SAPS refuses Rome-statute complaints

SA is a signatory to the Rome Statute – undertaking to investigate, record and prosecute hate-crime cases on behalf of the International Criminal Court. However there’s a major catch: the police computer does not recognise such a category…

The South African government lies when it claims that it ‘implemented the Rome statute at municipal level’. It did not honour its international contract in this regard: no resident in South Africa today can walk into any police station to lodge a formal genocidal-hate crime charge even though this is one of the requirements under the Rome Statute. Its “MASS’ computer system does not have such a category – ergo such charges cannot be lodged and investigated…

The ANC-regime thus very clearly has NOT ‘implemented the Rome Statute at municipal level’ despite their claims to the contrary – even at the World Summit of 2005. Previous president Thabo Mbeki as leader of the co-ruling ANC-party, and P M Maduna as  Minister of the Cabinet, signed the Rome Statute in Pretoria in March 24 2003: document below. They appointed Advocate Anton Rossouw Ackerman SC as a special director of public prosecutions to ‘head the Priority Crimes Litigation Unit and to manage and direct the investigation and prosecution of crimes contemplated in the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Act No 27 of 2002) — and also of serious national and international crimes whichh include acts of terrorism and sabotage committed under the Internal Security act 1982; etc (below).

Staatscourant Nr 24876 Nr 46, 2003: 23 May 2003

http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=64306

Above: In July 1998, the South African government’s president at that time, Thabo Mbeki, signed the Rome Statute and it was ratified (i.e. registered in its legal systems): placed in the Government Gazette as Nr. 27 of 2003. http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=64306

The South African government with this order  above, undertook to  administer its requirements regarding the registration, investigation and archiving all ‘genocidal hatecrimes’ in South Africa. They ‘forgot’ to create a special category for such crimes on their SAPS MASS computer system, however. The Institute for Security Studies document  http://www.issafrica.org/cdromestatute/pages/document.pdf shows however that the South African government never issued an order to the SA Police Service to create a category so that private citizens can lodge formal charges under the Rome Statute:

Above: Residents inside South Africa cannot lodge any formal charges at any local police station under the Rome Statute, because the government has not made a provision on its MASS-computer system for such a crime. Ergo, no hatecrimes are being investigated nor registered in South Africa. Yet many hatecrimes against foreign Africans, and SA minorities i.a. the Afrikaners, the Khoi-San and Asian-South Africans, which resortunder the Rome Statute are being recorded by SA criminologists . None of these crimes are however prosecuted as hatecrimes: they are all logged as ‘ordinary crimes’ by the SA Police computer system.

This is very convenient for the South African government because this also means that there has never been any genocidal hatecrime registered, investigated nor prosecuted in South Africa since that government ratified the Rome Statute. 

The ANC-regime lied when it claimed that ‘the Rome Statute is being implimented on municipal level”. And this lie is being spread throughout the UN structures, the EU countries, the International Criminal Court and it was even announced at the World Summit of 2005. Foreign governments’ representatives are not going to go to a South African police station to verify whether citizens can lodge complaints under the Rome Statute. They rely on members of the Opposition, non-governmental organisations and members of the public to raise complaints about the South African government’s non-compliance in regards to its signature on the Rome Statute.
Now, the time has arrived for South African citizens to raise the alarm – to complain loudly, clearly and make their voices heard in the international arena: namely that the South African government cannot be trusted to tell the truth. If the South African government had really meant to honour its contract with the ICC under the Rome Statute, they would have taken every possible step to allow citizens to file such formal complaints at any local police station – at municipal level.

Under the Rome Statute to which South Africa is a signatory, the SAPS is required to register any offences such as those under Article 6: as below i.a.:

Genocide:
1. the murders of members of a group with the intent to destroy the group in its entirety OR PARTIALLY;
2. If any serious critical injury is sustained by members of such a targetted group
3. If any emotional of psychological injury is inflicted to members of the targetted group.
4. The deliberate destruction of the targetted group

In July 1998, the South African government’s president at that time, Thabo Mbeki, signed the Rome Statute and it was ratified (i.e. registered in its legal systems): placed in the Government Gazette as Nr. 27 of 2003.

Organised Crime Unit was ordered to investigate crimes under Rome Statute
According to the SA presidential proclamation of 25 March 2003 the National Prosecuting Authority – and specifically the Unit for Organised Crime – were ordered under the provisions of the Rome Statute to ‘manage and direct the investigations and procecutions of crimes.” This order meant that the South African government had to upgrade its police service’s ‘MASS’ to allow members of the public to place formal charges under the Rome Statute at any SA Police Station. The upgrading of the MASS system was NOT undertaken.

Thus the South African Police Service is neither accepting formal charges of hate-crimes, nor does it register or investigate such hatecrimes under the Rome Statute. At all. Members of the public cannot lodge any charges of genocide in any South African police station.

What does that mean for South African citizens – and specifically by the Afrikaner minority group which is quite clearly being targetted by genocidal behaviour from members of the black majority? Even if a specific crime can be described as ‘genocidal’ as specified under the Rome Statute of the ICC, no person in South Africa can lodge a formal charge at any SA Police Station because the SA computer system does not have such a crime-specification.

source documentation:

http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/ADD16852-AEE9-4757-ABE7-9CDC7CF02886/283503/RomeStatutEng1.pdf

http://www.issafrica.org/cdromestatute/pages/document.pdf

Hatecrimes recorded by private criminologists in South Africa from June 1 2012:

African states should impliment the recommendations for local prosecutions under Rome Statute:

http://www.iss.co.za/uploads/positionpaper_icc.pdf

South African court rules on the SA National Prosecuting Authority’s refusal to investigate Zimbabwe torture case under Rome Statute:

May 25 2012 – The South African High Court recently made a decision on a torture case that if upheld is a resounding victory for Zimbabweans and human rights generally. The court said that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and South African Police Services (SAPS) had negated their duty under the law by refusing to investigate the case under the Rome Statute to which South Africa – but not Zimbabwe- is a signatory. The court ordered that an expeditious investigation be initiated with the NPA and SAPS carrying out their constitutional duties. If this judgement is upheld by the Supreme Court of South Africa – should it be appealed – it would mean that South Africa will conduct an investigation, and, after doing so, it can prosecute any of the Zimbabwe government officials of crimes against humanity. No one has diplomatic immunity for crimes against humanity, and therefore anyone can be arrested. It also means that if a named person visits a country which has an extradition agreement with South Africa, they should be arrested and sent to South Africa for prosecution. http://researchandadvocacyunit.wordpress.com/tag/zimbabwe-case-in-south-africa/
– South African prosecutors have refused to investigate the allegations.But two rights groups argue that under South Africa’s commitments to the International Criminal Court, prosecutors must take action against high-level Zimbabwean officials accused of torture.”Our law takes torture very seriously, particularly in light of our inauspicious history where the treatment of political opponents often meant torture,” Advocate Wim Trengrove told Judge Hans Fabricius.”The most fundamental of human rights is the prevention of torture.”
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre and the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum filed the case, which could mark the first time that a South African judge rules on the scope of the country’s Rome Statute treaty commitments to the ICC.The two groups are demanding that prosecutors arrest and prosecute the Zimbabweans accused of torture if they enter South Africa. The names of the officials have not been released.

http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/south-africa-rule-zimbabwe-torture-case-0 

http://researchandadvocacyunit.wordpress.com/tag/zimbabwe-case-in-south-africa/

 

http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/south-africa-rule-zimbabwe-torture-case-0

Hatecrimes in South Africa are investigated only as ‘ordinary crimes’:

David Hamilton: “At the beginning of the decade there were 40,000 White farmers in South Africa and there have been is 3,037 murdered in racial genocide and more than 20,000 armed attacks perpetrated by groups of militant, young Black racists on commercial farmers, since the ANC came to power in 1994. This is certainly higher as the South African government and police, with the world’s press keep it covered up. Boers are often tortured or raped first, by boiling water forced down their throats, tendons cut, burnings,  personal humiliations – most perpetrators are protected by Blacks within government and the police and not tried.http://majorityrights.com/weblog/comments/a_genocide_in_south_africa

http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=64306

World Summit 2005:

http://www.un.org/en/events/archives.shtml

http://www.icc-cpi.int/nr/exeres/8e728ec3-5785-4127-83d7-d910d99df603.htm

Workshop on Ratification, Implementation of the Rome Statute Amendments on the Crime of Aggression
Location : Lester Pollack Colloquium at New York University, 245 Sullivan Street, Manhattan, NY 10012, USA
The purpose of this workshop is to assist States in the process of ratification and/or implementation of the Kampala amendments on the crime of aggression.By invitation only Contact : Mr. Jörn Eiermann – [email protected]

http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ASP/ASP+Events/ASP_Calendar_2012/WORKSHOP06262012.htm

South Africa adopted Implimentation of Geneva Conventions Act regarding war crimes:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1207/S00756/south-africa-law-against-war-crimes-adopted.htm