Niger Leads the Way and Leaves the ICP

The International Criminal Court in the Hague (Source: inews.co.uk)

At last, another African country leaves that racist and prejudicial institution that is the International Criminal Court of Justice. It is no secret that the ICC only indicts mostly African leaders: Joseph Kony of Uganda, Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé of Côte d’Ivoire, Charles Taylor of Liberia, Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto of Kenya, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and the list goes on. Out of the 17 situations currently under investigations by the ICC, 10 of them are on African countries. Since the ICC’s creation in 1998 up until around 2021, 100% of people indicted by the ICC were Africans, while today 60 – 75% of those indicted are Africans. In view of this, it would seem as if there is only one continent on planet earth: Africa! and the ICC only sees crime in Africa! The ICC has an African bias! I am not saying that some of these people do not deserve to be judged, but when we compare to leaders around the world who have committed major atrocities or authorized horrendous things, why are they not at the ICC too? Why the bias?

Flag of Niger

Today, Niger is the third country to leave the ICC joining the Philippines and Burundi. It is about time! Niger has accused the ICC of selective justice. In a letter submitted on Monday to the United Nations, another organization which only serves the West, Niger’s authorities said “While the court had raised great hopes among peoples who cherish peace and justice, it has been misused and exploited.” We, Africans, should leave all these institutions that devalue us, and serve those who continue looting our continent with impunity. Shouldn’t we strengthen our own judiciary systems to handle our very own matters? Why should we let some people located thousands of kilometers in some of the countries that are often bombing us like in the case of Libya, judge our leaders? How fair could they possibly be?

Excerpts below are from Yahoo.News

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Niger has officially submitted its request to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), nine months after announcing its intent to leave.

President Abdourahamane Tiani of Niger

In September 2025, Niger, along with allies Mali and Burkina Faso – which are all under military rule – issued a joint statement saying they would not recognise the ICC’s authority, calling it an “instrument of neo-colonialist repression“.

The court said it had received an “instrument of withdrawal” on 18 June, according to a statement seen by the AFP news agency. Withdrawal takes effect one year after notification. The ICC added that Niger must honour its obligations to the court until that date. The ICC – based in The Hague in the Netherlands – was set up in 2002 to pursue cases of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression.

The court’s statement on Tuesday did not make any mention of Mali or Burkina Faso.

When announcing their withdrawal, the three Sahel states said they wanted to set up “indigenous mechanisms for the consolidation of peace and justice“.