Demystifying the International Criminal Court (ICC) Target Africa Political Rhetoric

The ongoing debate on the ICC’s selective application of international criminal law targeting Africans has had negative implications on the international court and the law it applies. As a consequence of the political rhetoric that the ICC targets Africa, African leaders and their sympathisers have...

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Main Author: Torque Mude
Other Authors: Department of Politics and Public Management, Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe.
Format: research article
Language:English
Published: Scientific Research Publishing 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5597
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author Torque Mude
author2 Department of Politics and Public Management, Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe.
author_facet Department of Politics and Public Management, Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe.
Torque Mude
author_sort Torque Mude
collection DSpace
description The ongoing debate on the ICC’s selective application of international criminal law targeting Africans has had negative implications on the international court and the law it applies. As a consequence of the political rhetoric that the ICC targets Africa, African leaders and their sympathisers have tended to view the court with contempt and some have expressed intentions to withdraw their membership of the court. Against this background, this paper examines the argument that the ICC targets Africa which amounts to an affront to international criminal law and its objective to end impunity to achieve international justice. The conclusion drawn from this study is that the assertion that the ICC targets Africa is a mere political rhetoric that warrants demystification. It is a political rhetoric advanced by African leaders to manipulate their way out of the responsibility to be accountable to international criminal law. Furthermore, the notion that the court targets Africans lacks substantive credibility as it ignores several structural and technical underpinnings such as the jurisdictional triggers, the role of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and other functional modalities that guide the operation of the court. Data for this paper were gathered from journal articles, organisational reports and documents, newspapers, case reports, treaties and other online sources.
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spelling ir-11408-55972023-05-04T11:34:24Z Demystifying the International Criminal Court (ICC) Target Africa Political Rhetoric Torque Mude Department of Politics and Public Management, Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe. International Criminal Court Political Rhetoric Africa Target The ongoing debate on the ICC’s selective application of international criminal law targeting Africans has had negative implications on the international court and the law it applies. As a consequence of the political rhetoric that the ICC targets Africa, African leaders and their sympathisers have tended to view the court with contempt and some have expressed intentions to withdraw their membership of the court. Against this background, this paper examines the argument that the ICC targets Africa which amounts to an affront to international criminal law and its objective to end impunity to achieve international justice. The conclusion drawn from this study is that the assertion that the ICC targets Africa is a mere political rhetoric that warrants demystification. It is a political rhetoric advanced by African leaders to manipulate their way out of the responsibility to be accountable to international criminal law. Furthermore, the notion that the court targets Africans lacks substantive credibility as it ignores several structural and technical underpinnings such as the jurisdictional triggers, the role of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and other functional modalities that guide the operation of the court. Data for this paper were gathered from journal articles, organisational reports and documents, newspapers, case reports, treaties and other online sources. 7 1 178 188 2023-05-04T11:34:23Z 2023-05-04T11:34:23Z 2017-01 research article https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5597 10.4236/ojps.2017.71014 en Open Journal of Political Science 2164-0513 open Scientific Research Publishing
spellingShingle International Criminal Court
Political Rhetoric
Africa
Target
Torque Mude
Demystifying the International Criminal Court (ICC) Target Africa Political Rhetoric
title Demystifying the International Criminal Court (ICC) Target Africa Political Rhetoric
title_full Demystifying the International Criminal Court (ICC) Target Africa Political Rhetoric
title_fullStr Demystifying the International Criminal Court (ICC) Target Africa Political Rhetoric
title_full_unstemmed Demystifying the International Criminal Court (ICC) Target Africa Political Rhetoric
title_short Demystifying the International Criminal Court (ICC) Target Africa Political Rhetoric
title_sort demystifying the international criminal court (icc) target africa political rhetoric
topic International Criminal Court
Political Rhetoric
Africa
Target
url https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5597
work_keys_str_mv AT torquemude demystifyingtheinternationalcriminalcourticctargetafricapoliticalrhetoric