UN chief asks Kenya to respect Rome Statute

By Alex Ndegwa

The ‘Ocampo Six’ make a landmark appearance at The Hague this week with the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon telling the Government to respect the International Criminal Court process.

Mr Moon also told President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to concentrate on ‘serious and genuine’ judicial reforms if the quest to have the ICC cede jurisdiction of the cases is to succeed.

In an exclusive candid interview with The Standard On Sunday at the Windsor Golf and Country Club in Kiambu on Friday, Moon spoke about the simmering plot for mass pullout by African nations from the ICC saying it’s undesirable.

"We have been urging that the Kenyan Government implements judicial reforms. That is one part to agreed provisions of the ‘complementarity’ principle," he said, referring to the requirement for a credible domestic judicial mechanism to prosecute post-poll violence suspects.

UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki Moon together with Prime Minister Mr Raila Odinga and ODM ministers at the Prime Minister’s office. [PICTURE: COLLINS KWEYU/STANDARD]

He added: "But now that the ICC has summoned six Kenyans I think this is a part of the process that should be respected and followed in accordance with procedures of the ICC."

Asked whether the conflicting positions by the Coalition Government were evident in his talks with the principals, the UN chief responded:

"For any detailed matters that have been discussed between the President and Prime Minister I am not in a position to comment."

Foreign lawyers

The Government is determined to stall the ICC proceedings through an application, which Raila and his allied have disowned.

Two British lawyers, hired by the Government in a process that has touched off a fresh storm in the Coalition Government, have filed the application challenging the admissibility of the cases and ICC jurisdiction.

The Government wants the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber to urgently schedule a hearing for the application, in which it seeks to buy time to complete judicial reforms that would support a local mechanism that meets the ICC threshold.

The UK lawyers – Sir Geoffrey Nice and Mr Rodney Dixon – in a legal brief to the Government, had stressed urgency, noting ICC judges would be unwilling to surrender the cases once they confirm charges against the Ocampo Six.

Moon said the threat by African nations to renounce the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC, to protest the UN Security Council’s rebuff of African Union resolutions "is not desirable".

Ending impunity

"I would strongly advise African State Parties to the ICC to adhere to their commitment to this judicial system. Bringing justice to the victims is very important to put an end to impunity," he added.

The UN chief said peace and security should not only be invoked to justify the postponement of ICC trials at the expense of justice for the victims of post-election atrocities.

Without justice, he said, peace and security is not sustainable because the three are an important pillar of the United Nations.

Kenya has told the United Nations Security Council in its quest for deferral that ICC cases could threaten security, upset ongoing national reconciliation efforts, and interfere with the General Election, due next year. But the PM’s allies, through letters by the ODM secretary general, Anyang’ Nyong’o, have twice disowned the petition filed by Kenya’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Macharia Kamau.

Eldoret North MP, William Ruto, Tinderet MP, Henry Kosgey, and Kass FM radio presenter, Joshua arap Sang, will appear in Courtroom 1 on Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of Civil Service, Francis Muthaura, and Postmaster General Maj-Gen (Rtd), Hussein Ali, appear on Friday.

"The hearing is being held to verify the identity of the suspects and to ensure they have been informed of the crimes, which they are alleged to have committed, as well as of their rights under the Rome Statute," the ICC has clarified.

Moreno-Ocampo’s case against Uhuru, Muthaura and Ali, however, weakened after the judges rejected his appeal to reinstate charges on police killings in Kisumu and Kibera.

At 1,300 Kenyans died in the violence that followed the announcement of results of the 2007 presidential election. Independent investigations by Government agencies showed about half the deaths resulted from police bullets.

The Waki Commission that probed post-election violence recommended The Hague process if a local tribunal were not established to prosecute perpetrators. Another 650,000 were displaced from their homes, and some of the refugees are still living in camps for the internally displaced, about 1,200 days after the mayhem.