Overview
- Niger’s military government submitted a letter to the United Nations, which the country’s officials sent Monday to trigger the formal 12-month process to leave the ICC.
- Under the Rome Statute, the withdrawal becomes effective one year after the UN receives the notification while the ICC keeps jurisdiction over crimes committed before that effective date.
- In its letter Niger accused the court of practising selective justice and said the ICC had been “misused and exploited,” a charge the court called regrettable in its public response.
- The announcement follows a 2023 coup that brought the junta to power and a recent deadly attack on Niamey’s main airport that killed more than 30 people, highlighting rising insecurity at home.
- The exit deepens a regional pattern seen in Mali and Burkina Faso and fits the junta’s turn away from Western partners toward new allies, notably closer ties with Russia.