The U.N. Security Council delegation on
Thursday set on a trip that will take them to the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia.
Their first stop is the DRC, where the ambassadors will meet in Kinshasa
with President Joseph Kabila. Then they will travel to Goma, in eastern
Congo, not far from where the Congolese army has clashed repeatedly
with rebel group M23.
The
last leg of the visit will be to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the
delegation will meet with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and with
the African Union Peace and Security Council.
The AU plans to hold a summit in Addis on October 10 to discuss the work
of the International Criminal
Court, or ICC. Specifically, some states
are upset at what they view as the court's targeting of African leaders
in its work.
The ICC has charged Kenya's President and Deputy president with
orchestrating post-election violence in 2007 and early 2008
that killed more than 1,100 people. Kenya has threatened to withdraw as
a member of the court and is urging other African countries to do the
same.
Human Rights Watch's Director of International Justice, Richard Dicker,
said he hopes U.N. Security Council members whose countries are
signatories to the ICC treaty will discuss the matter with relevant
officials.
“I hope that those Council members who are party to the Rome Treaty of
the ICC convey to AU Commission officials, as well as any diplomats from
AU member states that they meet, the strong commitment of those
Security Council state parties to maintain the integrity and
universality of the ICC," he said. "I hope there [are] some bilateral
exchanges that take place, even if this is not an item on the official
agenda.”
Thirty-four African countries currently belong to the ICC. A mass
withdrawal would be a blow to the court, but many analysts see that outcome
as unlikely.
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