Zimbabwe rejects calls to ratify ICC treaty

Zimbabwe rejects calls to ratify ICC treaty
25/10/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE has ruled out ratifying the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the body of targeting Africans. Ratifying the Statute was one of the 179 recommendations made at the end of the 12th Session of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights, held in Geneva earlier this month.

But the Zimbabwe government, which fears becoming a full member of the ICC could precipitate the indictment of President Robert Mugabe and other senior officials for alleged crimes against humanity, has chosen to stay out of the treaty.

Chinamasa told the ZBC: "One of the recommendations was that we should ratify the Rome Statutes on the International Criminal Court.

“That we rejected for the sole reason that the ICC is completely discredited, it has tarnished its own image by selective application of international law.”

The minister told the state broadcaster that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the former United States President George Bush had “committed serious crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the world, but they had been left free.”

Zimbabwe also rejected 97 other recommendations, including calls to recognise gay rights, reform its security sector, and amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Public Order and Security Act.

The fact that a disproportionately large number of cases investigated by the ICC have so far been on the African continent has created resentment towards the body, even in countries which are state parties to the Court.

Zimbabwe is one of 32 countries, including Russia and China, which signed but did not ratify the Rome Statute.

As of October 2011, 116 states were parties to the Statute of the Court, including all of South America, nearly all of Europe and roughly half the countries in Africa.

The United States and Israel are among countries which “unsigned” from the Statute. On August, 3, 2002, President Bush signed into law the American Servicemembers Protection Act (ASPA) which authorises the use of military force to liberate any American or citizen of a US-allied country being held by the court, which is located in The Hague.