{"id":35599,"date":"2026-07-30T12:03:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=35599"},"modified":"2026-07-30T12:33:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:33:44","slug":"opinion-cyril-ramaphosa-could-face-justice-in-the-hague-attorney-archibong-speaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/30\/opinion-cyril-ramaphosa-could-face-justice-in-the-hague-attorney-archibong-speaks\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Cyril Ramaphosa Could Face Justice in The Hague &#8211; Attorney Archibong Speaks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">South Africa, under President Cyril Ramaphosa, has reportedly begun the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC). To my mind, the timing raises one unavoidable question: why now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For years, South Africa has witnessed repeated attacks on migrants and other black Africans. Many foreigners have lost their lives. In my view, President Ramaphosa&#8217;s government has failed in its duty to prevent the violence and ensure meaningful accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ghana first petitioned the African Union on 6 May 2026. That move was important, but the AU is not a criminal court and cannot issue arrest warrants for crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The matter then took a more consequential turn when two Ghanaian nationals filed a Communication and Petition before the International Criminal Court alleging that crimes against humanity have been committed in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"408\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 358 \/ 408;\" width=\"358\" controls src=\"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Video-2026-07-30-at-11.22.51-AM.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That, in my opinion, changes the conversation entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike the International Court of Justice, which hears disputes between States, the ICC prosecutes individuals. If the ICC Prosecutor decides to open an investigation and the available evidence satisfies the legal threshold, President Cyril Ramaphosa could potentially become one of the individuals examined because he has served as South Africa&#8217;s Head of State and Head of Government during the period in question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether that ultimately happens will depend entirely on the evidence and the decisions of the Court. But I believe it would be a mistake to dismiss the possibility simply because Ramaphosa is a sitting President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Ramaphosa has now initiated South Africa&#8217;s withdrawal from the ICC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I appreciate that governments may advance a variety of reasons for such a decision. Nevertheless, I believe many observers will inevitably ask whether this move is connected to the growing international scrutiny over allegations arising from South Africa. That is a legitimate question deserving of public debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even if South Africa ultimately withdraws from the Rome Statute, I do not believe that withdrawal would automatically place alleged crimes committed while South Africa was a State Party beyond the reach of the Court. International criminal law does not operate so simply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is an irony here that cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only months ago, President Ramaphosa&#8217;s government asked the International Court of Justice to hold Israel accountable under international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, international attention is increasingly turning toward South Africa itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, the two proceedings are legally distinct. The ICJ determines disputes between States. The ICC prosecutes individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in politics, symbolism matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-30-at-11.28.58-AM-1.jpeg?fit=696%2C464&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35603\" style=\"width:868px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-30-at-11.28.58-AM-1.jpeg?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-30-at-11.28.58-AM-1.jpeg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-30-at-11.28.58-AM-1.jpeg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-30-at-11.28.58-AM-1.jpeg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-30-at-11.28.58-AM-1.jpeg?resize=630%2C420&amp;ssl=1 630w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-30-at-11.28.58-AM-1.jpeg?resize=696%2C464&amp;ssl=1 696w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-30-at-11.28.58-AM-1.jpeg?resize=1068%2C712&amp;ssl=1 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My view is straightforward: no leader should demand international accountability abroad while resisting scrutiny at home. If international justice is a principle worth invoking against one&#8217;s adversaries, it must also be a principle one is prepared to accept when allegations arise against one&#8217;s own government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether President Cyril Ramaphosa ever faces an ICC investigation, indictment or trial remains a matter for the Court, not for politicians, commentators or lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I believe the legal and political questions now confronting his presidency are among the most serious of his tenure, and they deserve close attention from Africa and the wider international community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A. M. Archibong Esq<br>Attorney Archibong is an international attorney and legal analyst licensed in both the United States and Nigeria<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PS: The ICC prosecutes individuals. The ICJ determines disputes between States. A case before the ICJ is brought by one State against another.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa, under President Cyril Ramaphosa, has reportedly begun the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC). To my mind, the timing raises one unavoidable question: why now? For years, South Africa has witnessed repeated attacks on migrants and other black Africans. Many foreigners have lost their lives. In my view, President Ramaphosa&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":35605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5,3],"tags":[21843,19449,21840,21841,12754,21842],"class_list":["post-35599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","category-naija-news","tag-attorney-archibong","tag-cyril-ramaphosa","tag-icc","tag-international-criminal-court","tag-south-africa","tag-the-hague"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-30-at-12.29.12-PM.jpeg?fit=1250%2C1250&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35599"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35606,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35599\/revisions\/35606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}