Chad Pulls Out of International Criminal Court, Citing Bias and US Pressure.

In a move that signals growing cracks in the international justice system, Chad's military government announced Monday it's beginning the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court. The decision makes Chad the fifth country to bail on the ICC in just a few months, joining a growing exodus that critics say is being fueled by American pressure and long standing grievances about the court's focus on Africa.

"Look, the court just isn't working the way it should," a Chadian government spokesperson seemed to suggest in their official statement, which slammed the ICC's "limited" effectiveness and what they see as a glaring double standard. The numbers back up part of their complaint: of the 13 investigations the court has launched since it was established in 2002, nine have been in African nations. The other four? They're stuck in neutral with "no concrete progress," according to Chad's government.

The decision follows the lead of neighbors Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger all of which, like Chad, are run by military governments. Those three Sahel states bailed out together back in September, all making the same accusation: the ICC plays favorites.

But the bias argument is only half the story. The real elephant in the room is Washington.

The United States has never exactly been a fan of the ICC, but things have gone from bad to openly hostile since the court dropped arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant back in 2024. The Trump administration isn't hiding its intentions anymore. Secretary of State Marco Rubio let it slip last week that the US is planning to "systematically disable" the court's ability to do its job.

Chad's withdrawal comes hot on the heels of Venezuela's announcement last Friday. And here's where it gets interesting: Chad's own Foreign Ministry pretty much admitted that Washington twisted their arm. According to a statement on their official website, the US deputy secretary of state for African affairs called up the Chadian government on Thursday and basically told them to reconsider their membership. The Americans expressed "concerns about the functioning of this institution," and asked Chad "to review its accession to the Rome Statute."

Translation? Get out or else.

It doesn't take a political scientist to connect the dots. Delcy Rodriguez, the interim president of Venezuela, essentially runs the country with Washington's blessing. And now Chad, a key US partner in the fight against extremism in the Sahel region, is following the script.

Just days ago, the ICC's former prosecutor Karim Khan was booted from his job over misconduct allegations. Khan's defense team is crying foul, insisting his removal was "politicized" and it's worth noting that Khan was the guy who secured that Netanyahu arrest warrant that's got Washington so furious.

The ICC was supposed to be the world's court a place where war criminals and human rights abusers can't hide. Member states sign up to arrest anyone the court puts a warrant out for. But since the recent wave of exits, only Burundi (2017) and the Philippines (2019) had ever pulled out before. Hungary jumped ship in April 2025, conveniently right before hosting Netanyahu.

The question now is: how many more will follow?