African leaders will no longer Face Charge at the ICC while in Office -AU

The African Union has urged the
International Criminal Court (ICC) to
defer cases against sitting leaders until
they leave office.
The current presidents of Kenya and
Sudan both face ICC trials, and African
leaders have long complained that the
court unfairly targets them.
The AU meeting in Ethiopia had discussed
withdrawing from the ICC, but the idea
failed to gain support.
Senior figures including Kofi Annan have
criticised plans to quit the ICC.
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists:
"Sitting heads of state and government
should not be prosecuted while in office.
"We have resolved to speak with one voice
to make sure that our concerns are heard
loud and clear."
The AU summit in Addis Ababa is expected
to formally adopt the request later.
The Ethiopian foreign minister said the AU
would ask for the trials of Kenyan
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Sudan's
Omar al-Bashir to be deferred.
He also said the AU would ask for a
deferral of the trial of Mr Kenyatta's
deputy, William Ruto.
Both Kenyan leaders deny charges of
organising violence after the 2007 election.
The ICC issued a warrant in 2009 for Mr
Bashir over alleged war crimes in the
Darfur region, but he has not yet been
arrested.
The ICC relies on the authorities of
national governments to hand over
suspects, but Mr Bashir has avoided arrest
despite travelling to countries that have
signed up to the ICC statute.
Mr Tedros, who is the current chairman of
the AU's Executive Council, said the ICC
was "condescending" towards the
continent.
"The court has transformed itself into a
political instrument targeting Africa and
Africans. This unfair and unjust treatment
is totally unacceptable," he said.
He said that the ICC had failed to respond
to the African Union's previous complaints
and said the issue should be referred to
the UN Security Council.
Thirty-four of the AU's 54 members have
signed up to the ICC.
Kenya's parliament has already passed a
motion for the country to withdraw.
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
has said that withdrawing from the court
would be a "badge of shame".
Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop
Desmond Tutu has also voiced his support
for the ICC.
"Those leaders seeking to skirt the court
are effectively looking for a license to kill,
maim and oppress their own people
without consequence," he wrote in an
article carried by several newspapers.
"They simply vilify the institution as racist
and unjust, as Hermann Goering and his
fellow Nazi defendants vilified the
Nuremberg tribunals following World War
II."
All eight of the cases currently open at the
ICC are in Africa but it is also investigating
possible cases elsewhere.

Source :BBC