Chad joins the ranks of those leaving the International Criminal Court Story

Chad has become the fifth country to leave the ICC recently amid US pressure and accusations of bias.

Chad has joined a growing list of countries that have announced their intention to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The military government announced on Monday that Chad had begun the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes war crimes and human rights violations based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

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The North African country is the fifth country in recent months to leave the International Court of Justice, as the United States continues to pressure the organization.

Chad’s government has described the court’s effectiveness as “low” and uneven and has criticized what it says are the difficulties it faces in African countries.

Of the 13 investigations that the court has opened since it started working, 9 involve African countries, against four that were opened in other parts of the world “but without progress,” the government said.

Chad’s decision follows neighboring Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which also have military governments. Sahel says announced together their dismissal in September, they are suing the election tribunal.

Declaration of war

As well as claims of favoritism, the dismissal comes as a result of increased US involvement in the international court.

Washington’s longstanding hostility has grown since the ICC’s release construction documents against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in 2024.

The Trump administration now appears to have openly declared war on the agency. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that the US would do so to campaign “Systematic restriction” of the ICC’s ability to operate.

Chad was the second country to announce its withdrawal since the announcement. Venezuela it said on Friday it was withdrawing, calling the court “biased”.

Former President Delcy Rodriguez rules the country with the support of the US.

Chad’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared a statement on its official website that the decision to withdraw follows Washington’s request.

It said the deputy secretary of African American affairs pressed the administration to review its membership in a phone call Thursday.

“The American side expressed its concerns about the operation of the organization and asked Chad to review its entry into the Rome Statute,” he said.

A few days ago, a former prosecutor at the ICC Karim Khan was fired in cases of wrongdoing. Khan’s defense team, which obtained Netanyahu’s arrest warrant, insists that his removal was “political”.

The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute people for war crimes and crimes against humanity. It is the first court that has the power to count people in these cases and member states must arrest anyone who has ICC documents.

Before the recent surge in returns, Only Burundi (2017) and the Philippines (2019) came out of court. Hungary, which hosted Netanyahu in April 2025, announced its withdrawal from the ICC a day before his arrival.