Retired judges speak out against SA's withdrawal from ICC
Retired South African judges and leading jurists have made a submission to Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, in which they voice their opposition to the country's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Former Constitutional Court Judge, Zak Yacoob, says they are recommending that the Rome Statute Repeal Bill not be passed by Parliament.
"We make further recommendations, because we understand the matter does not stop there. We say that South Africa should remain a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC. We say that South Africa should, where appropriate, with other African states in actively pursuing appropriate reforms within the assembly of state parties, with the view to making the ICC more affective in advancing the objectives of international justice," says Yacoob.
Yacoob says they also recommend that South Africa should actively encourage other African states to put in place the required legislation to empower domestic courts with the ability to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
"South Africa should also continue to work constructively with civil society on the advancement of international criminal justice," says Yacoob.
Yacoob is joined in the submission by former Constitutional Court Judges Laurie Ackermann, Richard Goldstone, Johann Kriegler, Kate O'Reagan and Navi Pillay.Pillay is a former judge of the ICC and former president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Yacoob briefed the media in Johannesburg hours after the South African government withdrew its notification to withdraw from the ICC.
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh from the Southern Africa Litigation Centre joined the judges in their submission.
"We do not think that South Africa should leave the ICC and we are concerned about the transitional justice arrangements in the current repeal bill. The bill has not seem to have made any adequate arrangement for ongoing and current investigations. We feel that this is a huge gap in the bill and we would like Parliament to revisit those issues," says Ramjathan-Keogh.
Ramjathan-Keogh says the ICC has summoned South Africa to a cooperation hearing on 7 April.
"South Africa will have to present itself before the pre-trial chamber of the ICC to make explanation for why they allowed President Omar al-Bashir to leave South Africa when he attended the African Union Summit in June 2015," says Ramjathan-Keogh.
South Africa made international headlines when it failed to arrest Al-Bashir, despite a warrant of arrest by the ICC.
Omar al-Bashir is accused of crimes against humanity.