South Africa & the ICC: One foot on the platform, the other on the train
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The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday created confusion about the country’s membership of the International Criminal Court. He announced South Africa’s withdrawal in the evening, only for his office to retract the statement within the same day.
During a news conference co-hosted with the visiting President of Finland, Ramaphosa said:
“Yes, the governing party … has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC.”
President Ramaphosa said that the decision was made because of what is perceived as the court’s unfair treatment of certain countries.
“We would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime, the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull-out,” he said.
About turn
But within a matter of hours, President Ramaphosa’s office issued a statement changing its position. “The presidency wishes to clarify that South Africa remains a signatory (to the ICC).”
The statement said the “clarification follows an error in a comment made during a media briefing held by the governing African National Congress.”
In another statement Tuesday night, the ANC said an “unintended impression may have been created that a categorical decision for an immediate withdrawal had been taken. This is not so.”
It said the executive committee, the party’s supreme decision-making body, had discussed the “unequal” and “often selective application of international law by the ICC”.
South Africa is a signatory to the Rome statute, and would be obliged to obey the arrest warrant. Many governments, including South Africa, have long complained of the court’s double standards.
African court of justice and human rights
South Africa began the process of leaving the ICC in 2016 after a dispute over whether to arrest the former Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, who visited for an African summit while under ICC indictment. It refused to arrest him.
The South African government recently suspended those proceedings in the face of legal obstacles. The National Executive Committee of the ruling ANC released a statement noting the decision at the party’s recent National Conference that “the ANC and the South African government must rescind the withdrawal from the ICC court”. At the same time it urged ratification of a protocol to lay the ground for an African court of justice and human rights.
Even if South Africa took the decision to leave the ICC, it would still be bound by its membership obligations, including executing arrest warrants, for 12 months following its notification of withdrawal.
