By Joe Udo
BAMAKO (CONVERSEER) – The Confederation of Sahel States (AES), made up of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, has announced its immediate withdrawal from the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The decision was made public on Burkina Faso’s national broadcaster RTB by Communication Minister Pingdwendé Gilbert Ouédraogo, following a joint statement signed in Bamako by Malian transitional leader and AES president, General Assimi Goïta.
The three governments, which ratified the Rome Statute between 2000 and 2004, accused the ICC of serving as “an instrument of neocolonial repression” while failing to prosecute proven war crimes and other grave offenses.
Declaring their intention to “fully assert their sovereignty,” they said they will turn to homegrown mechanisms to ensure justice and protect human rights, but remain open to cooperation in other international frameworks, particularly within the United Nations.
