The Ghanaian diplomat rejected accusations that the ICC was an anti-African institution following threats from African countries to withdraw from the court:
I remind the Africans that it’s wrong for them to say that only African leaders are put into the dock… [they] shouldn’t pretend that they were the first.”
Mr Annan said he was sure that Africans wanted their leaders to be held to account:
They want justice if they can get it from their own courts and, if not, an international court.”
His remarks come after the ICC decision to "terminate" charges against Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto earlier this year. Charges were dropped against the Kenyan President Uhuru in 2014 – both had denied involvement in ethnic violence that followed the elections in December 2007.
The names of key suspects involved in that violence were handed over to the ICC by Mr Annan, who brokered a power-sharing deal to end the violence, and proceedings against them began after Kenya failed to set up a local court to try them.
Mr Annan also criticised the ICC for not doing enough to protect witnesses from intimidation, the FT reports, and questioned the decision to allow Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto to remain free while the case proceeded:
The president and vice-president were the ones in the dock and so they put lots of effort and resources into fighting the case."
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