via Africa should set up own ICC: VP – NewsDay Zimbabwe June 22, 2015 by Veneranda Langa
VICE-PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has called on African countries to set up their own International Criminal Court (ICC) in Africa to counter the Hague-based ICC and prosecute European leaders accused of human rights abuses.
Mnangagwa made the proposal in Senate last Thursday after he had been asked to explain government policy towards Zimbabwe’s ICC membership.
“Zimbabwe has not ratified the International Criminal Court protocol,” Mnangagwa, who is also Justice minister, said.
“As we were escorting Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita at a Press conference (Thursday), President Robert Mugabe suggested that perhaps we should create an ICC court in Africa to try Europeans since the one in Europe tries Africans. We need another ICC, perhaps based here in Harare, so that we can try the Europeans.”
He accused the ICC of wantonly summoning African Heads of State for prosecution on rights abuses, leaving “rogue elements from other continents including Europe” to go scot-free.
“There are rogues on the planet who are going free, including some very prominent leaders of prominent countries who in our view have committed gross injustices in countries like Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan. They are going scot-free,” Mnangagwa said.
He further told the Senate that the problems with the ICC treaty were that United Nations member States signed the protocol and ratified it in their own jurisdictions, adding Zimbabwe had shunned ratification of that protocol.
“So we are not bound by what is happening somewhere in Europe. But, what we are concerned about is the trend of what is happening in the ICC. We have an African Court at Addis Ababa under the AU and a Commercial Court in Khartoum under Comesa [Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa]. It is at its infancy, but what is critical is that we have in our charter created a continental court, not in the same jurisdiction as the ICC, but structured to deal with African problems and African conflicts. What we are thinking about is to create one that brings Europeans so that we deal with them as Africans,” he said.
On Thursday, Keita told journalists before he left Zimbabwe following a three-day State visit that the ICC was irrelevant to Africa.
COMMENTS
If ICC is targeting only African countries its a big favour for us. Human rights abuses from our own leaders will be abolished like slave trade. If an African leader is killed countries like Zim, Sudan etc etc will cry the same countries wont say anything when ordinary people get killed. How many people have been killed in Zim for political reasons and which African country has complained. Where is Dzamara and what are African countries saying about it. In Guruve recently. Idiots.
I agree with VP. This African ICC should arrest opposition party leaders only and blame them for all the mess in African countries.
It’s rather unfortunate that this is the calibre of VP Zimbabwe has – very childish and petty indeed.
When has African leaders been concerned by the welfare of the ordinary people? Most of the African leaders are shameless and self serving despots who have zero concern for the ordinary citizenry but themselves and their bootlickers.
Therefore a mockery on the ICC is a mockery on the ordinary people for whom it exists to serve and for this to come from a whole VP is rather sad.
When Mnangagwa and cohorts were killing more than 20,000 innocent and defenceless civilians in Matabeleland and the Midlands where were the African leaders? Did any of them stop their wining and dining to ask what was happening or show any concern? No.
Mngangagwa also doesn’t have the moral authority to comment on the ICC given that he himself is a prime candidate for that court because he needs to answer for his relentless killing role from 1980 up to now.
Only those that abuse their own people want to get rid of the ICC and destroyed the SADC
Tribunal. This VP needs to explain why he called Ndebele speaking people coakroaches who needed DDT to destroy them. He needs to explain why Gukurahundi killed people in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands very calously and with impunity. The Africans simply pretended that what these rogues were doing was the norm in African governance. Everyone of the Gukurahundi infame should zip their murderous mouths. Time for reckoning is nigh. Power is slipping through their fingers and they will face the ICC.
This kind of thing is funny. Who would take this simple minded oaf seriously?