The Acquittal of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé was another indication that the International Criminal Tribunal (ICC) is the real elephant in the room. From the very beginning, it was obvious that the so-called independence of the tribunal was raising a lot of eyebrows. It was a tool wielded by the powerful to blackmail countries or discredit leaders. The speed by which Gbagbo’s case was processed greatly mirrors that of the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto’s. The plot and outcome were very similar. Here was a poorly prepared ICC Prosecutor who had a leaking case, ready to be used as a pawn by wannabe geo-political architects. Even in the case of Jean Pierre Bemba, the Prosecutor could not pin him down on the main charge of crimes against humanity but found him guilty of interfering with a witness. Clearly, the case was flimsy. The amount of emotional outcry of dismay by so-called human rights bodies, self-appointed “experts” is very telling. Most of them had already condemned Gbagbo in advance. They have been used to calling the shots and directing the ICC Prosecutor where to look for suspects. The ICC lost it altogether when it only set its sights on African political figures but conveniently looked the other way when real human rights abuses went and continue to do so with impunity. But the writing has been on the wall for a long time: The rate of failures and missteps and political bias by the ICC might soon spell its own doom as it continues to shoot itself in the foot.
