From 11 to 12 October 2013, at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the AU convened an Extraordinary Summit on Implementation of International Jurisdiction, Justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is a follow-up to the AU's Summit in May where it criticized the ICC for "witch-hunting African leaders". The AU is threatening to use the "nuclear option" against the ICC by staging a mass withdrawal of African countries from the Rome Statute unless the ICC somehow divests itself of jurisdiction in the Kenyatta/Ruto cases. The haste to bury the ICC in Africa is occasioned by the fact that Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to go to trial in The Hague on November 12, 2013 on charges that he allegedly committed crimes against humanity in the aftermath of the 2007 Kenya election. His Deputy President William Ruto is going into the second month of his trial at The Hague on similar charges. Africa's anti-ICC crusaders who are threatening mass withdrawal from the Rome Statute are in a desperate last-ditch effort to rescue their brethren Kenyatta and Ruto from the ICC hook and simultaneously immunize themselves against any future legal accountability for crimes against international law I defend the International Criminal Court (ICC) not because it is a perfect judicial institution or system but because it is an imperfect one that can be perfected over time with the support and cooperation of the community of nations. I also defend the ICC because cunning race-baiters have used their poison-tipped spear of "race hunting" accusations to disarm, impale and render it defenseless. It is conventional wisdom that a well-timed unsubstantiated accusation of racism has the power to devastatingly incapacitate a targeted individual or institution and wickedly debase the truth. Furthermore in their effort to insulate themselves from accountability against crimes, we are being persuaded by African leaders that the ICC is a neo-colonialist instrument. Concerns that Africa appears to be a target of the world's first permanent criminal court, are not supported by facts. This is because most cases before the ICC from Africa have been reffered to it by African governments. It is also not in dispute that more than else where in the world, crimes that engage the jurisdiction of the ICC are committed in Africa. Withdrawing from the ICC though is not the solution, because this imbalance is not the doing of the ICC. The Court's judicial processes have been fair, impartial and transparent. The ICC Prosecutor is an African female of merit. She deserves support of the international community, and indeed support from the African continent. African leaders wish to withdraw en masse from the ICC in an attempt to desolve themselves of accountability for the crimes they commit againts their citizens. Withdrawing from the ICC would send a loud signal to the people of Africa and the rest of the world that African leaders want a license for impunity. But above all, these leaders need to be mindful of the plight of victims of atrocities in Africa, for whom the ICC has become a Court of first and only resort. Invite you to sign this petition to confirm your support for the ICC and to send a clear message to African leaders that you and many other Africa do not support their proposed withdraw from the ICC.