The African National Congress (ANC) is considering dumping the ICC and the ruling party will start proceedings in Parliament to release South Africa from the International Criminal Court.
According to a EWN report on Tuesday, which referred to an article in The Star, the ruling party has now clarified its position, saying it’s of the view that the ICC is no longer useful to prosecute crimes against humanity amid the political, diplomatic and legal fallout over the Omar al-Bashir debacle.
The South African government has come under fire for allowing Sudanese President al-Bashir to leave the country, in direct violation of a High Court order.
Just hours after leaving, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that South Africa was compelled to arrest the wanted Sudanese president and hand him over to the ICC, where he faces several charges, including genocide.
Bashir had travelled to Johannesburg for an African Union summit that was overshadowed by the International Criminal Court (ICC) calling for him to be detained on long-standing arrest warrants over the Darfur conflict.
Even as his plane took off from Waterkloof military airport outside Pretoria, the local high court heard legal arguments over the application to force the authorities to arrest him.
On Sunday, Judge Hans Fabricius ordered authorities to stop Bashir from leaving the country after the Southern African Litigation Centre, a legal rights group, lodged its urgent case.
The president's hurried exit from South Africa appeared to be a violation of the court order, and it immediately sparked anger from rights' groups.
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