Chad has become the fifth country to begin a formal withdrawal process from the International Criminal Court in recent months, following Venezuela, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
A statement issued by a Chadian government spokesperson on Monday said Chad had notified the United Nations Secretariat of "its sovereign decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court (ICC)".
Chad's decision, it said, followed "an in-depth review of the functioning of the International Criminal Court since it began operating in 2002, as well as its record whose effectiveness remains limited and uneven".
It also pointed to the ICC's "judicial activity focused on the Global South in general and the African continent in particular, which have become the willing victims of the ICC's political instrumentalisation".
Of the 13 investigations opened by the court since it came into force, nine concern African states, and only four in other regions of the world "but without any concrete progress", the Chadian government said.
"The court has only seven people in custody, six of whom are being prosecuted in African situations," it added.
The decision comes amid claims by national and international organisations of Chad's suspected involvement in the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.
Fifth state to leave
Chad announced its withdrawal on Monday after Venezuela on Friday announced that it had started the formal procedure to withdraw.
The ICC had been conducting investigations into allegations of crimes against humanity by the previous Venezuelan government. Like Chad, Venezuela's authorities accused the court of disproportionately focusing on non-Western states.
In early July, the ICC confirmed that the three military-led African countries in the Sahel – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – formally began their withdrawal, which will take a year to go into effect.
Chad's announcement also came days after 82 of the court's 125 member states voted to dismiss Karim Khan as prosecutor, for serious misconduct.
That triggered an election process for a new prosecutor but a vote is not expected before the new year. In the interim, the office of the prosecutor will be run by the current deputy prosecutors, Nazhat Shameen Khan from Fiji and Senegal's Mame Mandiaye Niang.
After Khan's removal from office, the court said it will continue to carry out its mandate.
"The ICC remains firmly committed to advancing accountability and delivering justice for victims of crimes that deeply shock the conscience of humanity," it said.
US campaign
According to a statement on Chad's foreign minister's website last week, the decision to quit the ICC follows a request by the United States.
It said the US deputy secretary of state for African affairs had called on the Chadian government to reconsider its ICC membership during a telephone call last Thursday.
"The American side expressed its concerns about the functioning of this institution and called on Chad to review its accession to the Rome Statute," the statement said.
Washington wants the ICC to drop its arrest warrants against Israeli leaders over Gaza and to stop investigating alleged crimes involving US troops.
The US launched a diplomatic campaign this year to undermine the ICC, which court observers say could make it hard to find a replacement for Khan.
"Who is now going to want to nominate for a position that has such challenges, because they know they will automatically be sanctioned by the US," Melanie O'Brien, professor of international law at the University of Western Australia, told Reuters news agency.
The European Union and several of the court's biggest financial contributors, including the Netherlands and Japan, have voiced support for the court and concern over the US position but have not announced any practical steps to shore up the institution.
(with newswires)
