The South African authorities will proceed to consider the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party's decision that the country should withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in view of the upcoming BRICS summit, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) The South African authorities will proceed to consider the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party's decision that the country should withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in view of the upcoming BRICS summit, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday.
Earlier in April, senior ANC lawmaker Obed Bapela told Sputnik that the party had made the decision to withdraw from the court and would try to update domestic laws accordingly by August, when the country will host a summit of BRICS leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The governing party, the ANC, has taken the decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC," Ramaphosa told a briefing in Pretoria, as quoted by South African newspaper Daily Dispatch.
The party's national executive committee met again during the weekend and reiterated the decision that South Africa should withdraw from the ICC, Ramaphosa said. Citing the comments on the matter by rights groups, South Africa's president said many were dismayed by the "unfair treatment."
"Our view is that we would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime the governing party has decided again there should be a pull out so that will be a matter that will be taken forward," he added.
In March, the Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin, as well as Russia's commissioner for children's rights, citing the alleged unlawful transfer of children out of the combat zone in Ukraine. The Kremlin said Russia is not party to the ICC and the court's decision is legally null and void for the country.
