Posts tagged ‘ICC’

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March 8, 2011

Kenya/ICC Battle Begins At UN

China on Tuesday took over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of March.Li Baodong, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, took over the rotating Council presidency from Brazilian UN Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, who held the presidency of the Security Council for February.

Li is expected to brief reporters on the work program of the 15- nation UN body on Wednesday.The Security Council presidency rotates among the Council members in the English alphabetical order of their names. Each president holds office for one calendar month.Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in the world at large.China will perform its duty as the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in March in a fair, neutral way in order to effectively maintain international peace and security..”As the rotating president and a permanent member of the Security Council, we will adhere to the principle of being fair, neutral, pragmatic and efficient to ensure success of the work of the Security Council, so as to maintain international peace and security in an effective manner,” Li said.

Meanwhile Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has held talks with Amb Li Baodong The VP arrived in New York City on Monday evening and went straight into the meeting with Mr Baodong. Amb Li Baodong informed Mr Musyoka that the Security Council has received Kenya’s request for the deferral of the cases and he added that the request has since been circulated to members for consideration.The VP who is leading the Kenyan delegation seeking the deferral of the ICC cases told the President that Kenya is seeking to postpone action by the ICC against the six Kenyans named as the suspects of the 2007/08 post election violence, to allow for local trials through a national judicial mechanism.Mr Musyoka who is accompanied by Agriculture minister Dr Sally Kosgei, Nairobi Metropolitan Minister Njeru  Githae and the Higher Education Minister Helen Sambili reiterated that Kenya has no intention pulling out of the International Criminal Court  or assisting those named by the  ICC prosecutor  to escape justice.”All we want is the UN security council to consider positively the AU resolution endorsing Kenya’s request for a twelve-month deferral to allow us to complete reforms and embark on local trials,” he said.

The Security Council has 15 members: five permanent members — China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States — and 10 non-permanent members elected by the UN General Assembly for two-year terms.

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January 30, 2011

AU/ICC-Kenya

“We cannot allow the only country in our region that has enjoyed stability to be destabilized on the grounds of a technicality. All .that the Kenyans are asking for is a 12 month period to be allowed to put in place a mechanism that will bring about justice and avoid a repeat of the post election violence,”  Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi

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January 27, 2011

China Supports Sovereignty of Kenya Over ICC

The Chinese government fully supports the integrity and sovereignty of Kenya and is opposed to interference of her internal affairs by external forces, the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Liu Guangyuan has said.

Mr Guangyuan also supported Kenya’s cause for peace and harmonious co-existence of ethnic communities observing that justice must go hand in hand with reconciliation of the Kenyan people.The Ambassador made the remarks Thursday when he paid a courtesy call on President Mwai Kibaki at his Harambee House office.The Envoy expressed his government’s satisfaction with Kenya/China bilateral cooperation reassuring of China’s continued assistance in infrastructural development under the Forum for China-Africa cooperation (FOCAC).

During the talks, Mr. Guangyuan conveyed to President Kibaki the China Lunar year greetings from President Jintau.On his part, President Kibaki conveyed warm greetings and best wishes to the President of China Hu Jintao and the people of China on the memorable occasion marking the beginning of the Chinese Lunar year.

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December 16, 2010

Video:Is the ICC Anti-African?

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August 30, 2010

AU Statement On Omar al-Bashir Kenyan Visit PDF

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March 15, 2010

Destiny

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December 5, 2009

We Will Not Shield or Protect Officials

Kenya‘s prime minister, Raila Odinga, said his government “will not shield or protect” senior officials if they are indicted by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity committed during last year’s post-election violence.In an interview with the Guardian, Odinga voiced support for the Hague-based court whose prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said last week he would pursue a unilateral investigation into the 2008 bloodletting in which at least 1,133 people were killed.

The main suspects include several cabinet ministers, including some from Odinga’s party, who are accused of organising and financing ethnic-based attacks.Odinga’s remarks describing himself as holding “identical” views to Ocampo on the urgent need for justice to prevent future politically-inspired violence put him at odds with powerful ministers on both sides of the coalition, who are desperately seeking to derail the international process.

When parliament reopens they are expected to try to push through a bill creating a special local tribunal, in an attempt to weaken Ocampo’s case when he requests authorisation next month from the ICC’s pre-trial chamber to proceed with investigations. After meeting Ocampo in Nairobi last week, Odinga and Mwai Kibaki, the president, whose widely discredited election win kicked off the violence, released a statement saying they would co-operate with the court. But Odinga has gone further.

“We said that we will not shield or protect people found to have committed crimes against humanity,” he said. “That is what we told Ocampo.”

The ICC’s intervention is a tricky issue for both Kenyan leaders, who want to avoid alienating allies in their respective parties named by the government-funded Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights for allegedly orchestrating the violence. In Odinga’s case, it is ministers from the Rift valley region, who offered crucial election support to his Orange Democratic Movement party, who have the most to fear. The area saw the worst of the violence, as Kalenjin gangs attacked Kikuyu civilians from Kibaki’s party.

Some of the most senior Kalenjin MPs say the Rift valley bloodshed was a spontaneous reaction by Odinga supporters, who thought he had been cheated of victory. But Odinga rejected this, pointing to similar ethnic attacks around elections in the 1990s.”There had been conflict and clashes in some parts of the Rift Valley even before the election. During campaigns, there were fires [attacks] in Molo and Burnt Forest and so on. These were things that had nothing to do with the post-election protests. .. They need to be separated [from genuine protests],” he said. In Kibaki’s party, panic over Ocampo’s move is strongest among some senior MPs from his home region in Central province, who are accused of sponsoring Kikuyu gangs to attack opposition supporters. As part of a peace deal last year, Kibaki and Odinga agreed to establish a local tribunal to try those responsible for the violence. But when they presented a bill to parliament to facilitate this it was rejected.

The legislation was weak, human rights activists say, and Odinga said some MPs – and most Kenyans – had serious concerns that a domestic court would not be independent. But he said politicians involved in the violence had also helped to quash the bill, fearing that a local tribunal would move faster then the ICC.”They thought it would take 50 years before it [the ICC] reached the Kenyan trial. To them the ICC was like a parking place – put it [the case] there and park it there,” he said.Ocampo has said he will seek to bring cases against two to four people, perhaps as soon as next year, in order to prevent further violence during the next election. His decision to move quickly is broadly supported among Kenyans fed up with decades of high-level impunity. Odinga said he shared the concern about further violence in 2012, when he is almost certain to run for president again.

“My position is informed by what we have been through since the introduction of multipartyism … We had these clashes in 1992, then again in 1997 and 2002. This is happening because nothing has been done to stop it. My position is identical to that of Mr Ocampo,” he said.He said the police needed to be held to account for supporting the Kikuyu militias, but refused to be drawn on whether any of his party leaders might eventually be indicted by the ICC.”The mere fact that names have been floated is not sufficient evidence that people are culpable,” he said.

Civil society groups have criticised Odinga and Kibaki for refusing Ocampo’s request to grant him permission to investigate, which would have avoided the prosecutor have to seeking authority from the pre-trial chamber. But Odinga said that granting a referral would have been tantamount to admitting Kenya was a failed state. He insisted that lower-level perpetrators could still face justice domestically.”We told him [Ocampo] that we have not given up on the local process and have embarked on a very major reform of the judiciary and the police to try the bulk of the culprits locally.”

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November 26, 2009

ICC-Kenyan Authorities Should Cooperate Fully and Hold Credible National Trials

(The Hague) – The request today by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to the court’s judges to open a Kenya investigation is a decisive step toward justice for the country’s 2007 post-election violence, Human Rights Watch said. The move comes after more than a year of inaction by Kenya’s authorities on national prosecutions. The violence that followed Kenya’s flawed 2007 general election left 1,200 people dead, caused 600,000 to flee their homes, and brought Kenya to the brink of civil war. Kenyan authorities agreed in December 2008 to bring those responsible to account in national trials. In July 2009, they again agreed to do so or to refer investigation of the violence to the ICC prosecutor. But no action has been taken. During a visit to Nairobi on November 5, 2009, the ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, said that he would seek permission to proceed with an investigation. “The Kenyan government has failed over and over again to keep its promises about justice for the election violence,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Kenya’s leaders should provide full cooperation if the ICC opens an investigation.” The ICC prosecutor can open an investigation using his “proprio motu” powers under article 15 of the Rome Statute, which created the court, if authorized to do so by the ICC judges. Today’s request is the first time the prosecutor has sought to use his article 15 powers. Three of the ICC’s four investigations resulted from voluntary referrals by states, while the fourth was referred by the UN Security Council.

“The ICC is a court of last resort, and when national authorities are unwilling to act, it is supposed to step in,” said Elizabeth Evenson, counsel in the International Justice Program of Human Rights Watch. “Today’s announcement shows that the ICC prosecutor can and will act on his own in situations of serious crimes.” If the ICC judges authorize an investigation, the court is still likely to bring only a handful of those alleged to be most responsible to trial. Following the prosecutor’s November 5 announcement, President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga pledged cooperation with the ICC and action on national trials. Kenya’s justice system has substantial deficiencies, including a lack of independence. Several efforts to establish a special tribunal for Kenya have failed to garner sufficient support in parliament. Given these problems, further efforts to create a national special tribunal with international judges and prosecutors to provide accountability to mid- and lower-level perpetrators are essential, Human Rights Watch said. “The promise to prosecute those responsible for last year’s violence was central to the reform and accountability agenda agreed upon by the coalition government,” Gagnon said. “Kenya’s leaders still have a chance to make good on that promise by ensuring that any ICC investigation is complemented by credible national trials.” In determining whether to authorize the prosecutor to investigate, the three judges of the pre-trial chamber – relying on the materials submitted today by the ICC prosecutor – will consider whether there is a “reasonable basis” to proceed. Victims are also entitled to make their views known to the pre-trial chamber. Human Rights Watch urged the ICC and its prosecutor to apply lessons learned from its current investigations if it proceeds with a Kenya investigation. Human Rights Watch pointed in particular to the need to investigate all sides to the violence. Given the high levels of interest and public support for an ICC investigation in Kenya, Human Rights Watch also urged the court to create extensive outreach programs to provide objective information about the court’s activities as soon as possible.

Background

Following the violence set off by the controversial 2007 presidential elections, leaders of both parties agreed to set up the Commission to Investigate the Post-Election Violence (the Waki commission), an independent review committee to look at the flaws in the election (the Kriegler committee), and a truth, justice and reconciliation commission to help heal historical grievances dating from before the 2007 general elections. The Waki commission recommended wide-ranging reforms of the police as well as the creation of a special tribunal for Kenya, independent of the judiciary, anchored in a constitutional amendment and staffed by both Kenyan and international judges and prosecutors. In the event no special tribunal was established, the Waki commission recommended that former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was chair of the panel of eminent Africans who negotiated the National Accord that led to the coalition government following the divisive election, hand over a sealed envelope prepared by the commission and containing the names of suspects to the ICC. Annan handed over the envelope and other materials from the Waki commission to the ICC prosecutor in July. The International Criminal Court is the world’s first permanent court mandated to bring to justice perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so.

There are currently 110 states parties to the ICC. The ICC prosecutor has opened investigations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, northern Uganda, the Darfur region of Sudan, and the Central African Republic. Based on those investigations, 13 arrest warrants and one summons to appear have been issued. The ICC prosecutor also is looking at a number of other situations in countries around the world. In addition to Kenya, these include Colombia, Georgia, Cote d’Ivoire, Afghanistan, and Guinea. The Palestinian National Authority also has petitioned the ICC prosecutor to accept jurisdiction over crimes committed in Gaza

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August 16, 2009

Catalogues Of Failures

Najivunia Kuwa Mkenya Swahili  for  “I am proud to be a Kenyan”  that is conspicuously printed on colourful hand bills circulated by the office of the Government Spokesman, Alfred Mutua.  The Spokesman is always reluctant to elaborate to curious Kenyans on what to be proud about in the country whose Golden Jubilee is less than four years away.  Like any other citizen,  Dr Mutua is too familiar with the habitual chest thumping, self praise while the country mires in catalogues of failures that so far outweigh its successes. Our shortcomings and misplaced priorities are many and countless; but few examples illustrate the gravity of policy weaknesses and laxity in moving this country to another level.

lundy_chart_02The proud and enduring Kenyan sleeps on an empty  stomach because the shameless political class have depleted the strategic grain reserves in a race to a millionaire status. Rains have failed, drought has set in, livestock are dying in numbers as famine looms large with 10 million people threatened with starvation Eighteen months ago even a fool knew there would be famine after post election violence uprooted farming families from crop fields in the bread basket Rift Valley region. No emergency measures were put in place to forestall the looming disaster by those who want Kenyans to believe that everything is okay in the country that often boasts success in the vicinity of imminent failure.

The income per capita of some of the Asian Tigers was lower or compared to Kenya at independence in 1963.  Today, we are shameless beggars of famine relief from countries that were no better in economic terms. More than four decades later the country still imports sewing needles, razor blades and other cheap items from China amongst other Asian countries. Amongst third world countries, Kenya is a lucky one that should be the last to be lumped together with failures.  It boasts infrastructure,  industries and communications network  unsurpassed by its contemporaries save for South Africa.  Because of its strategic importance, the country hosts the headquarters of two UN specialised agencies whose expertise and resources are at the disposal of the country to push itself to role model level.  There are no immediate tangible plans to do away with unplanned settlements in urban areas and in the cities that house the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (HABITAT) Ironically, the country is home to the biggest slum in Africa amongst others that mushroomed in the post-independent period.Another UN agency on environment, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is based here but the country is far off from being an environmental conservation model given the raging debate on water catchments destruction and careless waste disposal.   Unfortunately, we have not reciprocated the honour to host  these UN bodies.

It is worth noting that the leadership of this country once declared poverty, ignorance and disease as number one national enemies.  Today, these enemies are not our best of friends but are incontestable bedfellows of  some of  who survive on less than a dollar a day and resident in the many unplanned urban settlements.Mr Government Spokesman, do the foregoing scenarios strike you as success stories to be proud of or should we be an object of self  pity?. Time  to  conduct a postmortem  on  when the rain started beating us  is now not tomorrow before reference is made on fifty years of  lost and missed opportunities. Some of the countries with success records never chest-thump but do a lot of soul searching on how to  put food on the table. It is not a distant dream here though. A constitution should  be amended  now to allow  for a dual citizenship  so that  Kenyans  in the Diaspora  can  participate  in building this economy.

Those who suffer in silence are not amused at the Najivunia campaign  posters but make a mockery of the phrase “Navumilia Kama  Mkenya”.

By J .Kamotho


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August 14, 2009

Kenya: Deliver Justice for Victims of Post-Election Violence

(New York) – The Kenyan government has reneged on commitments to deliver justice for the victims of post-election violence, Human Rights Watch said today. On July 30, 2009, the cabinet announced that, contrary to previous agreements, it would not establish a special tribunal, but would rely instead on a “reformed” national judicial system to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators.An independent domestic court with international participation remains the best option to start establishing accountability and the government should immediately adopt legislation to establish the special tribunal, Human Rights Watch said.”Bringing justice to these victims is the most urgent test of the coalition government’s willingness to resolve Kenya’s crisis,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The cabinet just resoundingly failed that test.”

The July 30 announcement is a U-turn from the government’s previous position that the Kenya justice system is deeply flawed and that the regular courts were unlikely ever to bring senior politicians and government officials to face justice. The recommendation of the Waki Commission on Post-Election Violence, which the government accepted and promised to implement in December 2008, was to establish a special tribunal independent of the high court and with international participation to investigate and prosecute the suspects.

“The argument for a special tribunal has always been that the Kenyan judiciary lacks independence, and the necessary root-and-branch reforms of the entire justice system will take years,” Gagnon said. “The idea that the existing judicial system can deal with the senior politicians and government officials who allegedly incited and organized the killing is an insult to the memory of those who lost their lives.”

As recently as July 3, the Kenyan government agreed with the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor in The Hague that by the end of September it would set out clear benchmarks for a “special tribunal or other judicial mechanism adopted by the Kenyan Parliament.” The government had agreed that if there was no parliamentary agreement on such a mechanism, it would refer the case to The Hague.Parliament rejected the draft legislation establishing the special tribunal in February, and since then, there has been no parliamentary debate, let alone agreement on the issue of how to deal with the suspects.

Kofi Annan, the chair of the panel of eminent Africans who negotiated the National Accord that led to the coalition government, repeatedly extended the time for the Kenyan government to take action on a national solution. On July 9, Annan handed over the Waki Commission’s evidence and its sealed list of suspects to the ICC, a step the commission had recommended in the event that a special tribunal was not established.

“After months of delay, the cabinet has finally declared that it is unprepared to carry out the principal task for which the coalition government was formed: to end Kenya’s decades of impunity,” Gagnon said. “The only credible option for the government to gain public confidence is to establish the special tribunal immediately or to refer the cases to the ICC.”On July 27, foreign ministers of the European Union called on Kenya to establish the special tribunal, along with carrying out the broader reform agenda provided for in the National Accord.

“Reforms of the national judicial system are badly needed, but they alone will not bring to account perpetrators of the worst crimes committed during the post-election violence,” Gagnon said. “The US and Kenya’s other international partners should insist in no uncertain terms that, until an independent judicial mechanism is established in Kenya, there can be no ‘business as usual’.”Any judicial mechanism adopted by the Kenyan parliament should conform to the recommendations of the Waki Commission and international standards – principally, that it should be independent of the High Court and the attorney general, that constitutional immunity provisions should be waived, and that suspects charged before it should resign their posts pending prosecution.

The cabinet also announced planned changes to the Truth, Reconciliation and Justice Commission (TRJC) although it did not provide specific details. Human Rights Watch said that changes that strengthen the commission are welcome, but could not be a substitute for credible prosecutions consistent with international fair trial standards.

Commentry by Human Rights Watch

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August 4, 2009

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July 10, 2008

Let My People Go

Exodus 6

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”2 God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, [a] but by my name the LORD  I did not make myself known to them. [c] 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’ “9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.10 Then the LORD said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”

Exodus 12

The Exodus

31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” 34So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 Many other people went up with them, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 With the dough they had brought from Egypt, they baked cakes of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt [b] was 430 years. 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD’s divisions left Egypt. 42 Because the LORD kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the LORD for the generations to come.

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