Chad withdraws from ICC, accuses it of selectivity and bias against Africa

OnePress

The Chadian government announced its official withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, justifying its decision with what it described as “selectivity and bias” in the work of the Court, and its focus on the countries of the global south, especially the African continent.

Chad hosts large numbers of Sudanese refugees, including witnesses in court cases on Darfur, including files relating to recent events in El Fasher and El Geneina, as well as past cases linked to the region. The ICC deputy prosecutor visited Chad this month and presented her report to the Security Council after meetings with Chadian officials and Sudanese refugees.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and Chadians Abroad said in a statement seen by Al-Awda that the decision to withdraw followed a comprehensive review of the Court’s performance since the entry into force of the Rome Statute in 2002, considering that the outcome of its work did not meet the aspirations that accompanied its establishment.

The ICC’s official data, updated as of May 11, 2026, shows that there are 125 states parties to the Statute, including 33 African states, noting that the Court has opened since its inception 13 investigations, nine of which were in African countries, compared to only 4 investigations outside the continent, which Chad considered as evidence of the imbalance in the priorities of the Court.

The court is currently holding seven people, six of them in African cases, while only one person is involved in a case outside Africa, the ministry said, adding that this fact has reinforced the impression that the court has become vulnerable to political recruitment.

Chad called on the African Union and Member States to accelerate the development of African judicial mechanisms and strengthen their role, in order to establish a more independent and balanced continental justice, while ensuring respect for the sovereignty of States. At the same time, she stressed that the decision to withdraw did not mean abandoning the principle of combating impunity, but reflected her confidence in the growing capacity of national and African judicial systems to deliver justice and redress to victims.

Last week, the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC saw a vote that ended with the removal of the ICC’s Prosecutor, after 82 out of 125 member states supported the resolution. The attorney general was elected in 2021 to a nine-year term.

This comes at a time when the United States has imposed sanctions on nine court officials, including judges, the prosecutor and his two deputies, in connection with investigations related to alleged war crimes linked to Israel and the United States.