South Africa Invites Putin to Summit Despite ICC Arrest Warrant

On Thursday, South African Foreign Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor confirmed that her country has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to participate in the 15th BRICS summit that will take place in Durban in August 24.

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On March 17, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against the Russian leader accusing him of alleged war crimes. Although South Africa is a ICC member and should cooperate in the arrest, its authorities appear to be unwilling to do so.

"We must have a discussion with the Cabinet to decide how we will act," said Pando, whose country is currently holding the rotating presidency of the cooperation arrangement made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

"On other occasions, I have mentioned the problem of double standards in global affairs. There are many other countries that have been involved in wars, invasions of territories, murders of people, and arrests of activists, but none of them have been called by the ICC." 

"It seems that if you are powerful and enjoy a particular status in the international community, you can get away and this worries us because it obscures the objectivity of the ICC as a fair arbitrator," she added.

In June 2015, South Africa found itself in a similar situation when the African Union (AU) summit awaited the presence of the Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir, who was facing an arrest warrant for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The South African government claimed that it could not arrest Al Bashir due to his diplomatic immunity and allowed him to land on its territory. In less than 48 hours, however, the Sudanese president returned to his country to avoid problems.

A few months later, the Hague Court opened proceedings against South Africa for its lack of cooperation. However, it did not refer the situation to the United Nations Security Council to avoid a deterioration in its relations with the South African authorities.