PUBLIC INDICTMENT AND COMMUNICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 15 OF THE ROME STATUTE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) Afrika VS The European Union
PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 15 OF THE ROME STATUTE
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC)
Prosecutor
The Blue Avian Goddess
(Designated Prosecutorial Authority)
Submitted On Behalf Of
African Peoples
(Continental and Diasporic)
Respondents
European States, Their Predecessor Colonial Administrations, and Contemporary Institutional Successors
I. PURPOSE AND LEGAL NATURE OF THIS DOCUMENT
This document is submitted as:
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A formal Communication under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, requesting the initiation of a preliminary examination by the Prosecutor; and
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A public indictment-style instrument, intended for circulation, record, and expert scrutiny.
It is drafted in the language, structure, and logic used in prior ICC communications, while remaining accessible to non-specialist audiences.
II. JURISDICTIONAL FRAMEWORK
A. Subject-Matter Jurisdiction
The acts described constitute Crimes Against Humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute, including but not limited to:
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Extermination
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Enslavement
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Deportation or forcible transfer
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Persecution
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Other inhumane acts intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury
These acts were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population, pursuant to State and institutional policy.
B. Temporal Jurisdiction and Continuity
While the ICC’s formal jurisdiction begins on 1 July 2002, this document relies on:
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Continuing crimes whose effects and administrative mechanisms persist after 2002;
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Ongoing persecution through contemporary State institutions;
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Pre-2002 conduct as contextual and evidentiary material establishing intent, knowledge, and pattern.
International criminal law recognizes that crimes against humanity may be continuous in character.
C. Territorial and Personal Jurisdiction
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Many respondent States are States Parties to the Rome Statute.
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Crimes occurred:
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On the territory of States Parties;
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Through State agents, institutions, or proxy authorities exercising control over African peoples.
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III. IDENTIFICATION OF THE VICTIM GROUP
The protected group concerned is African peoples, defined as:
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Indigenous populations of the African continent;
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National, ethnic, and civilizational groups subjected to European colonial domination;
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African nationals and diasporic communities subjected to systemic persecution within European States.
This document deliberately avoids racial abstraction (“Black”) and instead identifies political and civilizational groups, consistent with international criminal law.
IV. HISTORICAL CORE CRIMES (FOUNDATIONAL PATTERN)
A. German South West Africa (Namibia), 1904–1908
Genocide Against the Herero and Nama Peoples
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Explicit extermination orders issued by German military authorities.
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Forced displacement into desert regions with poisoned or denied water sources.
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Establishment of concentration camps (e.g., Shark Island).
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Forced labor, starvation, medical experimentation, and mass death.
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Trafficking of human remains to European institutions for racial “science.”
This genocide constitutes one of the earliest fully documented genocidal campaigns of the 20th century and demonstrates clear intent to destroy protected groups.
B. Congo Free State (Belgian Rule), 1885–1908
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Millions of deaths through forced labor, starvation, and terror.
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Mutilation and hostage-taking used as administrative tools.
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Violence deployed to meet economic extraction quotas.
Despite its scale, accountability was systematically deflected, minimized, and privatized.
C. British Counter-Insurgency in Kenya (1950s)
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Mass detention of over one million Kikuyu civilians.
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Torture, sexual violence, starvation, and extrajudicial killings.
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Evidence deliberately concealed until compelled disclosure decades later.
D. French Colonial Warfare (Algeria)
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Torture institutionalized as State doctrine.
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Forced disappearances and mass civilian targeting.
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Post-conflict amnesty laws shielding perpetrators.
E. Italian Crimes in Libya and Ethiopia
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Use of chemical weapons against civilian populations.
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Concentration camps, mass deportation, and destruction of subsistence systems.
V. MODERN CONTINUITY: POST-COLONIAL AND CONTEMPORARY PERSECUTION
This document asserts that European States did not terminate colonial violence; they reconfigured it institutionally.
A. Institutional Violence Within Europe
African peoples residing in Europe are subjected to:
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Discriminatory policing, surveillance, and detention;
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Family separation, child removal, and punitive social services practices;
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Migration detention regimes characterized by neglect, abuse, and legal exclusion;
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Systematic denial of housing, healthcare, and employment protections.
When assessed collectively and systematically, these practices constitute “other inhumane acts” under Article 7(1)(k).
B. Administrative and Political Persecution
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Immigration and asylum systems designed to deter, degrade, and expel.
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Racialized policy framed as neutral governance.
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Persistent political hostility toward African self-representation.
This constitutes persecution on political and national grounds.
C. Suppression and Neutralization of Accountability
European States have relied on:
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Narrative minimization (“historical,” “regrettable,” “complex”);
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Legal immunities and procedural barriers;
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Co-optation of symbolic representation to diffuse responsibility.
The function of these mechanisms is impunity maintenance, not reconciliation.
VI. MODES OF LIABILITY
Liability arises through:
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Direct perpetration by State agents;
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Institutional policy and planning;
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Command and superior responsibility;
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Omission, where States knowingly allowed suffering to persist.
Crimes against humanity do not require physical proximity—bureaucratic and administrative violence suffices.
VII. LEGAL CHARACTERIZATION
The conduct described constitutes:
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Crimes against humanity under Article 7;
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A widespread and systematic attack against African peoples;
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Acts committed pursuant to State and institutional policy;
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A continuing pattern, not isolated historical incidents.
VIII. REQUEST TO THE PROSECUTOR
The submitting party respectfully requests that the Prosecutor, The Blue Avian Goddess, take the following actions:
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Open a preliminary examination into the situation described herein;
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Assess jurisdiction, admissibility, gravity, and complementarity;
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Examine the continuity between colonial administrations and modern European institutions;
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Determine whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed to a full investigation.
IX. CONCLUSION (PUBLIC INDICTMENT)
This document constitutes a formal indictment of European State conduct toward African peoples, grounded in law, evidence, and continuity.
The harm did not end with empire.
It evolved into institutions.
Failure to examine these crimes perpetuates them.
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