US welcomes Chad’s ICC withdrawal, urges more countries to leave
The United States has praised Chad’s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), while urging other member states to follow suit.
Chad became the fifth country to announce its withdrawal from the Hague-based court after confirming its decision on Monday. The announcement came days after Venezuela disclosed that it had initiated the formal process of leaving the ICC, where investigations into alleged crimes against humanity under the country’s previous government have been underway.
Like several nations that have exited or moved to leave the court, Venezuelan authorities argued that the ICC unfairly targets non-Western countries.
Earlier this month, the ICC confirmed that Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—three military-led Sahel nations—had also begun the formal withdrawal process. Under the Rome Statute, a country’s withdrawal takes one year to become effective. Niger officially submitted its notification last month.
Chad said its decision followed a request from the United States, which has intensified efforts to encourage countries to distance themselves from the court.
Reacting to the announcement, Washington described the ICC as a “flawed institution” and reiterated its longstanding opposition to the tribunal.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the US said, “As Secretary Rubio has stated, the United States will never surrender its sovereignty to an unaccountable global tribunal, and we are launching a comprehensive, whole-of-government campaign to end the ICC’s illegitimate overreach. We call on all other ICC members to withdraw from the Rome Statute.”
The ICC currently has 125 member states. Major countries including the United States, Russia, Israel, China, and Myanmar are not parties to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court.
