Reasons for Africa to leave ICC - Dr Joseph Chilengi Presiding Officer of ECOSOCC
Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 The facts are very clear.
00:18 ICC claims to be an international court.
00:22 But from the African perspective,
00:25 we view it as not being such as at now.
00:29 We view it as a court that represents perhaps one-third of the world's
00:34 population, while we have the USA, Russia, China, and
00:39 countries such as the world's largest democracy,
00:43 India are not members of the ICC state parties.
00:48 Secondly, the ICC claims to be an independent court.
00:53 Our argument is that it is not, why?
00:57 The ICC gives the world's most political body, the UN Security Council,
01:03 special prescription rights of referral and deferral over its activities.
01:09 Secondly, or additionally, the European Union through its
01:14 constituent parts provides over 70% of the ICC's budget.
01:20 Something which also violates the Rome statute,
01:24 no one member state can pay more than 22% of the budget.
01:31 And as we know, he who pays the piper calls the tune.
01:37 Secondly, this is why no European, no NATO,
01:44 no North American soldier or politician will ever appear before the ICC.
01:51 This is why allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity on a massive
01:56 scale in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere continue to go unpunished.
02:01 The ICC promises to end impunity.
02:05 And the impunity, yet it has accorded legal impunity to US forces.
02:13 And allowed impunity for the forces of states that are allies
02:20 to the United States of America and Europe.
02:23 The ICC has promised to end immunity, but
02:29 it has also promised to be a court of excellence.
02:32 The reality is that it has failed in a practical test.
02:37 As a court, the court has been caught up in procedural
02:42 irregratities, including allegations of hiding
02:46 expert evidence and witness tampering.
02:50 And the latest one is about one of the judges, Gomede, who is alleged, and
02:56 there's a complaint to that matter, to have received millions of dollars in an offshore
03:00 account in order to falsify information on the prosecution of President
03:06 al-Bashir of Sudan.
03:08 I will provide with you documents from State Department
03:15 that have now come out that the grounds that were used
03:20 to prosecute al-Bashir were actually false.
03:25 These are State Department.
03:28 These are confirmation declaration in the courts of the United States of America
03:34 by two American, one of them was ambassador of the USA in Sudan.
03:42 Every more disturbingly, it has appointed more judges
03:47 meant to deal with very complex legal issues.
03:49 Meanwhile, those judges at the ICC have never been lawyers in their countries.
03:56 Most of the judges at the ICC have never been lawyers or
04:03 judges in their countries.
04:06 And you can't sit on a bench if you don't qualify to be sitting on the bench.
04:12 At national level.
04:13 In other words, we are saying, as a FIFA analog is also in mind,
04:21 given the recent allegation of senior ICC judges that have had millions of
04:26 dollars passed through their offshore accounts.
04:27 To extend the FIFA analog, if true,
04:35 this means that the ICC has gone past fixing the venue of the World Cups.
04:41 And on to match fixing.
04:43 ICC is not for Africa.
04:47 Not only is its African own focus racism and acceptable,
04:55 but it's also caught up in persistent allegations of corruption and
05:00 dysfunctioning.
05:00 Africa, therefore, our argument is very clear.
05:06 That international justice system must be perfected.
05:12 The ICC is the last court of appeal.
05:16 And therefore, the establishment and the extension of the powers to the African
05:22 courts to include war crimes and genocide and international crimes in short,
05:29 is meant to perfect the international justice system.
05:32 Because as a citizen, if you are indicted by the ICC as the first and
05:39 last court, after that, there's no appeal.
05:42 Where do you appeal?
05:45 Everyone must be given an opportunity to be heard two or three times.
05:50 That's what the justice system says.
05:52 So the African court, with extended powers of international crime,
05:57 is meant to provide that perfection to this ripped and
06:02 dysfunctional international justice system,
06:04 where we all have the ICC as the first court and the last court.
06:10 And you cannot appeal anywhere.
06:12 And if you can't appeal, that justice system is considered dysfunctional.
06:17 There is allegations that, for example, Sudan,
06:26 President is indicted by the ICC on allegation
06:31 of war crimes.
06:36 Coercive measures are illegal in international human rights law.
06:40 They are illegal in international law, because you cannot
06:50 apply sanctions unilaterally unless with the consent
06:57 of the United Nations system and other bodies that provide international protection.
07:05 Now, the United States of America has provided an illegal system
07:12 of supporting the application of unilateral cohesive measures on Sudan.
07:20 For the last 30 years, and let's take it this way,
07:23 these sanctions were imposed 30 years ago.
07:28 The population of Sudan now is at about 60, 70 million.
07:32 70% of the Sudanese population is made up of the youth, young.
07:39 It means they were all born after sanctions were imposed.
07:48 And they are suffering the consequences of these unilateral cohesive measures
07:53 for which they were not a party to the problem.
07:56 They were not there.
07:58 And even just simple justice system clarifies that if my father is wrong,
08:06 I cannot be prosecuted for sins alleged, committed by my parents.
08:12 Sudan now, this population of youth cannot access efficient education system.
08:20 They can't access medical services.
08:23 Babies are dying because hospitals cannot provide medicine.
08:27 Is that not crime enough?
08:31 And the international system also says, and I want to quote a few things,
08:38 that if a country decides to impose unilateral cohesive measures,
08:43 it must also be responsible for the consequences.
08:49 That's what the international human rights system says.
08:51 The USA has not.
08:53 Now, we have these two documents here, two confessions.
08:58 This one was in the United States District Court, District of Columbia.
09:06 It's a declaration by a Mr. John E. Clonan.
09:09 Mr. Clonan has provided evidence that the reasons that were forwarded
09:19 by the USA government to indict Sudan and
09:28 its leadership was also supporting terrorism were not true.
09:33 This is a confession.
09:35 This, you have an opportunity.
09:38 The second one is from Mr.
09:43 Timothy Michael Carney, from their security system,
09:50 but was also ambassador to Sudan.
09:52 I want to read one, quote him just on one page.
09:57 It's a declaration in the court also.
09:58 This one is also in the District of Columbia.
10:01 I believe, I quote.
10:03 I believe that the United States failure to respond to Sudanese offer
10:07 in fighting counter-terrorism efforts was due partially to 40,
10:14 40 United States intelligence that had inaccurately
10:19 attributed anti-United States intentions.
10:22 For example, I know that more than 100 United States intelligence reports,
10:31 most of which date back to so many years, some of which allege that
10:38 elements of Sudanese government planned action against United States
10:43 personnel in Sudan were exaggerated and fabricated in early 1996.
10:51 Those reports, though ultimately discredited, nonetheless
10:58 established an atmosphere with such similar allegations,
11:03 where such similar allegations were accredited without sufficient information.
11:07 This is again a confession by a very senior United States official.
11:14 Now, this in itself is the cause of why with us in Africa,
11:22 you need to listen to us very well.
11:25 When we argue on anything, it has been sufficiently analyzed
11:30 with both internal and external political implication and
11:35 consequences to the continent.
11:37 You take Libya, for example.
11:40 They went in, bombed Libya, and left Libya the way it is.
11:44 If they had listened to Africa formula we had for Libya,
11:48 Libya would not be where it is now.
11:49 They did the same for Iraq.
11:52 They did the same for many other countries.
11:57 I am speaking on behalf of civil society.
12:01 I sit with the leaders in their discussions.
12:05 They mean well.
12:07 The only problem we have is that there is a gap on information on why certain
12:13 decisions are taken, and we blow them up because they are from Africa.
12:21 If these confessions were from an African, by this afternoon,
12:27 we would have an warrant of arrest being perpetrated by those from the West.
12:32 Thirdly, there is now an attempt, and Africa rejects that.
12:40 There is an attempt to amend the Rome Statute so that the UN blue ballots,
12:49 the UN forces, peacekeeping, peacekeepers,
12:54 must have the powers to arrest our leaders when they are wanted by the ICC.
12:58 What's that?
13:01 Where is the sovereignty of our state?
13:03 How can you have soldiers, you just send them into a country and
13:08 say go and arrest that one?
13:10 What is more confusion?
13:12 So understand Africa very well.
13:14 We mean well for the continent.
13:16 We mean well for this global community.
13:18 And we mean well in our actions in order to perfect especially the justice system
13:24 in all its regard.
13:26 In January, I wrote a letter to President Obama analyzing
13:29 the legality of cohesive measures that have been imposed on Sudan.
13:34 It's a developed world.
13:37 He has never responded.
13:39 Maybe when Trump comes, he may respond.
13:42 We'll wait for that.
13:43 Thank you so much.
13:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]
13:54 [MUSIC]
14:05 [MUSIC]