ICC prosecutor says he will seek indictments against six Kenyan officials this year

November 17, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced this week that his office is close to finalizing cases against six unnamed Kenyan officials considered to be the most responsible for post-election violence that took place in 2007-2008.

The revelation will likely heighten tensions that already exists among members of President Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) and Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). This month, Kenya’s suspended higher education minister William Ruto travelled to the Hague out of his own will to give his version of the events to investigators there.

The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has said senior ministers were architects of the violence, including Ruto.

Ocampo was given the green light by Nairobi to investigate after the Kenyan parliament failed to agree on establishing a local tribunal to prosecute the perpetrators of the violence. Moreover, the respected local pollster Steadman said last year that 68 percent of Kenyans wanted perpetrators tried at the ICC while only 14 percent desired local courts and 13 percent favored an amnesty. The data was almost identical when broken down by political parties.

The ICC investigations are a daily topic in the Kenyan media and moves of the court staff in the country is closely monitored to the dislike of the prosecutor’s office which prefers to maintain a low-profile.

Speaking through a video link at an ongoing two week media workshop in Nairobi, Ocampo said that he has collected enough evidence to bring cases before the Pre-Trial Chamber judges.

“We have identified six individuals against whom I will be seeking the court’s permission to prosecute before the end of the year,” said Ocampo.

The suspects belong to both the PNU and ODM parties. The PM Odinga had said in an interview that if indicted he will willingly surrender himself to the court.

“We have credible evidence against the six individuals. There is evidence also that communities were incited to fight each other by some leaders drawn from the two parties”, Ocampo said in the video message.

The government in August signed an agreement with the ICC allowing it to set up offices in the country to enable it pursue investigations into the chaos. A team of ICC investigators has already visited the post election violence hotspots and another group will begin receiving statements from top security bosses and provincial commissioners next week, according to local media.

It also reluctantly agreed to release sensitive minutes of security meetings held before and during the 2007 post-election violence that led to the killing of 1,133 people.

The ICC believe the minutes of the security meetings preceding the disputed presidential election results and during the post- election violence would help establish whether “shoot-to-kill” orders were issued to security officers in various hot spots.

The Kenyan crisis mediator and former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan handed over a sealed envelope last year with the names of top suspects to the ICC prosecutor. The latter however said he is carrying out his own investigations to come up with suspects names.

Ocampo wants to bring cases to trial before the upcoming elections in Kenya scheduled for 2012.

“It is our desire to see Kenyans conduct the next elections peacefully,” he said and added that Kenyans need to set up compensation mechanisms for the victims.

It is not clear what method to bring the suspects will be chosen by the court given the high profile nature of the investigation. However, judging by previous cases it is likely that the ICC prosecutor will ask the judges to issue a summons to appear for the individuals given the level of cooperation he received from Nairobi.

The judges are not bound by the prosecutor’s recommendations and may instead opt for issuing arrest warrants that would be transmitted to Kenyan authorities for execution.

The process of issuing a decision on the prosecutor’s request could take up to six month particularly if the judges request more evidence and clarifications.

Foreign donors, Kenyans and local markets will be closely watching the reaction of the government to the upcoming indictments. While some analysts see justice for the 2008 violence as crucial to future stability in east Africa’s largest economy — which faces its next poll in 2012 — others warn a judicial process may destabilize Kenya by stirring up old hatreds.

Kenyan officials have vowed full cooperation with the ICC though doubts were cast after Nairobi allowed Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir to visit last August despite being charged by the court for war crimes and genocide in Darfur.

The Sudanese government, which has won strong African backing against the ICC, will have noted the appearance of Kenyan officials in the Hague.

The website of the Sudan Media Centre (SMC), which is widely believed to be run by intelligence services, has been highlighting setbacks relating to ICC investigations in Kenya including the initial refusal by the government to grant the prosecutor access to security minutes and interrogate security officials.

Besides Bashir, the ICC has outstanding warrants also for Ahmed Haroun who was the state minister for humanitarian affairs at the time and is now the governor of South Kordofan state and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.

Three other suspects appeared voluntarily from the Darfur rebels including leader of the United Resistance Front (URF) Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, former Chief of Staff of Sudan Liberation Army (SLA-Unity) Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus and Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain described as the Commander-in-Chief of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM Collective-Leadership).

Abu Garda was cleared of the charges later while the other two will appear at a hearing later this year to determine whether there is enough evidence to try them.

(ST)