In 2009 the International Criminal Court issued its first arrest warrant for then Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir for war crimes against his own people.
This meant law enforcement in any country he visited which was a member of the ICC had to arrest him to stand trial in The Hague.
As fate would have it, in 2015 Al Bashir travelled to SA, which is party to the ICC, to attend an AU meeting hosted by then president Jacob Zuma.
The moment would put to the test SA’s commitment to the principle of human rights and the rule of law, locally and globally – that commitment which, championed by Nelson Mandela, endeared our democracy to the world.
But SA failed the test. Under cloak of darkness, Al Bashir left the country as our government, under Zuma’s command, defied a high court order to arrest him.
To save face in the midst of global condemnation, a belligerent ANC pushed to have our government pull out of the ICC. It argued that the court was biased against African countries and their leaders.
Not only was this argument based on questionable data, it disingenuously sought to shield African dictators, who had unleashed unspeakable violence against their people, from legal accountability.
Last week, SA reversed the bill to pull out of the ICC – inadvertently affirming its commitment to the Rome statute.
On Friday the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the warmonger who invaded neighbouring Ukraine a year ago.
SOWETAN | SA's farcical neutrality exposed
Image: Sputnik/Russian Presidential Press Office/Kremlin via REUTERS
In 2009 the International Criminal Court issued its first arrest warrant for then Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir for war crimes against his own people.
This meant law enforcement in any country he visited which was a member of the ICC had to arrest him to stand trial in The Hague.
As fate would have it, in 2015 Al Bashir travelled to SA, which is party to the ICC, to attend an AU meeting hosted by then president Jacob Zuma.
The moment would put to the test SA’s commitment to the principle of human rights and the rule of law, locally and globally – that commitment which, championed by Nelson Mandela, endeared our democracy to the world.
But SA failed the test. Under cloak of darkness, Al Bashir left the country as our government, under Zuma’s command, defied a high court order to arrest him.
To save face in the midst of global condemnation, a belligerent ANC pushed to have our government pull out of the ICC. It argued that the court was biased against African countries and their leaders.
Not only was this argument based on questionable data, it disingenuously sought to shield African dictators, who had unleashed unspeakable violence against their people, from legal accountability.
Last week, SA reversed the bill to pull out of the ICC – inadvertently affirming its commitment to the Rome statute.
On Friday the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the warmonger who invaded neighbouring Ukraine a year ago.
South Africa aware of legal obligations regarding Putin visit and arrest warrant
Moscow has dismissed the warrant, saying it did not recognise the court’s jurisdiction following Russia’s withdrawal in 2016.
Again, as fate would have it, Putin is to visit SA in August, as a member of the Brics bloc.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, his host, is obliged by international law – to which we subscribe – to ensure Putin’s arrest. However, the ANC’s commitment to Putin is even deeper than its loyalty to Al Bashir.
It is because of this commitment that SA has refused to condemn a brutal war by Putin on a sovereign state, claiming neutrality in the face of gross violations of human rights against innocent civilians in Ukraine.
The SA government will not arrest Putin. If anything, the warrant will yet again show up our government’s so-called neutrality in war as the farce that it is.
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