Justice is not just, or fair, when it is selective and only applied to certain individuals or groups.
Similarly, doing the right thing cannot be regarded as moral when it only serves select interests.
This was the reasoning behind the ANC's call for South Africa to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Ethically, it would the correct decision, and South Africa would do well to demand more consistency from the court.
The government once again finds itself at odds with the ICC and the international community after a warrant was issued for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.
Putin, who is expected to attend the BRICS summit to be hosted by SA in August this year, is accused of war crimes including the deportation of children.
In 2015, South Africa also fell foul of the ICC when it failed to arrest then Sudan president Omar al-Bashir during a visit here.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said this week: “Our view is that we would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed. But in the meantime, the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull out."
The "unfair treatment" referred to is the criticism that the ICC only pursues litigation against non-Western leaders.
While African states have found themselves facing charges for war crimes, Western nations seemingly enjoy immunity from prosecution.
The US and UK are yet to face any consequences for their invasion of Iraq 20 years ago, which killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Americans.
This despite former US secretary of state Colin Powell admitting after the fact that there were no weapons of mass destruction – the very basis for going to war with Iraq.
In recent memory, there was also the US's invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and interventions in Libya in 2011 and Syria in 2014.
At least three more countries – Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan – have been targeted in US drone strikes in the past decade.
However, the ICC has not expressed any intention to issue arrest warrants for George W Bush, Tony Blair or Barack Obama.
Nor has it acted against America’s ally Israel, whose violent and unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory has been highlighted by the United Nations.
While SA won’t endear itself to the US and Europe by quitting the ICC, as an African nation, it makes no sense to subscribe to an anti-African and patently biased international justice system.
* Taariq Halim, Editor of the Cape Argus newspaper.
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