Foreign Affairs Minister Olugbenga Ashiru on Friday in Abuja called on more countries, including the U.S. to accede to the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Ashiru made the call at a briefing session for members of the diplomatic corps in Nigeria.

The minister briefed the diplomatic community on the recent visit of President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan to Abuja for an AU special summit, among other issues.

He defended Nigeria’s decision not to arrest Al-Bashir, who is under an ICC arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity.

On ICC membership, Ashiru said, ``Nigeria became a State Party to the Rome Statute out of its own independent and sovereign decision to demonstrate our total revulsion against impunity, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

``Nigeria will, therefore, not take any action to undermine respect for the rule of law and international criminal justice system.

``To ensure the effectiveness of the court, it is essential that more countries accede to the Rome Statute.

``I, therefore, call on all states who are not yet parties to join in the overall interest of international justice, peace and security.''

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that currently, 122 states are parties to the Statute of the Court, including half of the 54 countries in Africa.

The membership of the ICC includes all countries in South America, nearly all of Europe and most of Oceania.

A further 31 countries, including Russia, have also signed but have not ratified the Rome Statute.

The U.S., Israel and Sudan, who previously signed the statute, had indicated that they no longer intend to become state parties to the court.

On the other side, China and India are among the 41 UN member states that have neither signed nor ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute.

On Al-Bashir’s visit, Ashiru explained that he was in the country on the invitation of the AU for the special summit on HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria.

``As it is the practice and tradition of the AU, member states do not require special invitation to attend summits convened by the authority.

``Indeed, standard host country agreements for such summits grant privileges and immunities to all foreign participants expected at the conference.’’

He added that host countries for such summits are obligated to ``provide all necessary facilities for free entry and exit to participants.’’

The minister reiterated Nigeria’s unflinching commitment to the success of the international criminal justice system.

He cited Nigeria’s role in the arrest and hand over of Mr Charles Taylor of Liberia to UN to face charges on crimes committed by Sierra Leone rebel forces during the country's civil war.

He also referred to the peaceful and judicial resolution of the Bakassi border dispute with Cameroon as another key indicator of Nigeria’s commitment to international criminal justice system. (NAN)
- See more at: http://leadership.ng/news/190713/nigeria-wants-us-others-join-icc#sthash.hMUpbvgH.dpuf

http://leadership.ng/news/190713/nigeria-wants-us-others-join-icc

Is it possible or is this publication false, that these same countries citing the ICC warrant as a justification the continue their campaign of calumny on Nigeria, do not even recognize the same court themselves?

Wonders or perhaps more appropriately [size=15pt]HYPOCRISY[/size] shall truly never end.

The UN simply asked that Nigeria fulfill its obligation to the ICC, which according to Ashiru we joined voluntarily and through our own sovereign decision. [size=14pt]Nigeria's refusal to fulfill that obligation is the real meaning of hypocrisy.[/size]

A country that doesn't want to fulfill its obligations to the ICC should stay out of the ICC - that is a definition of stating your stand clearly for all to see. What Nigeria needs to do is pull out of the ICC. Notice below how, the US, Sudan and Israel first signified their intention to join the ICC, but have decided to back out. That is what Nigeria needs to do.

Here is the wikipedia post to help you see that a lot of countries are party to the ICC: Currently, 122 states are states parties to the Statute of the Court, including all of South America, nearly all of Europe, most of Oceania and roughly half the countries in Africa. A further 31 countries, including Russia, have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute. The law of treaties obliges these states to refrain from “acts which would defeat the object and purpose” of the treaty until they declare they do not intend to become a party to the treaty. Three of these states—Israel, Sudan and the United States—have informed the UN Secretary General that they no longer intend to become states parties and, as such, have no legal obligations arising from their former representatives' signature of the Statute. 41 United Nations member states have neither signed nor ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute; some of them, including China and India, are critical of the Court. On 21 January 2009, the Palestinian National Authority formally accepted the jurisdiction of the Court. On 3 April 2012, the ICC Prosecutor declared himself unable to determine that Palestine is a "state" for the purposes of the Rome Statute and referred such decision to the United Nations. On 29 November 2012, the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of recognizing Palestine as a non-member observer state.

The ICC has been accused by many, including the African Union, for primarily targeting people from Africa; to date, most of the ICC's cases are from African countries. [size=14pt]Four out of eight current investigations originate, however, from the referrals of the situations to the Court by the concerned states parties themselves.[/size]

Warri _Pikin:
Is it possible or is this publication false, that these same countries citing the ICC warrant as a justification the continue their campaign of calumny on Nigeria, do not even recognize the same court themselves?
Wonders or perhaps more appropriately [size=15pt]HYPOCRISY[/size] shall truly never end.