South Africa to appear before International Criminal Court

7th April 2017 By: African News Agency

South Africa to appear before International Criminal Court

Photo by: Reuters

South Africa will appear before the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday to account for the country’s failure to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he attended the 2015 African Union Summit in the country.

The ICC has two warrants of arrest for al-Bashir, who is accused of multiple crimes including genocide and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur.

South Africa, which has withdrawn its notice to leave the ICC, has been invited to make written and oral submissions at the hearing on this issue.

The ICC will then decide whether South Africa failed to comply with its obligations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by failing to arrest President al-Bashir.

Should a finding of non-compliance be made, the matter may be referred to the Assembly of States Parties (Assembly).