Military-led African state becomes the third country to exit the International Criminal Court

The Junta-led West African country, Niger, has become the latest country to find grievance with the International Criminal Court (ICC), exiting the establishment as a result.

• Niger has formally exited the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing concerns over selective justice and bias.
• This makes Niger the third country to withdraw from the ICC after notifying its intent alongside Mali and Burkina Faso last year.
• Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso recently left ECOWAS and formed the Alliance of the Sahel States, accusing the ICC of acting as a 'neo-colonial' tool.
• African countries have long criticized the ICC for focusing disproportionately on Africa while ignoring crimes by powerful nations.

Recent reports show that the West African country submitted a letter to the United Nations on Monday, to formally exit the group, owing to its suspicion of the judicial body engaging in selective justice.

"While the court had raised great hopes among people who cherish peace and justice, it has been misused and exploited," the letter read partly.

Niger has become the third nation to withdraw from the organization, fulfilling the formal notification of intent issued last year alongside Mali and Burkina Faso.

The court, as seen on PBS, expressed disappointment at the departure. "We regret any decision to depart from the collective effort to end impunity for the most serious international crimes," the court said in a statement.

Last year in September, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger disclosed they were pulling out of the ICC.

The three countries that simultaneously exited ECOWAS to form their own regional bloc (the Alliance of the Sahel States) argued that the ICC is biased and used as a “neo-colonial” tool against weaker countries.

This accusation has been consistent on the African continent as African governments have long accused the court of double standards, saying it has focused mostly on African cases while ignoring crimes committed by powerful countries.

In 2016, Burundi became the first country to formally leave the ICC. Around the same time, South Africa and Gambia also announced withdrawals, though both later reversed the move.

In 2018, then-President Rodrigo Duterte announced the Philippines’ intention to withdraw from the International Criminal Court.

The nation became the second country to complete a formal exit when the withdrawal took effect in March 2019.

The ICC, based in The Hague, was created in 2002 to try individuals accused of the world’s worst crimes when national courts cannot or will not act.