Legal Aid Conference ends in Accra

Accra, Oct. 25, GNA- A two-day Africa Legal Aid Conference in Accra has ended with a call on African states to desist from offering asylum protecting fugitives from international criminal courts.

The conference, organised under the auspices of the Africa Legal Aid, dealt on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Africa and how to promote human rights jurisprudence.

About 100 participants from various African countries that have ratified the Statute on the ICC, included Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo among others.

According to a statement issued at the conference the participants urged African governments to desist from undermining the efficacy of the ICC by entering into agreements that frown on the jurisdiction of the ICC and the exercise of universal jurisdiction by national courts. The statement declared " Those that have entered into such agreements are urged to revoke the agreements as they are essentially illegitimate and in violation of established international legal norms and principles."

The statement urged the ICC to ensure its effectiveness and legitimacy by ensuring that it responded to violations of human rights and criminal acts in an unbiased manner.

It called upon African jurists, human rights scholars, government officials and other professionals to contribute to the empowerment of human rights challenges.

In his closing remarks, Nana Akuffo-Addo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, noted that despite the establishment of the ICC human rights abuses have not reduced significantly on the continent. He called for the strengthening of the legal system to promote the Rule of Law in Africa.

Nana Akuffo-Addo urged the participants to ensure that human rights abusers do not get away with their actions and asked communities to build a society free of trouble for enhanced development.