Africa cannot afford to abandon the ICC in this age of atrocities

July 2017 marks 15 years since the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court came into force. Many years of painstaking and protracted regional and international diplomacy preceded its adoption in order to secure consensus on the importance of creating a permanent court that could try the most serious crimes: Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The process that led to the coming into force of the Statute in July 2002 was the shortest in the history of treaty ratification, signalling not only the commitment of the international community to challenging impunity, but also a solid reaffirmation that when humanity decides to come together with a common cause, even seemingly insurmountable challenges can be resolved.