'Africa must try its own criminals'

Africa needs its own court with the same powers as the International Criminal Court to try perpetrators of war crimes, among others, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said yesterday.

Delivering a public lecture at the University of Pretoria, Motlanthe said the court would not replace the ICC but would fill the void beginning to emerge between what the ICC was intended for and what it was turning out to be in the eyes of African leaders. He said this could be done by extending the powers of the African Court on Human and People's Rights.

Motlanthe said cases of Western superpowers committing human rights violations were never brought to the ICC. "Particularly concerning for many African nations are apparent double standards on display when powerful Western nations commit the same political crimes for which African leaders are prosecuted," he said.

Political and legal expert Professor Shadrack Gutto said: "At heart is the fact that international crimes only cover individuals and not corporates that are causing harm in African populations ... if successful, the African court would also cover corporate crimes."