THE African Union summit sitting in Addis Ababa is expected to address the proposal for an African Criminal Court to handle crimes against humanity on the continent.
This is a good idea in principle but bad in practice. An international criminal court only takes on cases that member nations are avoiding, or covering up.
A criminal court is a very expensive operation. The ICC has spent $800 million on just a few cases in the last decade. It might be better to leave regional criminal cases to the ICC, even if there is a feeling that there are a disproportionate number of African cases there.
The European Union has a Court of Human Rights but leaves criminal cases to the ICC which is prosecuting various Serb leaders. And would an ACC be effective? NEPAD, the New Partnership for African Development, was supposed to bring political accountability. African nations would sit in judgement on each other and make binding rulings.
But NEPAD turned out to be a damp squib. African nations do not want to publicly castigate each other. If the ACC is ever set up, it will be a similar flop. No substantial cases would be prosecuted in the foreseeable future.
The Star (Nairobi) Editorial
