South Africa’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) is disappointing for a country “long seen as a global leader on accountability for victims of the gravest crimes”‚ Human Rights Watch said on Friday. This came after an “Instrument of Withdrawal” emerged that was said to have been sent by International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane notifying the United Nations of the country’s intention to pull out of the Rome Statute.Justice Minister Michael Masutha is set to address the media “on the matter of ICC and Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir” on Friday morning.HRW’s Dewa Mavhinga criticised the move‚ saying: “South Africa’s proposed withdrawal from the International Criminal Court shows startling disregard for justice from a country long seen as a global leader on accountability for victims of the gravest crimes. “It’s important both for South Africa and the region that this runaway train be slowed down and South Africa’s hard-won legacy of standing with victims of mass atrocities be restored.”He added that “questions remain about whether the government even acted in line with its own laws for leaving the court”.In the letter‚ Mashabane wrote that South the withdrawal would take effect “one year after the receipt of the notification”.She also said that South Africa “has found its obligations with respect to the peaceful resolution of conflicts at times are incompatible with the interpretation given the ICC of obligations contained in the Rome Statute”.Mashabane noted that “in complex and multi-faceted peace negotiations and sensitive post-conflict situations‚ peace and justice must be viewed as complementary and not mutually exclusive”.Exit from ICC will not bode well for rule of law‚ Mushwana tells Nkoana-MashabaneIn the absence of an alternative to holding African perpetrators of human rights violations and international crimes accountable for their actions‚ an exit by South Africa from the International Criminal Court will not bode well for the rule of law. SA was “committed to fight impunity and to bring those who commit and to bring those who commit atrocities and international crimes to justice”.The country’s intention to withdraw from the statute first emerged as government was defending its failure to take steps to detain Al-Bashir during his visit to South Africa in June 2015‚ when there was an ICC warrant for his arrest‚ and despite a high court ruling that it do so.Mashabane’s letter said that “SA as a founding member of the African Union promotes international human rights”.But‚ earlier this year‚ South African Human Rights Commission chairman Lawrence Mushwana wrote to Nkoana-Mashabane‚ saying that in the absence of an alternative to holding African perpetrators of human rights violations and international crimes accountable for their actions‚ an exit from the ICC will not bode well for the rule of law.Mushwana‚ at the time‚ said Al-Bashir has been charged by the ICC for crimes against humanity‚ war crimes and genocide‚ allegedly perpetrated against his own people.He said the attempt to ensure greater accountability by the establishment of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights did not go far enough.While the 2014 Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights conferred criminal jurisdiction to the court‚ the protocol also granted immunity to heads of states and other senior officials.“The effect of this immunity is that those guilty of the most grossest violations of human rights and the perpetration of international crimes will not be held accountable for their actions‚ for as long as they remain in power‚” Mushwana wrote...