Niger Republic has officially submitted a request to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The Hague-based tribunal told AFP on Tuesday that it received an “instrument of withdrawal” on June 18 from Niger, led by Abdourahamane Tiani.
The formal request comes nine months after Niger Republic, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced their intention to leave the ICC.
The junta-led countries accused the court of becoming “a global example of selective justice”, saying they would establish “indigenous mechanisms for the consolidation of peace and justice”.
A country’s withdrawal from the court takes effect one year after the official submission of the withdrawal instrument to the United Nations secretary-general.
The ICC said Niger’s withdrawal will take effect on June 18, 2027, but noted that the West African country must honour its obligations to the court until then.
“While joining or withdrawing from a treaty remains a sovereign right of states under international law, we regret any decision to depart from the collective effort to end impunity for the most serious international crimes,” the ICC said.
The ICC statement made no mention of Mali or Burkina Faso.
Founded in 2002, the ICC’s mission is to prosecute perpetrators of the most serious crimes, including war crimes, when countries lack the willingness or capacity to do so themselves.
The ICC currently has 125 member states. The United States, Russia, Israel, China, and Myanmar are not among them.
