Burundi is set to become the first nation to withdraw from the International Criminal Court in an move that underlines the depth of the crisis in the country and comes amid widespread antipathy in Africa towards the court. President Pierre Nkurunziza, who critics accuse of human rights abuses, signed a decree late on Tuesday that paves the way for his east African nation’s departure from the court.
- His decision comes at time when the ICC is conducting a preliminary investigation into politically motivated violence in Burundi in which several hundred people died.
- The violence was triggered by Mr Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term in office in apparent contravention of accords signed in 2005 that ended a 12-year civil war.
- Many African leaders accuse the ICC of being biased towards the continent, and Burundi’s decision to pull out of the court could prompt other countries to follow suit.
- Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe are among nations at the vanguard of the campaign for all African Union members to leave the ICC.
DO YOU KNOW?
- Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the African Great Lakes region of East Africa, bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.
- Capital: Bujumbura
- Currency: Burundian franc
- President: Pierre Nkurunziza
- Official languages: French, Kirundi
