"The Rome Statute has been described as the greatest advance in international law since the UN Charter," Oby Nwankwo, executive director of Nigeria's Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre, said in Uganda, where the 31 May-11 June conference is taking place. "While the ICC has its shortcomings, it provides a backstop to impunity." Established by the Statute on 1 July 2002, the ICC now has 111 state parties, 18 judges, and field offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda, Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad. It is conducting investigations in the DRC, Uganda, CAR, Kenya and Sudan, and has issued 13 arrest warrants for eight cases. But critics say the Court has taken too long to conclude cases and is too focused on African countries. Describing the ICC as "European-driven, African-focused and irretrievably flawed", pro-Khartoum writer and publicist David Hoile said its "claims to international jurisdiction and judicial independence are institutionally flawed and the Court's approach has been marred by blatant double standards and serious judicial irregularities".
The Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies cited the uneven and imbalanced landscape of global politics as a factor. "For Africa, a key concern is the relationship between the UN Security Council and the ICC, specifically the Council's powers of referral and deferral," a summary of an ISS symposium on "The ICC that Africa wants" stated. "The skewed international power of the UNSC creates an environment in which it is more likely that action will be taken against accused from weaker states," it added.
