Overview

• The Alliance des États du Sahel issued a joint communiqué declaring an exit from the ICC and denouncing it as a neo‑colonial instrument.
• Though described as taking immediate effect politically, the move becomes legally operative one year after formal notice to the UN Secretary‑General.
• The three governments say they will establish indigenous justice mechanisms, including a proposed Sahelian criminal court.
• Each country is led by a military junta that came to power between 2020 and 2023 and has shifted away from Western partners toward ties with Russia.
• The states confront lethal jihadist insurgencies linked to al‑Qaida and Islamic State, while their security forces have faced allegations of abuses against civilians.