Burundi has become the first country to pull out of the International Criminal Court, ICC, a spokesman for the Court in the Hague, told newsmen in Bujumbura, last Friday.
The country had launched the process of leaving the court since 2016, when the government declared that the ICC was biased against African nations.
Gambia and South Africa had also announced their plans to withdraw from the Court in 2016, but changed their minds, leaving Burundi as the only country to officially leave. There are now 123 member-states left in the ICC.
In spite of the withdrawal, the Court will likely continue its preliminary investigation into possible war crimes in Burundi. The probe, which began in April 2016, was described as a spokesman for the ICC as “independent, impartial and objective”.
The Head of International Justice for Amnesty International, Matt Cannock, who has reacted to the development, said “the Burundian government has made a cynical attempt to evade justice by taking the unprecedented step of withdrawing from the ICC. Perpetrators, including members of the security forces, cannot so easily shirk their alleged responsibility for crimes under international law committed since 2015”.
As far as Mr. Cannock is concerned, Burundi can run but it cannot hide. He unequivocally declared that the atrocities committed by the Burundian government would catch up with it.
