The International Criminal Court (ICC) – A Postcolonial Tool for Western States to Control Africa?

This paper examines the question to what extent the criticism is justified that the ICC functions as a postcolonial tool for Western countries to control African countries. To analyse this question, this paper focuses on two main arguments of the postcolonial critique: first, the accusation that the ICC focuses unfairly on Africa and second, that the ICC is as a hegemonic tool of the West which stresses the importance of global politics in the practice of the ICC. Evaluating the two key aspects of the postcolonial critique, the author concludes that the ICC is unfairly accused of practising selective prosecution and also the critique that the ICC is a hegemonic tool of Western countries is not true as African countries played an essential role in its formation. However, the critique of the role of the UNSC is justified.