Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The African Union (AU) Summit has demanded that the position of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) be reserved for an African candidate when elections are held in December, PANA reported Wednesday. The 16th session of the AU Assembly, which ended Monday, said it had taken note of the forthcoming elections for the post, currently held by Luis Moreno-Ocampo of Argentina, but said it was time for an African candidate to head one of the units of the Court.

The leaders argued that the mechanisms set up within ICC for identifying a suitable candidate required that the principle of geographical representation and gender equity be considered in determining the candidates for the post.

They said considering the fact that there was no African heading any of the main organs of the institution, an African candidate should therefore be considered for the post.

The African leaders said the issue should be tabled before the next summit, slated for 23-30 June, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, but in the meantime, directed African diplomats in Geneva and New York, to pursue the matter.

African leaders are opposing what they considered as 'selective justice' being offered by ICC, mainly targeting crimes committed in Africa.

AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping said although countries like Kenya agreed to cooperate with the ICC, the prosecutor's announcement that 'he would make Kenya an example to the world' had eroded the confidence in the ICC.

'Frankly speaking, we are not against the ICC. What we are against is Ocampo's justice -- the justice of a man. What have we done to justify being an example to the world, are there no worst countries like Myanmar,' Ping charged.

He said the ICC was behaving in a manner to suggest that the six Kenyans, named by the ICC as most responsible for the post-election violence in the country, were guilty.

Meanwhile, the AU Summit has endorsed an African candidate to vie for the post of judge at the ICC during the elections set for December 2011.

Nigeria's Chile Eboe-Osuji was endorsed as the African candidate.

Uganda's Julia Sebutinde has also been endorsed for elections to be held in New York, in September 2011, for the post of Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Pana 03/02/2011