Ocampo to name top poll violence suspects

Ben Agina

International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo whose searchlight is trained on prime suspects of Kenya’s post-election violence will on Wednesday make them known by name to the ICC pre-trial Chamber.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo, who has made no secret he is itching to make Kenya an example to the world on the ills of impunity, is expected to divulge the names of individuals to be probed and the specific crimes he wants them charged with.

He has today and and Wednesday to build on his case for investigation and possible trial of prominent Kenyans, in line with the 12-day window he got from the pre-trial Chamber will decide whether or not to issue warrants of arrest at the prosecutor’s request and whether or not to confirm the charges against a person suspected of a crime.

They may also decide the admissibility of the situations and cases and on participation of victims at the pre-trial stage. The prosecutor had in November asked judges to allow a full-scale probe into the violence in which 1,500 people were killed after opposition candidate Mr Raila Odinga accused President Mwai Kibaki, who was hurriedly sworn-in, of electoral fraud. 

The pre-trial judges at the ICC had ordered Moreno-Ocampo to provide more evidence to support the Kenya case. It is believed the judges were keen on laying hands on what more Moreno-Ocampo could have on the State actors whose actions or inactions could have led to the killings and lawlessness.

Names likely to be presented to the judges for prosecution include those of six senior Government officials, including Cabinet ministers.

More information

The three judges at the ICC wanted more information from the prosecutor in his bid to open an investigation into the deadly violence that followed Kenya’s 2007 General Election. In an interview with The Standard Group recently, Moreno-Ocampo allayed fears the post-election violence case at The Hague could stall.

The prosecutor said he would forward names of the key masterminds of the violence as additional information to the judges. "We did not want to give the names of the suspects, but now that they have requested for them, we will give them," said Moreno-Ocampo on telephone.

He expressed confidence the judges will give him a go-ahead to prosecute the suspects. Moreno-Ocampo had then said the prosecutors handling Kenya’s case were experts, ‘who know what they are doing’.

"Everything is proper, and nothing will go wrong in this court," said Moreno-Ocampo.

The judges had asked Moreno-Ocampo to provide "clarification and additional information in the process of assessing whether or not to authorise" a full investigation, a court statement read. The new data should be filed by Wednesday.

Greatest responsibility 

Moreno-Ocampo said at the time he would focus on "those who bear the greatest responsibility, those who organised, planned and supported the attacks" in which thousands of people were injured and about 300,000 internally displaced.

These acts constituted crimes against humanity, said the prosecutor, who has been conducting a preliminary investigation of the crimes since February 2008. 

The court said it wanted the prosecutor to demonstrate the link between the events on the one hand, and "a policy of a State or one or more organisations" on the other. 

It also wanted more detail on specific incidents and individuals to be probed, as well as the status of any domestic investigations.

Kenya has yet to act on the recommendation of its own inquiry that a special tribunal be set up to probe the violence.

Yesterday, as part of mounting international pressure on Kenya, America’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Karl Wyckoff called for bold and decisive steps to be taken in favour of trials of post-poll violence suspects. He spoke at US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger’s residence in Nairobi.

In its last quarterly report, Southern Consulting Firm contracted by Dr Kofi Annan and his group of Africa’s Eminent Persons to monitor the status of implementations of Agenda Items One through Four, noted insecurity has been rising in tandem with the Government’s failure to hold perpetrators of post-election violence accountable.

Monday night , the International Center for Policy and Conflict Executive Director Ndung’u Wainaina said if Moreno-Ocampo is authorised to investigate and prosecute, there is an urgent need to break the cycle of impunity that has encouraged gross violations of human rights in Kenya.

Macabre occurrences

"Respect of human rights is a key guarantee to governance in any democratic country, and macabre occurrence like post-election violence put at risk the validity of the state of law, prevalence of justice and progress in the peace process," said Ndung’u in a statement.

Mr Wainaina said without justice for victims and/or survivors of post-election violence, the celebrations for the National Accord and Reconciliation Agreement were hollow.

"We strongly denounce continued obstruction of justice by the Government and Members of Parliament," he said.

Wainaina called on the President and Prime Minister to ensure the right of post-election violence victims to recourse to legal redress within a reasonable period will not be further compromised.

The head of the Catholic Church in Kenya, John Cardinal Njue is on record saying those implicated in the violence should be brought to book so as to tackle the culture of impunity.

He said there was sufficient evidence of human violation and killings to open up a case against the perpetrators of violence.