Pan-Africanists whose stance champion the cause of the majority masses in all African countries have urged the African Union (AU) to take an irrevocable decision at the next summit to sever relation with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“We further take note of the overwhelming support for the position of the AU by most of the participants who are largely ordinary peoples of Africa agitating for total withdrawal from the ICC, and the broadening of the scope of the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights to deal with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide which are jurisdictional mandate of the Western-sponsored ICC,” the Coalition of Pan-Africanist (CPA) stated in a press release after the CPA issued a declaration after attending the conference on the theme:“The ICC and Africa: A Discussion on Legitimacy, Impunity, Selectivity, Fairness and Accountability” held in Accra, Ghana, on 17th-18 March, 2016.
The conference was organised by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), with the financial support of the Netherlands, and with the keynote speaker as the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mrs Fatou Bensouda. The CPA noted the conscious and deliberate attempt by the ICC and its collaborators at the conference to skew the discussion to whitewash the tainted and discredited image of Mrs Bensouda and the ICC.
The CPA observed the discriminatory approach in the choice of chairperson/moderators, speakers and panel members drawn across the globe totaling thirty eight (38) (except two (2)) who have all venomously vented their spleen and maliciously chastised the AU resolve not to cooperate with the ICC. The CPA said it was saddened by the toxic atmosphere of the anti-AU diatribe at the conference which leaves us in no doubt that the conference was arranged to demonize the AU and vilify the African political leadership as well.
The CPA regretted the self-righteous and arrogant posturing of the ICC Chief Prosecutor which created no room for consensus building, and let alone accommodation of the views of the Pan Africanists and their mother body, the AU, who want a fair, just, equitable and non-discriminatory international criminal justice system which does not condone impunity in any part of the world.
The Coalition took account of the historical antecedents of the transatlantic slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism foisted on Africans by the imperialist hegemony of the West. Thus the CPA expressed apprehension about the racism and selective justice that underpin the administration of the international criminal justice system, and having pointed out these and other inherent flaws in the juridical activities of the ICC.
Issued by the Coalition of Pan-Africanists
Accra, Ghana
23nd March, 2016
