Editing International Criminal Court (section)

===African accusations of Western imperialism===
[[File:William Samoei Ruto (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Kenyan politician [[William Ruto]] in February 2013]]
The ICC has been accused of bias and as being a tool of Western [[imperialism]], only punishing leaders from small, weak states while ignoring crimes committed by richer and more powerful states.<ref>{{cite web|date=11 October 2012 |url=http://www.africanholocaust.net/news_ah/icc_and_africa.html |title=ICC and Africa – International Criminal Court and African Sovereignty|access-date=5 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231227/http://www.africanholocaust.net/news_ah/icc_and_africa.html|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/ozatp-africa-icc-20110130-idAFJOE70T01R20110130|title=African Union accuses ICC prosecutor of bias|date=30 January 2011|work=Reuters|access-date=12 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5BcKncSktrUC&q=icc+criticism+africa&pg=PA58|title=The European Union's Africa Policies|access-date=5 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429191025/https://books.google.com/books?id=5BcKncSktrUC&pg=PA58&dq=icc+criticism+africa&hl=en&ei=QjHXTrv-Os2aOoOxpbkO&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFgQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=icc%20criticism%20africa&f=false|archive-date=29 April 2016|url-status=live|isbn=9781409400981|last1=Sicurelli|first1=Daniela|year=2010|publisher=Ashgate Publishing }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37750978 |title= Is this the end for the International Criminal Court? |access-date= 21 June 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180427220322/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37750978 |archive-date= 27 April 2018 |url-status= live |df= dmy-all |work= BBC News |date= 24 October 2016 |last1= Allen |first1= Karen }}</ref> This sentiment has been expressed particularly by African leaders due to an alleged disproportionate focus of the Court on Africa, while it claims to have a global mandate. Until January 2016, all nine situations which the ICC had been investigating were in African countries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nehandaradio.com/2013/09/24/africa-and-the-international-criminal-court-a-drag-net-that-catches-only-small-fish/|title=Africa and the International Criminal Court: A drag net that catches only small fish?|date=24 September 2013|website=Nehanda Radio|access-date=12 August 2019}}</ref><ref name="france24.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20120315-lubanga-kony-icc-africans-international-justice-hague-syria-congo |title=Europe – From Lubanga to Kony, is the ICC only after Africans? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326232118/http://www.france24.com/en/20120315-lubanga-kony-icc-africans-international-justice-hague-syria-congo |archive-date=26 March 2013 |publisher=France 24 |date=15 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dandc.eu/en/article/view-criticism-icc-balanced-debate-concerning-international-criminal-justice-needed|title=Dissatisfaction with the court|first=Darleen|last=Seda|date=19 November 2016 |publisher=D+C, Development and Cooperation|access-date=16 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220195835/http://www.dandc.eu/en/article/view-criticism-icc-balanced-debate-concerning-international-criminal-justice-needed|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

African critics have suggested the ICC is acting as a neo-colonial force seeking to further empower Western political and extractive interests in Africa.<ref name="mcdonald2019">{{Cite web |title=The International Criminal Court: An Unbiased or Eurocentric Institution? |last=McDonald |first=Erin |date=15 November 2019 |publisher=McGill Journal of Political Studies |url=https://mjps.ssmu.ca/2019/11/15/the-international-criminal-court-an-unbiased-or-eurocentric-institution/ |access-date=2023-03-18 |archive-date=13 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013114328/https://mjps.ssmu.ca/2019/11/15/the-international-criminal-court-an-unbiased-or-eurocentric-institution/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Scholar Awol Allo has described the court's underlying problem that has led to these challenges with Africa as not overt [[racism]], but [[Eurocentrism]].<ref name="auto"/> Another analysis suggests that African states are motivated by concerns over Africa's place in world order: the problem is the sovereign inequality displayed by the ICC prosecutor's focus.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brett |first1=Peter |title=Africa and the Backlash Against International Courts |last2=Gissel |first2=Line Engbo |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2020 |isbn=9781786992970 |location=London |pages=34–55 |language=English}}</ref>

The prosecution of Kenyan Deputy President [[William Ruto]] and President [[Uhuru Kenyatta]] (both charged before coming into office) led to the Kenyan parliament passing a motion calling for Kenya's withdrawal from the ICC, and the country called on the other 33 African states party to the ICC to withdraw their support, an issue which was discussed at a special [[African Union]] (AU) summit in October 2013.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |date=9 September 2013 |title=Kenya: Is ICC withdrawal down to court's "lack of respect" for Kenyan cooperation and trial relocation requests? |first=Sabine |last=Hoehn |url=https://africanarguments.org/2013/09/kenya-is-icc-withdrawal-down-to-courts-lack-of-respect-for-kenyan-cooperation-and-trial-relocation-requests-by-sabine-hoehn/ |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=African Arguments}}</ref>

Though the ICC has denied the charge of disproportionately targeting African leaders, and claims to stand up for victims wherever they may be, Kenya was not alone in criticising the ICC. Sudanese President [[Omar al-Bashir]] visited [[Kenya]], [[South Africa]], [[China]], [[Nigeria]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[United Arab Emirates]], [[Egypt]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Qatar]] and several other countries despite an outstanding ICC warrant for his arrest but was not arrested; he said that the charges against him are "exaggerated" and that the ICC was a part of a "[[Western world|Western]] plot" against him.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Lunn |first=Jon |date=16 October 2023 |title=The African Union, Kenya and the International Criminal Court |url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06743/ |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=House of Commons Library}}</ref> Ivory Coast's government opted not to transfer former first lady [[Simone Gbagbo]] to the court but to instead try her at home. Rwanda's ambassador to the African Union, Joseph Nsengimana, argued that, "It is not only the case of Kenya. We have seen international justice become more and more a political matter." Ugandan President [[Yoweri Museveni]] accused the ICC of "mishandling complex African issues".<ref name=":4" /><ref name="auto1"/> Ethiopian Prime Minister [[Hailemariam Desalegn]], at the time AU chairman, told the UN General Assembly at the [[General debate of the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly]]: "The manner in which the ICC has been operating has left a very bad impression in Africa. It is totally unacceptable."<ref>{{cite news |title=Kenya pushing for African split from International Criminal Court |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/kenya-pushing-for-african-split-from-international-criminal-court-1.1549427 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=4 October 2013}}</ref>