ASC members participated in the Concerned Africans Group discussion on the International Criminal Court led by Professor Alexander Mezyaev, Head of the Department of International Law at the University of Management TISBI, Kazan, Russia. Professor Mezyaev worked as an Assistant to Counsel at the International Criminal Court and provided a fascinating set of insights into the current modus operandi of the ICC.

At a time when there are clear tensions between the ICC and Africa, and within the context of the current ICC cases against African leaders and alleged perpetrators of violence, the discussion was particularly pertinent.

Professor Mezyaev presented a compelling set of arguments that suggest that the ICC is being used to subvert the notion of international justice into an instrument that is being used to entrench the ability of more powerful nations to interfere in the domestic affairs of African countries in particular. His argument that Africa is being used as a testing ground for the application of this distorted justice framework has significant implications for the peacebuilding and human rights sectors of civil society, especially in terms of how we respond to the critiques and concerns of African governments.

The challenge for all of us is how to ensure that what appear to be legitimate concerns regarding the ICC do not become the pretext for a complete dismissal of the overwhelming need for a global governance and justice system that can hold leaders accountable for actions that deny citizens the human and peoples rights afforded them under the Universal Declaration, international treaties and agreements, and our own African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. The ACTION Support Centre will remain engaged on these issues as the debate continues.