Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger officially withdraw from the International Criminal Court in June 2027
via Abidjan.net9 min read
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger officially withdrew from the International Criminal Court ICC in June 2027, one year after submitting their mandatory withdrawal requests. These three Sahelian countries, governed by juntas advocating a sovereignist policy and distancing themselves from Western nations, jointly announced their intention to withdraw from the ICC in September 2025. They described the court as "an instrument of neocolonial repression in the hands of imperialism." Niger submitted its withdrawal request on June 18, 2026, followed by Mali and Burkina Faso six days later, according to notifications from the UN Secretary-General, who is the depositary of the Rome Statute that established the ICC. Mali stated that the "distribution of equitable international criminal justice, essential for achieving the legitimate aspirations that motivated the creation of the ICC, is regularly hampered by the instrumentalization of the Court for political ends." Burkina Faso believes that "over time, the Court has progressively moved away from its distinctive founders, becoming a selective and politicized tool, to the detriment of the impartiality and objectivity that should constitute it." Niger cited "diversion of objective" and "instrumentalization of this jurisdiction." The ICC expressed concern and regret over these withdrawals. Marceau Sivieude, Director of Amnesty International for West and Central Africa, stated that this decision "threatens to deprive thousands of victims of the
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