The US has pressured several African states to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), including by threatening consequences for governments that refuse, Le Monde reported on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio formally launched the campaign last month, declaring that Washington would dismantle the ICC “brick by brick, if necessary.” He said countries benefiting from cooperation with US law enforcement, the military, or Washington’s “security umbrella” should reject the court’s authority over American officials and service members.
The US is not an ICC member and intensified its campaign after the court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Washington has imposed sanctions on several ICC officials.
Uganda received a letter from Washington on July 24 containing “an ultimatum telling us to leave [the court] or face consequences,” an unnamed Ugandan source told the French newspaper. Kampala has so far resisted the demand, the source added.
Benin was also approached through calls, visits, and letters, according to an African Union source cited by Le Monde. The West African state has not announced plans to withdraw.
The pressure on Chad was publicly documented before its withdrawal. At Washington’s request, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank W. Garcia Jr. called Chadian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul on July 23, according to Chad’s Foreign Ministry.
During the call, Garcia raised US concerns about the ICC and asked the Central African state to reconsider its membership in the Rome Statute. Chad said the request would be examined by the relevant authorities.
Four days after the call, Chad formally notified the UN of its withdrawal. The US Bureau of African Affairs welcomed the decision, praising N’Djamena for joining countries “reclaiming their sovereignty from this flawed institution.”
Fadoul has denied that the withdrawal was made at Washington’s request. N’Djamena accused the court of “double standards” and an excessive focus on Africa, noting that six of the seven defendants currently in ICC custody are being prosecuted over situations on the continent.
Venezuela and Chad announced their withdrawals in July, following Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, which jointly denounced the court as an “instrument of neocolonial repression.” Their departure takes effect one year after formal notification and does not remove the ICC’s jurisdiction over crimes committed while they were members.
Established under the Rome Statute in 1998 and operational since 2002, the ICC says it serves as a court of last resort for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. It has 125 member states, while other major non-members include Russia, China, Israel, and India.