South Africa considers withdrawing from International Criminal Court after allowing Sudanese president to escape

South Africa is reviewing its participation in the International Criminal Court after allowing Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to escape early last week. Facing two arrest warrants over the conflict in Darfur, al-Bashir is the only head of state wanted on genocide charges by the ICC.

South African Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe announced that the cabinet would be reviewing whether South Africa should leave the court. "Such a decision will only be taken when South Africa has exhausted all the remedies available to it," he said in a briefing.

Al-Bashir had been attending a summit for the African Union in Johannesburg and was allowed to leave in a private jet afterward, despite a Pretoria court order banning his departure. South African officials complain that there is an ICC bias against Africa, with the secretary general of the African National Congress calling the international court "dangerous."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Others disagree. "By protecting Bashir and letting him escape, [South Africa] has openly taken sides with Africa’s tyrants, and not their victims," Johannesburg-based political analyst Justice Malala argued.