South African President Ramaphosa announces his country’s withdrawal from the ICC
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South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has decided to withdraw the country from the International Criminal Court (ICC). This was announced by the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa following a meeting with the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö, transmits TV channel SABC News.
“The African National Congress has decided to withdraw South Africa from the ICC. Much of this decision is due to the way the ICC handles issues. We would like this issue of unfair treatment to be properly discussed,” he said.
This is not the first time that South Africa is about to leave the ICC. In particular, a similar procedure was launched in 2017, when the ICC issued an arrest warrant for former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. However, this decision was later abandoned. South Africa signed the Rome Statute in 1998.
In August this year, South Africa will host the BRICS summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). At the end of March, the South African Foreign Ministry reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin was invited to the BRICS summit, despite the fact that the decision of the ICC “is some cause for concern.”
On the eve of April 24, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov confirmed receiving an invitation. He noted that Putin would make a decision on a trip to the summit “closer to the point”, stressing that Russia “in any case will actively participate” in the work of the BRICS, as he considers “this is a very important association, the relevance of which is constantly increasing.”
Criminal Court in The Hague on 17 March gave out an arrest warrant for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Russian Federation. After that, Peskov said that the decisions of the ICC have no legal force and are void. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that this decision would have “monstrous” consequences for international law, and added that “the practical value [в этом нет] no”.
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