AU set to meet over Rome Statute exodus

President Mwai Kibaki addressing Heads of State and Government and other delegates during the 17th Session of the Assembly of Africa Union at Sipopo Conference Centre, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. Photo/FILE

What you need to know:

  • ICC was set up in 2002
  • Based in The Hague, the Netherlands
  • Deals with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression
  • Court has been ratified by 121 countries, including 34 in Africa
  • Democratic Republic of Congo militia leader Thomas Lubanga is the only person convicted so far.

Addis Ababa, Saturday

The African Union has called a special summit to discuss a mass withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in protest at the trial of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto.

A letter sent to the ICC signed by African leaders says Mr Ruto’s presence in The Hague will disadvantage Kenya.

The AU has previously accused the ICC of “hunting” African leaders and ignoring atrocities elsewhere.

The ICC says it is standing up for victims of crimes wherever they are.

The extraordinary summit will be held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on 13 October.

Days before the start of Mr Ruto’s trial this month, Kenya’s Parliament voted to leave the ICC.

This decision will not affect the trial of Mr Ruto, or Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose case is due to start in November.

Both men deny charges of organising violence following the disputed 2007 elections, in which some 1,133 people were killed.

Thirty-four of the AU’s 54 members have signed up to the ICC.

“The Kenyans have been criss-crossing Africa in search of support for their cause, even before their parliament voted to withdraw from the ICC,” an AU official told the Reuters news agency.

But the official said it was not clear that the required two-thirds majority would vote to leave the ICC.

The BBC’s Emmanuel Igunza in Addis Ababa says Rwanda is one of the countries pushing for a rethinking of the relationship between Africa and the ICC.

“It is not only the case of Kenya,” Rwanda’s AU ambassador Joseph Nsengimana told the BBC.

“We have seen international justice is becoming more and more a political matter,” he said.

The AU has called for the trials of Kenya’s leaders to be sent back to Kenya.

The cases were only referred to the ICC after Kenyan politicians failed to set up special tribunals to prosecute those responsible for the violence.

The Hague-based court is currently investigating cases in Uganda, DR Congo, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Kenya, Libya and Ivory Coast. Most cases involve war crimes and crimes against humanity.(BBC)