South African President Calls For Deals With War Criminals

South African President Jacob Zuma says leaders responsible for heinous crimes should be given immunity in exchange for stepping down. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has so far indicted a number of African leaders for human rights violations.

Defenceweb reports Zuma calling for a new approach to issues relating to regime change in Africa:

The world has changed, therefore let us do things differently and not emphasise punishment. If you are saying: 'Okay move out, but tomorrow we are going to deal with you', then you are causing a problem with somebody saying: 'Why should I leave when I still have power? I had better remain here.'

The best-know example of an African leader holding for fear of prosecution is Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, who ordered the genocide of the minority Matabele people between 1982 and 1985 by Zimbabwe’s North Korean-trained 5th Brigade. The Matabele were mainly followers of political opponent Joshua Nkomo, and massacre of some 20,000 people broke his political power, leaving Mugabe supreme. Not everyone is happy about the idea. South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, says South Africa should make the promotion and protection of human rights the guideline of its foreign policy, and argues that granting immunity to abusers of human rights would set the wrong precedent. However, many Africans, including many South Africans, are upset that so far, all those indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague are Africans. They argue that western human rights violators, including former U.S. president George Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair should face justice for their invasion of Iraq, which the critics maintain is in violation of international law.