British academic David Hoile has described the Internal Criminal Court as a “corrupt and racist institution”.
British academic David Hoile described the Internal Criminal Court as a “corrupt and racist institution” that only serves the purpose of European policy.
Speaking in Addis Ababa at the launch of his new book, Justice Denied: The reality of the International Criminal Court, the scholar said: “The ICC has emerged as an instrument of European foreign policy and its actions are increasingly being seen as re-colonisation by spurious and illegitimate means.”
Mr Hoile added that the court’s reputation has been “irretrievably damaged by its racism, blatant double standards, hypocrisy, corruption and serious judicial irregularities.… Political interference in the legal process was made part of the court’s founding terms of reference.”
The 27-chapter book contains case studies ranging from Iraq to Libya, Sudan to the Central African Republic and Kenya.
“The court has been corrupt from the first case of Thomas Lubanga of Democratic Republic of Congo to the recent trial of William Ruto of Kenya.”
Dr Joseph Chilengi, president at the African Union’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council who attended the launch, said that African countries should quickly finalise the establishment of African court that will deal with the continent’s human-rights violation claims.
According to Dr Hoile’s study, some ICC judges have never been lawyers or judges before being appointed to the Court. He said: “Its judges are the result of grubby vote trading among member states.”
He also noted that the court has afforded de facto impunity to several abusers of human rights who happen to be friends of the European Union and the United States.