JOHANNESBURG
A prominent South African opposition figure has criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly targeting African leaders while turning a blind eye to western leaders who, he said, had committed heinous crimes.
"The ICC should arrest [former U.S. President] George Bush for the illegal war in Iraq. The ICC should arrest [former U.K. Prime Minister] Tony Blair for the illegal war in Iraq," Floyd Shivambu, chief whip of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, said late Tuesday.
"And [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu [should be prosecuted] for the devastation of Palestine,” he added.
Shivambu made the assertions during a parliamentary debate over the recent visit of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to South Africa, during which calls were made for the latter’s arrest by the South African authorities.
"We don't agree with the ICC’s selective prosecution of Africans. It looks like it [the ICC] has only existed for Africans since its establishment," Shivambu declared.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for al-Bashir in 2009 and 2010 following accusations that the Sudanese leader had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s restive Darfur region.
Al-Bashir was in South Africa earlier this month to attend the 25th African Union Summit when a court in Pretoria issued an interim order barring him from leaving the country.
The court order -- which was based on the ICC’s arrest warrant -- was issued after the Southern Africa Litigation Center, a local NGO, submitted an application calling for al-Bashir’s arrest.
The Sudanese leader, however, defied the court order, departing the country before the application could be heard.
According to Shivambu, if the Hague-based ICC was to maintain its credibility, it must take steps to prosecute all leaders guilty of rights violations -- regardless of the countries they hail from -- rather than simply targeting African leaders.
The legislator went on to call for the establishment of an African court of justice mandated with prosecuting African leaders accused of committing heinous crimes on the continent instead of merely relying on the ICC.
He also criticized the group that filed the court application calling for al-Bashir’s arrest, saying the arrest of the Sudanese leader could have led to increased instability in Sudan.
AU immunity
Obed Bapela, South Africa’s deputy minister of governance and traditional affairs, for his part, told parliament that the recent African Union summit had granted immunity to all leaders in attendance.
“In the 70 years of the UN’s existence, the U.S. has never attempted to arrest any leader because of the law of immunity,” he told parliamentarians.
He went on to assert that South Africa would never use the African Union as a platform to arrest African leaders.
“This will never happen,” Bapela vowed.
He said that his party -- the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which currently enjoys a majority in parliament -- believed that the cause of peace must be balanced with the pursuit of international justice.
Bapela, too, said that al-Bashir’s arrest could have fostered instability in Sudan and in neighboring countries.
The minister further asserted that al-Bashir was needed more in Khartoum than at The Hague, citing the latter’s role in ongoing peace talks with Darfurian rebel groups.
Despite Bapela’s assertions, however, some opposition members of parliament faulted the government for allowing the Sudanese leader to freely exit the country.
"The government contravened international law by assuring al-Bashir that he would not be arrested," Mosiuoa Lekota, leader of South Africa’s Congress of the People Party, told parliamentarians.
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