US backs Chad on ICC exit, asks more nations to withdraw

The United States has hailed Chad’s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Chad is the fifth country to withdraw from the global tribunal.

The Central African country announced its exit on Monday after Venezuela said on Friday that it had started the formal procedure to withdraw.

The ICC had been conducting investigations into allegations of crimes against humanity by the previous Venezuelan government.

Like Chad and other countries which have withdrawn from the ICC, Venezuela’s authorities accused the court of disproportionately focusing on non-Western states.

In early July, the ICC confirmed that the three military-led African countries in the Sahel — Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — formally began their withdrawal, which will take a year to go into effect.

Niger officially submitted its request last month.

Chad’s withdrawal comes amid US pressure on countries to leave the ICC.

According to a statement, Chad said its decision to quit the ICC followed a request by the US.

Hailing Chad’s decision, the US called the court a “flawed institution”.

“As @SecRubio has stated, the United States will never surrender its sovereignty to an unaccountable global tribunal, and we are launching a comprehensive, whole-of-government campaign to end the ICC’s illegitimate overreach. We call on all other ICC members to withdraw from the Rome Statute,” the US said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ICC has 125 member-states at the moment. The US and Russia are not part of the group, nor are Israel, China, or Myanmar. (TheCable)