Sahel nations to quit ICC, establish independent criminal court for human rights

The justice ministers of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have jointly announced the formation of a new regional judicial body — the Sahelian Criminal Court for Human Rights — marking a significant judicial and geopolitical realignment within the Sahel region. The decision was made during an extraordinary summit of the Confederation of Sahel States (CSS), held in Niamey, the capital of Niger.

The proposed court will assume jurisdiction over international crimes, terrorism, and organized crime — issues the ministers identified as fundamental to the region’s security and long-term stability, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The initiative comes as part of a coordinated effort by the three nations to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), reflecting growing dissatisfaction with the Hague-based institution. Speaking at the summit, Niger’s acting Prime Minister, General Mohamed Toumba, sharply criticized the ICC, calling it “an instrument of repression against African countries.”

“The time has come to reconsider participation in the Rome Statute,” Toumba stated, accusing the ICC of operating “often without any evidence or [relying] on false grounds of serious and widespread human rights violations.”

Sources report that the legal instruments required for formal withdrawal from the ICC have already been drafted, with an official announcement anticipated imminently. Under the terms of the Rome Statute, a member state's withdrawal becomes effective one year after the formal submission of notification. However, any cases or investigations already initiated by the ICC will continue to remain valid.

The justice ministers underscored that the establishment of the Sahelian Criminal Court reflects the CSS’s increasing focus on regional sovereignty, judicial independence, and a broader resistance to what they perceive as foreign interference in African legal and political affairs.

This development follows the June 2024 conviction by the ICC of Al-Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz, a former member of the Islamist police in Timbuktu, who was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC is also actively pursuing Iyad Ag Ghaly, leader of the jihadist group Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), who remains the subject of an international arrest warrant.

By Vafa Guliyeva