The West African states of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have announced their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, ICC, stating that they no longer recognise its jurisdiction.
The three military-led countries accused the court of arbitrarily prosecuting war crimes and serving as an “instrument of neo-colonialist repression.”
They emphasised their commitment to upholding human rights protection in line with their values.
The same argument had earlier been used by the three countries to justify their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
Human rights groups and UN experts have accused Mali and Burkina Faso’s armed forces and allied militias of committing war crimes in operations against Islamist militias, alongside atrocities carried out by the militant groups themselves.
National authorities say investigations are underway, but none had so far led to public conclusions.
The ICC, based in The Hague, has been prosecuting serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity since 2002.
All EU countries are members. However, the U.S., Israel and Russia are not signatories.
Despite abundant resources, such as gold and uranium, largely extracted by European and North American companies, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger remain among the world’s least developed countries.
Located in the Sahel region on the southern edge of the Sahara, they sit along key smuggling and migration routes towards Europe.
Between 2020 and 2023, military leaders seized power in all three former French colonies after elected governments, backed by Western states, failed to quell Islamist insurgencies.
The junta has turned increasingly away from Western partners towards Russia for military cooperation.
Parliament begs ECOWAS member states to pay 0.5 per cent community levy.
….Seeks reintegration of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger
Meanwhile, ECOWAS Parliament has pleaded with member states to pay up their community levy to enable it prepare its 2026-2028 budget.
Speaker of the Parliament, Hadja Memounatou Ibrahim, made the appeal at the opening of a week long 2nd Extraordinary Parliamentary Session, with the theme “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence in Parliamentary Efficiency, Ethics Governance and Development in the ECOWAS Region,” in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, yesterday.
Ibrahim said the session would be mainly devoted to the examination and adoption of the parliament’s draft budget for the 2026 financial year.
“In accordance with the guidelines of the commission’s 2026-2028 budget circular, our Parliament has prepared its own budget within the framework of medium-term expenditure, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives.
“The Parliament’s 2026 draft budget we will examine thus integrates our political priorities, drives our future actions and ensures the autonomy of our institution in a difficult economic context.”
Ibrahim called for the reintegration of three of its member countries – Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso – which had exited ECOWAS, encouraging the dialogue initiated with the countries, which have now formed an alliance of Sahel states to achieve their full reintegration.
