The justice ministers of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger — the three member states of the Confederation of Sahel States (CSS) met this week in Niamey to finalise plans for a coordinated withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), signalling a major geopolitical and judicial shift in the region.
The extraordinary summit, held on 16 September in the Nigerien capital, concluded with a shared commitment to exit the ICC and establish a regional alternative: the Sahelian Criminal Court for Human Rights.
The ministers expressed dissatisfaction with the current structure and practices of the ICC, accusing it of bias and serving foreign geopolitical interests.
Niger’s acting Prime Minister, General Mohamed Toumba, stated that the time had come to “reconsider participation in the Rome Statute,” the founding treaty of the ICC. He accused the Hague-based court of functioning as “an instrument of repression against African countries.” He criticised it for acting “often without any evidence or [relying] on false grounds of serious and widespread human rights violations.”
According to sources cited by Jeune Afrique, the legal documents for the withdrawal have already been prepared, and a formal announcement is expected in the coming days.
Under ICC regulations, any member state’s withdrawal becomes effective one year after the submission of official written notification. Importantly, ongoing investigations and cases initiated before the withdrawal would still retain legal validity.
The proposed Sahelian Criminal Court would have jurisdiction over international crimes, terrorism, and organised crime, that is, key issues affecting the security and stability of the Sahel region. The idea reflects the CSS’s growing emphasis on regional sovereignty, legal autonomy, and resistance to perceived neocolonial interference.
The development follows recent ICC action in the region. In June 2024, the court sentenced Al-Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz, a former member of the Islamist police in Timbuktu, to ten years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC continues to pursue Iyad Ag Ghaly, the leader of the jihadist group Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), who remains on its international wanted list.
