Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges African “leaders” to stand by ICC

African leaders thugs, mass murderers and looters will meet in Ethiopia on Friday to discuss calls to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, even as former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of Ghana urged them to stand by the court.

Amid sharp criticism of the court on the continent, 142 African human rights and activists groups also called on them to support the Hague-based court.

The ICC is facing its toughest test with the trials of the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto for crimes against humanity in the ethnic violence that followed a disputed 2007 election.

African Union leaders have called an extraordinary summit Friday to discuss the continent’s relationship with the court, with some leaders and diplomats pressing for African countries to abandon the ICC. … Continue reading.