3. The Authors argue that being a coalition and NGOs working to end impunity in Nigeria
and across West Africa , and engaging with these governments on ICC as well as on AU
issues, they are deeply interested in the questions presented to the Court for Advisory
Opinion. The Authors submit that their particular interest in the Request arises from the
following :
i.
In engaging with Government officials on ICC and AU issues, as well as
broader international justice issues, they need adv1ce on which of the treaty
obligations are superior when they conflict. According to the Authors, there is
such a conflict because the AU, by various Resolutions, has demanded that its
members should not cooperate with the ICC with respect to the arrest and
surrender of President Omar AI-Bashir of Sudan who has been indicted for
crimes under the Rome Statute of the ICC, while at the same time the Statute
creates treaty obligations on its State parties , such as Nigeria, Ghana and other
countries in West Africa , to cooperate with the ICC, especially in the arrest and
surrender of any person Indicted by the ICC against whom a warrant of arrest
has been issued as in the case of President Omar AI-Bashir.
ii.
The applicants work on projects aimed at tackling impunity in Nigeria and in
West Africa, and they rely on the treaty obligations of these countries under the
Rome Statute as well as domestic laws, including the African Charter of Human
and Peoples' Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act of Nigeria, and other
international and regional instruments.
iii.
In various summits of Heads of State and Government of the AU, between 2011
and 2013, the Union adopted various resolutions calling on its members not to
cooperate with the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC with respect to the arrest
and surrender of President Omar AI Bashir of Sudan .
3