Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announce withdrawal from the ICC

The African nations of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced on September 22nd that they will be withdrawing from the International Criminal Court. According to AP, the ruling military juntas of each country have accused the global tribunal of “selective justice”.

The departure of the Sahel countries from the ICC was not unexpected, considering the recent coup d’état that gave power to Assimi Goita in Mali, Ibrahim Traore in Burkina Faso, and Abdourahamane Tchiani in Niger. The key international court based in The Hague has long been the permanent global tribunal for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide — all of which the aforementioned leaders have recently been accused of. 

Previously, in the wake of the coups, the three countries have also renounced their respective partnerships with ECOWAS—the Economic Community of West African States—after being subjected to what they considered “inhumane” sanctions. In a joint statement, read on state television in all three countries, the military juntas announced they had “decided in complete sovereignty on the immediate withdrawal” from the bloc, alleging that it had “moved away from the ideals of its founding fathers and pan-Africanism”.

Following their withdrawal from the West Africa regional bloc, the nations have created new partnerships, mainly with Russia. President Vladimir Putin has been facing an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court since March 2023.

The withdrawal from the ICC was announced in another joint statement by the juntas on the evening of September 22nd. They stated that the Crime Court has become an “instrument of neocolonial repression in the hands of imperialism” and declared to be seeking more sovereignty for their nations, hinting at the possibility of creating a local alternative to the court.

The countries’ choice to remove themselves also follows Hungary’s recent announcement of withdrawal from the court. The official procedure, however, takes at least a year to complete.

AP, Maghrebi