The International Criminal Court (ICC) has responded to the petition sent to it by a Nigerian civil rights organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), demanding immediate investigation and subsequent prosecution of a Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini, over his utterances which sparked off last month’s violence and killing of foreign nationals, including Nigerians living in South Africa.
SERAP had in a petition dated April 23, 2015 signed by its executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, sent to ICC requested the prosecutor, Mrs. Fatou Bensouda, to, as a matter of importance, use her “good offices and position to investigate allegations of hate speech by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, which resulted in killing, violence and discrimination against Nigerians and other African citizens living in South Africa, as well as the complicity/negligence of the country’s law enforcement agencies to prevent these crimes against civilian population.”
ICC, in a reply letter dated April 28, 2015, signed by Head of Information and Evidence Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor, M.P Dillon, said: “The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court acknowledges receipt of your documents. This communication has been duly entered in the Communications Register of the Office. We will give consideration to this communication, as appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. As soon as a decision is reached, we will inform you, in writing, and provide you with reasons for this decision.”
In its petition, SERAP had urged Mrs. Bensouda to “bring to justice anyone who is responsible for these international crimes prohibited under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”
SERAP also said that it “considers the use of speech by the Zulu king to promote hatred and/or incite violence against non-nationals such as Nigerians, particularly in the media, as a clear violation of the provisions of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court.
“Grave statements by political leaders/prominent people that express discrimination and cause violence against non-nationals cannot be justified under any law. This hate speech generated fear and hatred that created the conditions for violence and discrimination against Nigerians and other African citizens. SERAP believes that this has given rise to individual criminal responsibility under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” the organisation said.
According to SERAP, “the statement by the Zulu king amounts to a harmful form of expression which incites or otherwise promotes hatred, discrimination, violence and intolerance. We are seriously concerned that crimes against humanity are often accompanied or preceded by the kind of statement made by the Zulu king.
“Once the climate of violence has been created, direct and public incitement to crimes builds on it, exacerbating the situation by further heating up passions and directing South Africans’ hatred towards non-nationals such as Nigerians. Hate speech by the King of Zulu is legally tied to contemporaneous, large-scale violence and inhuman and discriminatory treatment of Nigerians and other African citizens,” the organisation also argued.
“The statement by the Zulu king has contributed to a climate of fear, demonisation and dehumanisation of Nigerians and other African citizens, thus violating their human dignity through humiliation and expulsion from the human community. SERAP is seriously concerned that hate speech by the Zulu king amounts to crime against humanity of persecution and has directly contributed to an infringement of the right to life, equality and non-discrimination of Nigerians and other African citizens.
“SERAP considers the statement by the Zulu King and the apparent complicity/negligence by the country’s law enforcement agencies to prevent the violence and discrimination as amounting to active encouragement of South African citizens to develop feelings of contempt for Nigerians and other African citizens; as amounting to incitement to violence and discrimination against Nigerians and other African citizens, and to mistreat them; and as amounting to an appeal for South African citizens to separate themselves from Nigerians and other African citizens,” the organisation further stressed.
“The statement by the Zulu King and the apparent complicity/negligence by the country’s law enforcement agencies to prevent the violence and discrimination has contributed to the level of persecution against Nigerians and other African citizens. According to Professor Bassiouni, persecution in this instance is “a state action leading to the infliction upon an individual of harassment, torment, oppression, or discriminatory measures, designed to or likely to produce physical or mental suffering or economic harm, because of the victims’ beliefs, views, or membership in a given identifiable group (such as non-nationals),” the organisation also said.
The petition further reads:
“Without accountability for these serious human rights crimes, the victims will continue to be denied access to justice, and impunity of perpetrators will remain widespread and the result will continue to be a vicious cycle of violence and discrimination against Nigerians and other African citizens living in South Africa.”
“SERAP believes that substantial grounds exist to warrant the intervention of the Prosecutor in this case. Under Article 17 of the Rome Statute, the Court is a court of last resort, expected to exercise its jurisdiction only if states themselves are unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate and prosecute international crimes. Also, pursuant to the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor has power to intervene in a situation under the jurisdiction of the Court if the Security Council or states parties refer a situation or if information is provided from other sources such as the information SERAP is providing in this case.”
Consequently, SERAP demands the ICC to:
“Urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the allegations of hate speech and the accompanying killing, violence and discrimination against Nigerians and other African citizens living in South Africa, with a view to determining whether these amount to international crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction. In this respect, we also urge you to invite representatives of the South African government to provide written or oral testimony at the seat of the Court, so that the Prosecutor is able to conclude on the basis of available information whether there is a reasonable basis for an investigation, and to submit a request to the Pre-Trial Chamber for authorisation of an investigation.
“Urge the South African government to fulfil its obligations under the Rome Statute to cooperate with the ICC; including complying with your requests to arrest and surrender suspected perpetrators of international crimes, take testimony, and provide other support to the ICC.”
