(By Pius Vilakati, writing as Mr Pius Rinto)
1. Introduction
1. Introduction
A lot
has been said about the recent visit to South Africa by Sudan’s president, Omar
al-Bashir, to attend the African Union (AU) summit, and his eventual exit from
South Africa. Some have condemned the South African government for allowing
al-Bashir to exit South Africa without handing him over to the ICC, relying
especially on a court case that had ruled that Al-Bashir must not exit South
Africa and the fact that South Africa is a member state of the ICC. Some, of
course, have praised the government. Indeed, if South Africa has prevented
al-Bashir from exiting the country, South Africa would have been seen as an
unpatriotic and unAfrican state.
The
unreliability of the ICC has been well documented, especially when one
considers that some of the worst murderers in this world today are the United
States of America (USA), Britain, and Israel. All these three have not even
received a warning from the ICC, yet African leaders have been prosecuted in
The Hague. This clearly shows that the ICC is nothing but a tool to be used by
the powerful against the weak. There can never be a claim that there is any justice
in a society where the law enforcers choose which criminals to arrest and who
not to, even when it is clear that they all have cases to answer.
Currently,
123 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC. Out of
them a staggering 34 are African States, 19
are Asia-Pacific States, 18 are from Eastern Europe, 27 are
from Latin American and Caribbean States, and 25 are from Western
European and other States. It is noteworthy that the USA and Israel are not
members of the ICC. Further, we should note that, despite the United Kingdom
being a member, its former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was never prosecuted for
his country’s role in the Iraq war in 2003, a war which was without a United
Nations mandate and which saw the death of thousands of people. We further note
that, whilst Sudan is not a member state of the ICC, al-Bashir was charged by
it, yet former USA president, George Bush was never prosecuted despite leading
the Iraq war.
If we
look at the member states of the ICC, it is clear that Africa supports (or
supported) the ICC. A change of heart has emerged, however. African leaders no
longer want to be subjected to the processes of the ICC and have called for
African solutions to Africa’s problems (although there is nothing African about
murdering other Africans. It is simply a crime against humanity).
2. If
not ICC, then who?
Whilst
some commentators, especially some those who claim to be Africanists, have
overwhelmingly supported the view that Africa must withdraw from the ICC and
solve its own issues without interference by either Europe or USA, some of us
are not fooled at all! The fact of the matter is that some African leaders,
such as King Mswatii III of Swaziland, are not only against the Rome Statue
having jurisdiction over them, but in fact do not want to be bound by any law,
whatsoever. They just want to be the law. Why then should we support these
selfish, murderous African leaders? The People’s United Democratic
Movement (PUDEMO) and all sensible revolutionaries should not!
For
the record, Swaziland, just like Sudan, is not a member of the ICC. This is one
of the reasons the ICC gave to the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) when it
declined to prosecute King Mswati.
Leaders
like King Mswati III, Omar al-Bashir and Robert Mugabe, amongst others, will
simply never want to account to anyone for their rule. King Mswati, for
example, in July 2005 signed Swaziland’s constitution. Section 2 of the
Constitution provides that the Constitution is the supreme law of Swaziland,
and if any other law is inconsistent with the Constitution that other law
shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void. Further, section 2(2)
provides, “The King and iNgwenyama and all the citizens of Swaziland have the
right and duty at all times to uphold and defend this Constitution.” According
to the constitution, a criminal charge of treason is mandated against those who
undermine this provision, including the king who is also mandated to defend,
and be subservient to, the constitution.
Despite
the above provision, King Mswati has violated this constitution many times! He
has done so without any repercussions whatsoever. Instead he has continued to
enjoy the respect and support of the African Union. The king, despite the
constitutional supremacy provision, is above the constitution. He is the law of
Swaziland, and the constitution is only valid as and when King Mswati wants it
to be.
3. If
Mswati were charged by ICC
Due to
the undeniable fact that King Mswati is practically above all Swaziland law,
and that the AU will not charge him any time soon, only the most foolish would
ever come in defence of Mswati if he were to be prosecuted by the ICC. As
recent as 2008, Mswati made a clear call to his security forces that they were
to deal with all human rights activists in the most vicious of ways and totally
disregard all international conventions and laws. When appointing the current
Prime Minister, Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, in 2008, Mswati stated clearly that
he was appointing him to go and throttle these activists and finish them all.
Since then, many activists have been arrested, tortured and some killed by his
security forces, with some being forced to exile. In a just world, he
should have been prosecuted for violation of the constitution.
Before
this episode, many people had been evicted from their homes, some fired from
their jobs, all in total disregard of court orders to the contrary. PUDEMO’s
president, Comrade Mario Masuku, is the most arrested political
activist in Swaziland. He is currently in jail, having been arrested on Workers
Day, in 2014, charged under the Terrorism Act of 2008 for
addressing workers and rallying them on the call for multi-party democracy. He
has previously been arrested for sedition, treason, and sometimes detained
without any trial. All this on the direct orders of King Mswati.
If the
ICC is nothing but a vulture which always wants to feed on the carcass of a
dead animal, then Mswati is also one. They are all of the same further. If the
ICC is nothing but a criminal entity, then it is a criminal entity which
arrests other criminals, fairly or unfairly. Let vultures eat themselves! In
fact, if Mswati were to find himself weak and alone in the wild, with many
vultures hovering over him, as PUDEMO and all revolutionaries who are serious
about the freedom of Swaziland, we would have to remove all the animal
carcasses that might be lying around so that the vultures can concentrate
squarely on him, and him alone, to do to him as they so wish!
Therefore,
we should always pronounce on international issue, condemn the wrong things.
However, in so far as these murderous leaders like King Mswati are concerned,
we must simply let them be tortured! They do not care about Africans. Why they
should we go all our way to defend them?
Let
Mswati be fried by the International Criminal Court!
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