Gambia to leave the International Criminal Court

Following South Africa and Burundi, Gambia said Tuesday it will leave the International Criminal Court.

When announcing its exit, the Gambian government called the ICC the "international Caucasian court" and said it is just targeting countries in Africa. The primary mission of the ICC is "to help put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, and thus to contribute to the prevention of such crimes." It is based in The Hague, and the chief prosecutor is Gambian Fatou Bensouda.

Of the six ICC cases that are underway or close to starting, only Africans have been charged, but there are preliminary ICC investigations opened in other areas of the world, The Associated Press reports. Under the late Nelson Mandela, South Africa supported the ICC, but the country recently told the U.N. secretary-general it is leaving the court. Burundi did the same last week, when the president signed legislation to exit from the ICC.

Subscribe to 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