Chad moves to withdraw from ICC over alleged bias against Africa

Chad, on Monday, announced plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), making it the fifth country to do so in recent months.

The country’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it had begun the process and notified the United Nations secretary-general of its decision to pull out of the international tribunal.

It said the decision followed a review of the court’s operations since its establishment in 2002, including what it described as the tribunal’s disproportionate targeting of Africa for prosecution.

“This decision is the culmination of a thorough review of the functioning of the International Criminal Court since its establishment in 2002, as well as its performance, which has remained limited and inconsistent compared to the expectations that led to its creation,” the country said.

It added, “In this regard, the statistics published by the court itself are particularly revealing of the undeniable selectivity that has been established as a principle, whether this selectivity is intentional or unintentional.”

The ICC, based in The Hague, comprises 125 member states, including 33 African nations, and prosecutes the most serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. All European Union countries are members.

The West African States of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced in September 2025 that they would withdraw from the ICC, saying they no longer recognise its jurisdiction.

Last Friday, Venezuela also announced plans to exit, citing “the court’s actions reflect a demonstrated geographical bias, which has disproportionately concentrated its work on African and Latin American countries, to the detriment of the Global South.”

Chad’s government said that since its establishment, the court had opened 13 investigations, nine of which concerned African countries, before eventually opening other cases in other regions, “but without significant concrete progress.”

The country also noted that the ICC is currently conducting only one preliminary examination, involving Nigeria. It added that six of the court’s seven detainees are linked to African cases.

The Chadian government said all of these instances explain why widespread criticism of the court’s activities “remains concentrated on the Global South in general and the African continent in particular, willing victims of a form of political manipulation of the ICC.”

It said the decision also followed a request by the United States, whose deputy secretary of state for African affairs had asked the Chadian authorities to review their membership of the ICC.

“The American side expressed its concerns about the functioning of this institution and called on Chad to review its accession to the Rome Statute,” a statement said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed last week that the U.S. would launch “a whole-of-government response to systematically disable” the ICC’s ability to operate.

Washington’s pressure on the tribunal grew after the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant in 2024.

In its statement, the Chadian authorities also called on the African Union to reassess its relationship with the “seemingly biased system” and take the necessary steps to strengthen the continent’s judicial institutions with a view to establishing a more credible and effective justice system.