Ghana has declared its strong opposition to attempts to abolish the International Criminal Court (ICC), arguing that the court should instead be strengthened to hold perpetrators of crimes against humanity accountable.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa made the call during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly marking the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
“The ICC needs our protection, not our condemnation,” he said, adding that there must be severe consequences for those who commit crimes against humanity and flagrantly violate the declaration’s principles.
Ablakwa said the anniversary demanded action on racism, racial discrimination, and historical injustice.
Twenty-five years after the Durban Declaration was adopted, he argued, the world was still confronting anti-Black racism, xenophobic attacks, and devastating crises in Palestine and Sudan.
He also questioned why Africa, with a population of 1.4 billion, still had no permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Turning to reparatory justice, the Minister said the consequences of slavery and the trafficking of enslaved Africans continued to shape present-day inequalities. He cited this year’s adoption of a Ghana-led UN resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans the gravest crime against humanity.
Ghana was now seeking a sincere apology, the return of what was looted, repair for continuing harm, and a commitment that such atrocities would never happen again, he said.
“The Durban Commitments must become reality, not a mere slogan,” Ablakwa told the General Assembly.
