by DIRE TLADI
The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. PHOTO/Vincent van Zeijst
Amid the debate on the increasingly tenuous relationship between the African Union (AU) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), 2014 presents a rare opportunity for Africa to take leadership of the main bodies established by the Rome Statute of the ICC.
Already, the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, is Gambian. It is possible that ICC judge and First Vice-President of the Court, Sanji Monageng of Botswana, could be elected as the Court’s president in 2015. If an African is elected as president of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) in December 2014, this would give Africans their best opportunity yet to change the perception of the ICC as ‘anti-Africa’.
Most individuals at the ICC serve in their personal capacity and do not represent their states. However, African leadership in ICC institutions could go a long way in fighting the perception that Africa is a victim of ICC imperialism.
The presidency of the ASP is an overtly political office, and the president is directly accountable to his or her state and his or her regional grouping. It is thus no surprise that all presidents of the ASP have at the same time held ambassadorial positions of their respective countries in New York, and that the presidency rotates between different regional groups.
The presidency has previously been held by Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein of Jordan in the Middle East (who will soon assume the position of High Commissioner for Human Rights), Bruno Stagne Urgato of Costa Rica in Latin America, Christian Wenaweser of Liechtenstein, a member of the Western states group, and currently by Tiina Intelmann of Estonia.
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