EU regrets Burundi's official withdrawal from the ICC

31 Octobre 2017

Brussels, Belgium, October  31 (Infosplusgabon) - In a statement issued by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Union (EU) says it regrets the official withdrawal of Burundi from the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 27 October.

Having noted that Burundi has thus become the first country in the world to have withdrawn from the Rome Statute, the EU regrets the withdrawal of Burundi, stressing that "this represents a serious step back which risks isolating this country further within the international community".

For the European Union, this decision deprives victims of crimes and human rights violations of the possibility of obtaining redress and weakens Burundi's civil society.

However, the EU expresses the hope that Burundi will continue to cooperate with the ICC, following the report of the UN Independent Commission on Burundi on the extent and seriousness of the allegations of violations.

Infosplusgabon  recalled that other African countries have expressed their will to leave the ICC, such as Gambia (under Yahya Jammeh), South Africa or Sudan which refuses to adhere to the Rome Statute as well as Equatorial Guinea.

In contrast, Côte d'Ivoire supports the continuation of the ICC, apparently because Laurent Gbagbo, opponent of Alassane Ouatara, is detained there.

The International Front of the Pan-African Civil Society (FISPA), grouping several African lawyers, filed a complaint to the ICC against the former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to be tried for having sponsored in 2011, the war against Mouamar Kadafi, killed during a NATO air raid and tanks of the French army.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/FGV/GABON 2017

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