![Amina, 37, prepares food with two of her five children in a displacement camp, after fleeing her village of Tchoma Bangou as a result of an attack in which more than 100 people were killed and granaries were burned, Tillabéri region, Niger, 1 August 2021. “In my family, they killed 12 people,” she told Amnesty International. “We miss our village so much, our presence here [in the camp] is just to save our lives.”](/cdn-cgi/image/onerror=redirect,width=640,height=640,format=webp/https://storage.googleapis.com/uploads.mongoosehq.com/url/media/51203226/723b670be53303aeecbb699460ecf118ec6de48b3e386da063547a3105ed7fe4)
Overview
- The three military-led governments issued a joint statement denouncing the court as an instrument of neo‑colonial, selective justice and saying they will pursue indigenous mechanisms for peace and justice.
- Withdrawal becomes effective one year after formal notification to the UN, and the joint announcement did not specify when that notice would be submitted.
- Amnesty International warned the move would weaken future avenues for accountability, noting that existing obligations remain and that the ICC’s Mali probe continues until any withdrawal takes effect.
- Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have left ECOWAS, formed the ance of SaheSahel States, curtailed security ties with Western partners and deepened relations with Russia.
- Rights groups and UN experts have reported alleged atrocities by armed groups and state forces in the Sahel, including findings that purported Malian army executions could amount to war crimes.