South African President Cyril Ramaphosa proclaimed that any effort to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg next month would lead to a declaration of war with Russia.
Ramaphosa’s Dilemma
Putin has been charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for suspected war crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a signatory to the Rome Statute that constituted the ICC, South Africa is obligated to arrest Putin if he visits the African nation.
South Africa’s diplomatic dilemma is being played out in court, where the Democratic Alliance (DA), the country’s largest opposition party, attempts to force the government’s hand and guarantee the Kremlin leader is arrested and turned over to the ICC if he enters the country.
Ramaphosa responded by calling the DA’s application “irresponsible” and stating that national security was at stake. According to the president, South Africa requests an exception from ICC guidelines because carrying out the arrest would jeopardise the “security, peace, and order of the state.”
In a strongly written affidavit to the court, made public on Tuesday, Ramaphosa reiterated his previous stance that such action against Putin could undermine attempts to settle the crisis in Ukraine. The arrest would also threaten a South African-led initiative to end the crisis in Ukraine and “foreclose any peaceful solution,” he added.
Ramaphosa stated:
“I must highlight, for the sake of transparency, that South Africa has obvious problems with executing a request to arrest and surrender President Putin [...] Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war.”
“It would be inconsistent with our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia,” Ramaphosa remarked. South Africa has frequently voted against condemning Russia’s actions at the UN, instead advocating for talks to end the war.
DA leader John Steenhuisen hailed the court’s judgement, calling Ramaphosa’s assertion that South Africa feared conflict with Russia as “farcical” and “flimsy.”
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 18, 2023
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa:
"Russia has made it clear that the arrest of President Putin would be a declaration of war against Russia.”
SA is hosting the BRICS summit soon and is obliged by the International Criminal Court to arrest Putin if he shows up pic.twitter.com/IPNXDEWoRG
ICC Arrest Warrant Against Putin
The Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC issued an arrest order in March against the Russian president for war crimes committed during the Ukraine conflict.
According to the court, Putin has been complicit in war crimes in Ukraine since the conflict began in February 2022, including illegally deporting and transferring civilians, including children, from Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
As a result, under the ICC’s Rome Statute, if Putin visits any ICC member nation, that country is required to arrest the Russian president.
South Africa’s membership in the Rome Statute exerts immense pressure on the government, particularly because the Russian President is scheduled to attend the forthcoming BRICS summit in August.
The ICC treaty specifies that when a member country detects challenges that may hamper the execution of a request, it shall contact the court and that the court may not proceed with demanding an arrest if doing so would require a state to violate international standards on diplomatic immunity.
Ramaphosa had previously stated that an announcement on Putin’s likely attendance at the 22-24 August Summit would be made soon.
In recent interviews with local media, South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile stated that the administration has been unsuccessful in persuading Putin not to visit the country.
Last month, Ramaphosa led a seven-country African peace delegation to Kyiv and Saint Petersburg, including representatives from Egypt, Senegal, and Zambia.