Viewers Corner News source in Burundi informed us that the members of Burundi parliament has voted to leave International Criminal Court. Burundi will be the first African country to take such move though other countries in African continent have complained that since the Hague based Criminal Court was set up under the 1998 Rome Statute, it only targets the continent on its prosecution against politically-motivated crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity. According to the information, 94 Burundi law makers voted for the country to leave the International Criminal Court, only two law makers voted for the staying while 14 others abstained from voting. The bill to remove Burundi from the International court’s jurisdiction must be approved by the upper house of the legislature and then signed by the president, after that the withdrawal process will last for a year before the country will be removed from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
In April this year, the International Criminal Court opened a preliminary investigation into killings, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence as well as enforced disappearances in Burundi. Last month (September), Burundi government banned the United Nations investigators from its territory and condemned a decision by the United Nations to set up a commission of inquiry to probe the violence in the country.
Burundi’s violence started last year when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to seek a third term in office which is against the constitution of the country which says that every sitting president will serve for a maximum of two terms (five years per term) in the office and since then about 450 Burundian people have been killed and thousands flee from the country.
Source: Viewers Corner News.