ICC biased against Africa – VJ

Mon, 10 Apr 2017 05:55:31 +0000

By OSCAR MALIPENGA

VETERAN politician Dr. Vernon Mwaanga says the International Criminal Court (ICC) has not been fair to Africa and other poor countries.

Dr. Mwaanga said African countries should only leave the ICC upon the setting up of a similar court on the continent.

In a statement issued to Sunday Nation titled “disturbing world trends in 2017,” Dr. Mwaanga said African countries were getting impatient with the ICC because of discrimination and bias.

“African countries are getting impatient with the International Criminal Court, because of its blatant discrimination and bias against them and other poorer countries of the world, without putting a similar court in place, which will have the same powers to try dictators and tyrants who commit crimes and human rights abuses against their own people,” Dr. Mwaanga said.

Dr. Mwaanga observed that the United Nations Security Council reforms which had been under discussion for more than two decades to reflect the universality of nations and the shift in global power structures had stalled, largely because a majority of permanent members would like to see a continuation of the status quo, causing frustration and diminishing faith in the relevance of the United Nations and lack of progress in the middle east crisis, which was regarded as the world’s oldest conflict.

He said the world in 2017 was experiencing extraordinary and disturbing trends which did not augur well for the future.

Dr. Mwaanga said some of these trends were carry overs from previous years and some were new.

“Let us value peace,” Dr. Mwaanga said.