Why Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger quit the International Criminal Court

What we know

• Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced on Monday their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling it “a tool of neocolonial repression.”
• The three military-led states have already withdrawn from ECOWAS and formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). They have also distanced themselves from Western powers and sought closer ties with Russia.
• Their joint statement accused the ICC of being “a global example of selective justice” and claimed the court is “incapable” of prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and crimes of aggression.
• All three countries have faced persistent Islamist militant violence, with armed groups controlling territory and staging attacks on military sites.
• Human Rights Watch and other groups have accused both militant groups and the militaries of Mali and Burkina Faso of atrocity crimes.
• UN experts in April reported that Malian forces may have carried out summary executions of civilians that could amount to war crimes.
• The ICC has had an active investigation in Mali since 2013, following a government referral, into alleged war crimes in Gao, Timbuktu, and Kidal.
• The juntas said they intend to establish “indigenous mechanisms for the consolidation of peace and justice.”
• The ICC, based in The Hague, was founded in 2002 to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The United States, China, Russia, and Israel are not members.

What they said

“The ICC has proven itself incapable of handling and prosecuting proven war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide, and crimes of aggression,” the three countries said in their joint statement, adding that the court had “transformed into an instrument of neocolonial repression in the hands of imperialism.” They accused the tribunal of being “a global example of selective justice” and declared their intention to develop “indigenous mechanisms for the consolidation of peace and justice.”