The government would look at the way the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC), was domesticated in SA to explore the option of extending customary diplomatic immunity to visiting heads of state, justice & correctional services minister Ronald Lamola said in parliament on Tuesday.
Lamola noted in reply to questions by members of the justice & correctional services committee that countries such as Britain and the Netherlands had domesticated the Rome Statute in a manner that empowered the executive to exit or to suspend the operations of the statute if it was not in the national interest to implement such a statute.
“How we have domesticated it in our country does not give us that kind of space,” Lamola said.
Article 98 of the statute says the ICC “may not proceed with a request for surrender or assistance which would require the requested state to act inconsistently with its obligations under international law with respect to the state or diplomatic immunity of a person or property of a third state unless the court can first obtain the co-operation of that third state for the waiver of the immunity”.
SA’s ICC membership has become contentious in light of the Brics summit which SA will host in August, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to attend despite a warrant for his arrest issued by the ICC for alleged atrocities committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The option of Putin participating in the summit virtually is being explored.
The ANC and President Cyril Ramaphosa gave mixed messages last week, with Ramaphosa confirming SA would not withdraw from the Rome Statute as he had indicated earlier.
In his political overview of his department, Lamola said the government agreed with Amnesty International on the inconsistency and double standards of the ICC in its work.
“The fact that an investigation into the atrocities in Palestine has not been completed, while the one in Ukraine, opened later, has already had a referral, is an injustice,” Lamola said.
“There should have been a decision by the ICC on Israel/ Palestine by now.
“The people of Palestine must find justice in the ICC like any other citizens of the globe. We will explore various options with regard to how the Rome Statute was domesticated in our country including the option to look at extending customary diplomatic immunity to visiting heads of state in our country.
“The ICC must be equal, it must be fair. The rule of law gets undermined when the law is applied selectively,” he said.
The ACDP’s Steve Swart said the equation of the Russian/ Ukraine situation with the situation in Palestine and Israel was “totally unacceptable” and suggested that the ANC look at its foreign policy stance, which was often described as “clueless and immoral”.
It should also look at gross human rights violations in countries such as China, North Korea, Burundi, Iran and Syria.
The DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach also disagreed strongly with the minister’s views.
Lamola told MPs he had registered SA’s “displeasure” at the dismissal of SA’s request for the extradition of Atul and Rajesh Gupta by a court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with his counterpart. The dismissal was based “on a technicality and inexplicable reasons”, he said.
“We will soon announce the way forward with regards to this matter upon finalisation of our engagements with our UAE counterparts.”
The discussion with the UAE justice minister revealed the appeal court ruling could not be appealed. “The only way forward could be a resubmission and they committed to look at it in an expedited process. These are issues ... we are still engaging on with the central authority and also with the NPA”.
In the extradition of fugitives Shepherd Bushiri (real name Chipiliro Gama), and his wife Mary Bushiri, Lamola said law enforcement officials would travel to Malawi to testify in the hearing on a set list of questions.
On the malfunctioning of the Master’s Office, Lamola said the department continued to receive complaints and was committed to a turnaround by tackling systematic deficiencies through modernisation and digitisation.
Lamola announced that the department of correctional services had served a termination notice on G4S after receiving a legal opinion. The private company operates the Mangaung Correctional Centre, a maximum security jail, from which convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester escaped last year. Several employees have been charged with aiding the escape of a prisoner.
“It has been deemed that BCC [Bloemfontein Correctional Contracts] is not suitable to continue with the contract ... A termination notice for a period of 90 days has been served to BCC, and thereafter the contract will cease to operate,” Lamola said.
G4S, which operates the jail in terms of a public-private partnership, failed to comply with its contractual obligations over a number of years, he said.
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