DAKAR: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have jointly announced their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.
The military-led West African nations denounced the ICC as a tool of neocolonial repression in a statement published on Monday.
This decision represents the latest diplomatic upheaval in West Africa’s Sahel region following eight coups between 2020 and 2023.
The three countries are currently ruled by military officers who have already split from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS.
They have formed a new body known as the Alliance of Sahel States as part of their realignment.
These nations have also significantly curbed their defence cooperation with traditional Western powers.
Concurrently, they have actively sought closer military and diplomatic ties with Russia.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger had been members of the ICC in The Hague for more than two decades.
Their joint statement claimed the court is incapable of prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The statement also accused the ICC of being ineffective against crimes of aggression and genocide.
It did not provide specific examples of where the countries believed the court had fallen short.
All three nations are currently battling Islamist militant groups that control large territories.
These militant groups have staged frequent attacks on military installations throughout this year.
Human Rights Watch and other organisations have accused both militants and national militaries of possible atrocity crimes.
UN experts said in April that alleged summary executions by Malian forces may amount to war crimes.
The ICC has maintained an open investigation in Mali since 2013 over alleged war crimes.
These alleged crimes occurred primarily in the northern regions of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal.
Those northern regions had fallen under militant control before France’s military intervention later that year.
The Mali investigation was originally opened following a referral from the country’s government at the time. – Reuters