When SA made its shock announcement last Friday that it would be withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), the outcry was predictable.By Monday, two organisations — the DA and the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution (Casac) — had applied urgently to the highest court, the constitutional court, to set aside the withdrawal notice. More can be expected to join the fray.SA was instrumental in the creation of the ICC and was the first African country to make it part of its domestic law. The idea of the Rome Statute — the law that establishes the ICC — is to end impunity and to ensure that people committing genocide and those accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes do not escape justice.However, SA dramatically collided with this lofty ideal last year when Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir — wanted by the ICC for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes — came to this country for an African Union summit. A court case was urgently brought to ...
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