The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda has given the strongest indication yet that plans by some African countries to withdraw from the Rome Statute will in no way affect her ongoing investigations into alleged war crimes. She has vowed to keep going after perpetrators of atrocities.

Ms Bensouda has said her outfit will continue with its preliminary investigations in Burundi, which was launched in April, as she had the backing of more than 120 other member states.

Violence erupted in Burundi in April last year when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would be seeking a third term in office. The ensuing violence has forced over three hundred thousand Burundians to seek shelter in neighbouring countries.

Burundi, South Africa and the Gambia in October and November served notice to the United Nations of their intent to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. Their withdrawal however does not take effect until after a year.

The three countries like many other African countries have accused the ICC of bias against Africa as all but one of the court’s 10 investigations have been in Africa. Five suspects convicted by the court are from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Mali.

But the ICC has rejected the allegations of bias arguing that many of the cases were brought by African governments themselves.

The former Gambian Justice minister is quoted as saying: “Even if one country decides to withdraw from the ICC, this I believe, for the continent, speaking as an African, is a setback for the continent and this is also a regression for the continent.”

She has however dismissed assertions that all of the ICC’s cases are from Africa indicating that the court has 10 preliminary investigations into alleged atrocities in Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Iraq, the Palestinian territories and Ukraine.

Amidst of concerns of a mass departure of member states especially from Africa, Bensouda said all other member states had renewed their commitment to the court which has a mandate to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Russia which is not yet a member of the court but has signed the Rome Statute, said this month that it would remove its signature. The Philippines is also considering withdrawing its membership.

Established in July 2002, the ICC is a court of last resort, intervening in member countries when their national jurisdictions are unable or unwilling to prosecute mass atrocities.

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Newly appointed Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo Samy Badibanga is at the centre of controversy, after it emerged that he holds both Belgian and Congolese nationalities.

According to a document published on the internet by a member of the opposition, Badibanga attained Belgian citizenship through naturalization in 1992.

The country’s Minister for Parliament Affairs Tryphon Kin-Kiey said that dual citizenship poses legal and moral issues.

“The Prime Minister’s appointment is perhaps the right choice for those in the presidential majority camp. He is a friend, an affable man but there was a problem. I can predict a heated debate in parliament. He would have to first renounce his acquired foreign nationality. It will not be easy to pass the nomination stage if this prerequisite is not resolved,” he said.

What the Constitution says

The Congolese Constitution stipulates that Congolese nationality ‘can not be held concurrently with any other nationality’ and that to occupy an official position in government, one has to be a Congolese citizen.

From the opposition camp, José Makila, president of the Workers Alliance for Development believes that this debate is needless, as there has been a moratorium approved by the national assembly since 2007, which says that people with foreign nationality can still hold official government positions in the DRC.

But Christophe Lutundula, the deputy vice-president of the G7 opposition coalition who has refused to take part in the debate begs to differ, saying that there can never be possible derogation and that there has never been a moratorium that allows someone to cumulate Congolese nationality with that of another state.

Further opposition

Badibanga’s nomination on November 16, 2016 to head the new government of national unity came as a surprise as another opposition leader Vital Kamerhe, a former Kabila ally, had been widely expected to take up the post.

The power-sharing agreement was signed in October by the ruling party and some opposition parties endorsing the 2018 presidential election date proposed by the electoral commission and for President Joseph Kabila to remain in office till then.

The political agreement signed under the watch of the African Union-appointed facilitator Edem Kodjo, was endorsed by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who called for a ‘peaceful transition for peaceful elections’.

However, the agreement was opposed by the major opposition coalition which described it as non-inclusive and promised to protest till Kabila steps down when his mandate originally ends in December.

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