosecutions. Although US President Joe Biden earlier welcomed the ICC arrest warrant for Putin.
