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Former Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) boss, Justice Emile Francis Short has urged African leaders to co-operate with the International Criminal Court to end impunity.

To him, their reluctance in collaborating with the court shows a sign of inefficiency.

Speaking at the 20th anniversary of ICC, organised by Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) and Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), he said African leaders are unwilling to be responsible for crimes they commit.

He emphasised on the need for African countries to support ICC, stressing that supporting it would end the culture of impunity in most African states.

Citing Gambia as an example, he said, “Gambia recently changed its decision to withdraw from ICC after a new regime.

“Where people who are implicated are in power, it becomes difficult to deal with them,” he said.

He intimated that the atrocious nature of some African leaders explains why most cases before ICC concerns African countries.

Speaking on the essence of ICC, he noted that it only comes into the equation when the state lacks capacity or is unwilling to try persons who have committed crimes.

The ICC is an inter-governmental organisation and international tribunal that sits in The Hague in the Netherlands.

It has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

The ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems, and it may, therefore, only exercise its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met, such as when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals or when the United Nations Security Council or individual states refer situations to the court.

The ICC began functioning on July 1, 2002, the date that the Rome Statute entered into force. The Rome Statute is a multilateral treaty which serves as the ICC's foundational and governing document.

States which become party to the Rome Statute, for example, by ratifying it, become member states of the ICC. Currently, there are 123 states which are party to the Rome Statute, and therefore members of the ICC.