Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov has arrived in Cape Town amid a diplomatic storm over whether South Africa will comply with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.
Putin is expected to travel to South Africa as a member of the court in August to attend a summit of BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The court’s arrest warrant hangs over his visit. His Foreign Minister, Mr Lavrov, is in South Africa this week to prepare for that meeting.
The matter has sparked public debate over South Africa’s membership of the court, which will contrast the ruling African National Congress’s historic ties with Russia against the country’s economic ties with the United States and Europe.
Mr Lavrov has just completed a turbulent tour of East Africa that included meetings with leaders from Kenya, Burundi and Mozambique, as Moscow steps up support for its allies in Africa. Lavrov and his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor are expected to discuss the ICC warrant. South Africa must balance its obligations to the court charged with investigating war crimes and the country’s relationship with Russia.
Mr Putin’s expected presence at the August meeting has become a sensitive political issue for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government. The international arrest warrant quoted Mr Putin’s role in kidnapping and deporting Ukrainian children has isolated Mr Putin, a leader with an aura of impunity.
This week, South Africa’s foreign ministry said the summit was protected by diplomatic immunity. However, that immunity “does not apply to specific individuals,” the ministry said.
“These immunities do not override any arrest warrants issued by an international tribunal against any attendee at the conference,” the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, a department of the State Department, said in a statement.
At the same time, South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, applied to a Supreme Court for a declaratory order on South Africa’s obligation to comply with the ICC’s arrest warrant. The party hopes the court order will clear up whether South African officials have a legal obligation to arrest Mr Putin and extradite him to The Hague. The party also wants a judge to clarify the process of arresting an incumbent president, said Glynnis Breytenbach, a party MP.
The preliminary trial would “prevent a repeat of the al-Bashir saga,” Ms Breytenbach said. In 2015, South African officials failed to issue an ICC warrant and arrest former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, who was in Johannesburg to attend an African Union meeting. A South African The court ruled that the government was required by law to arrest Mr al-Bashir hours after he left the country.
The court has not set a date for the hearing on Mr Putin’s visit.
The trials highlight the confusion over South Africa’s stance on Russia. The United States has criticized South Africa for its cordial relations with Moscow, while Mr. Ramaphosa called His country was under enormous pressure to abandon its non-aligned policy in the face of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
