African countries have been called to an urgent meeting in Addis Abeba which is aimed at opposing the International Criminal Court (ICC). The lead organiser of the meeting is the Ethiopian government.
Ethiopian Premier Hailemariam Dessalegn had recently appeared before the U.N. General Assembly and criticised the Court.
Following Assembly, the current Chairman of the African Union (AU), Hailemariam, has called the leaders to attend the Union’s meeting scheduled for this Saturday in Addis Abeba.
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Deputy President William Ruto and Sudanese President Omar H. al-Bashir are serving government officials that are indicted by the ICC.
Kenyatta has applied to attend the proceedings through a video link but the judges have not yet ruled on the request.
ESAT’s reporter in Addis Abeba said, although Ethiopia is not a signatory of the ICC, the ruling Front, EPRDF, has recently been engaged in condemning the Court and this could mean that the government is really concerned about something serious.
EPRDF’s government had killed over 200 innocent citizens in the 2005 election and has also tortured and killed thousands of people in the Ogaden, Gambella, Oromia and Southern Ethiopian regions although no government official has been impeached for the crimes so far.
The decisions of the member countries of the AU are not expected to have any influence on the international Court.
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