South Africa: Putin to attend BRICS summit despite ICC arrest warrant

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday asked permission from the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to arrest his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, after latest South African media reports confirmed that the Russian leader will indeed attend the BRICS summit in South Africa.

Following the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Putin, accusing him of the war crime of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, there have been suggestions that the event could happen virtually. However, Ramaphosa has assured that the event would take place in person, including Putin, despite an arrest warrant from the ICC. Moreover, a court submission published Tuesday shows that Ramaphosa reiterated the sentiments passed in March by Dmitry Medvedev, a Putin ally, who argued that arresting Putin would amount to a declaration of war. Ramaphosa said he hopes that South Africa would be exempt from its ICC obligations to arrest Putin should he appear at the BRICS summit scheduled for August.

Meanwhile, some African legal experts have said that complaints by African leaders about wrongful targeting by the ICC during the 25 years since its founding are unjustified. Since its inception 25 years ago, 33 African states have joined the ICC with Côte d’Ivoire being the most recent to do so in 2013. They were all expecting justice for victims of crimes.

Despite the claims by some African leaders, such as Rwandan President Paul Kagame, about Africans becoming the scapegoat in the ICC’s push to execute its mandate, Ghanaian legal expert Alhassan Yahaya Seini argues that “generally it has done well in its effort to provide some justice for victims in Africa.” But despite complaints by some African leaders, the ICC seems to enjoy strong support among civil society groups in the continent.