A UN expert called Friday for Mali to remain in the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the country announced plans to withdraw last week. On September 22, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announced its joint withdrawal from the Rome Statute, accusing the ICC of selective justice, inability to handle proven war crimes, and as being a “tool of neocolonial repression.”

Eduardo González, the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali, stated that a withdrawal from the ICC “would be a betrayal of victims of gross human rights violations” in Mali, and a sign that authorities are unwilling to fight “impunity and ensure justice.”

González noted that a withdrawal from the ICC would risk the reparations process critical to the victims of serious crimes in Mali. To date, t

See Full Page