The United Nations has confirmed its receipt of a Gambian decision to rescind its withdrawal from the Rome Statute that governs membership of the international Criminal Court.
The Gambia, along with South Africa and Burundi, delivered instruments of withdrawal to the Secretary General last year but following the election of Adama Barrow as President, that decision has since been reversed.
Africa remains divided on the wholesale withdrawal from the Court.
The Secretary General’s Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq.
On February the 10th, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of The Gambia to the United Nations delivered to the Secretary-General notification of the country’s rescission of its withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The Gambia had formally notified the Secretary-General of its withdrawal from the Rome Statute on 10 November 2016,
a decision which the Secretary-General deeply regretted.
Over the past two decades, the world has made decisive strides towards building a truly global system of international criminal justice, of which the ICC is its center piece.
The Gambia, like so many other African States, played a major role in the negotiations leading to the adoption of the Rome Statute and was among its first signatories.
The Secretary-General welcomes that The Gambia will remain a State Party to the International Criminal Court’s founding instrument, and remains confident that States Parties will continue to further strengthen the Court through a constructive dialogue.
– By Sherwin Bryce-Pease
