Nairobi, December 14 2010: As the ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo prepares to file his applications seeking warrants of arrests or court summons to appear for individuals bearing greatest responsibility for the 2007 post-election violence, we urge all Kenyans to resist attempts to politicise or ethnicise the process. We reiterate that the ICC process is a legal process that has both international and national backing, therefore it cannot be altered, influenced or amended through political rhetoric or desperate last-minute stratagems.
Kenyans need to remain peaceful and calm since this process is necessary in order to end the cycle of impunity that has bedevilled our country. Any indictments that are issued by the ICC Prosecutor are not connected to the ethnicity or political persuasion of any Kenyan. They are based on individual criminal responsibility for crimes against Kenyans and therefore, we take issue with politicians who are trying to undermine the ICC process.
KPTJ supports the principle of complementarity, which is laid down in the Rome Statute. It encourages national states to establish mechanisms to deal with perpetrators other than those prosecuted by the ICC. We therefore support mechanisms for justice that add value to the ICC process as long as they are genuine investigations and prosecutions. We have all along spoken out for the establishment of a credible local process. We have always stressed, and still believe, that a special local tribunal would be necessary to bridge the impunity gap between the masterminds of the violence and those who carried out the acts. In this regard, we note that attempts at establishing a special local tribunal have failed twice in Parliament and twice in Cabinet. At the time, pronouncements to the effect that it would take the ICC about 99 years to move were made by the political class. The latest decision announced after the Special Cabinet meeting held on Jamhuri Day to re-introduce the process of establishing a local tribunal would be welcome, were it not so obviously aimed at subverting the course of justice. We cannot accept empty verbal appeals for a local tribunal, we will only accept real action — that is — when the legislation establishing a credible local tribunal, insulated from the machinations and incapacity of local officials and institutions, passes through Parliament.
The special Cabinet statement declares that “The only reason that the post-election violence cases are being investigated by the International Criminal Court is because there is no appropriate local judicial mechanism which could carry out investigations, prosecutions, and determination of the post-election violence cases for international crimes.” “With respect, the key reason why the post-election violence (PEV) situation is at the ICC is because there has been insufficient political will, if indeed there has been any will at all, to comprehensively address PEV among the political elite in Kenya, or at least in the Cabinet and Parliament. The government of Kenya should be aware that, should a special tribunal be established, the criterion for ending the jurisdiction of the ICC on Kenya is to prove that genuine investigations and prosecutions for the same conduct and crimes that are before the ICC are being pursued by that tribunal. A diversionary process aimed at escaping the ICC will not be enough. In addition an independent judicial mechanism is not the only necessary precondition. We will need what Kenyan institutions and officials, such as the Attorney General, have hitherto not provided: credible and thorough investigations and effective prosecutions. Since the police and administration police have been accused of some of the PEV crimes, we will have to consider some independent, or at least insulated, institution to undertake investigations.
Politicians should stop discrediting ICC
Politicians should know that we cannot pull out of the ICC process at this stage because the jurisdiction of the court has already begun and cannot be reversed for the purposes of any acts committed from 2002 to date. The Prosecutor has been conducting his investigations independently and confidentially with reference to as many sources as possible to build his case. He will present his evidence, but it is only the judges of the Court who can assess the quality and credibility of the evidence, which they can accept or dismiss.
Those who fear accountability should also know that the ICC is a court of law, guided by principles of fair trial where every accused is allowed legal representation. Every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty and everyone has a right to be heard before a competent and impartial court, in addition to many other rights under article 67 of the Rome Statute. The Court even goes the extra mile by paying for Counsel for accused persons if they cannot afford their own lawyers. This is a right that the Kenyan justice system does not provide for. Each accused persons will be called upon to answer to the charges and present their defence. They are also allowed to appeal any decision of the Court and these appeals are heard by an impartial 5 judge bench.
We demand that politicians desist from making statements in public aimed at discrediting the ICC process and inciting people against the Court as their pronouncements could qualify as offences against the administration of justice under the Rome Statute. These can be prosecuted by the ICC or under Kenyan law. Indeed, if the Kenyan government is now willing to demonstrate its commitment to justice for the PEV, taking stern action against those who seek to obstruct justice ad fan the flames of hatred would be a very good place to start.
We urge all Kenyans to be confident in the ICC process and be calm since justice will follow its course.
(ends) Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ) is a coalition of over 30 Kenyan and East African legal, human rights, and governance organizations, together with ordinary Kenyans and friends of Kenya, convened in the immediate aftermath of 2007’s presidential election debacle.
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Submitted by vgogero
Posted december 15, 2010 01:45 em
Another condition would be not to make any public utterances or incite their supporters to acts of violence and not to comment on matters before the court
Submitted by kirimijk
Posted december 15, 2010 01:18 em
The government should support Ocampo to pursue justice for poor kenyans. I feel sorry for one politician who was not initially involved but was dragged into it to save his community. Actually his retaliatory move saved so much damage which could have occured.thankyou
Submitted by kalungawanje
Posted december 15, 2010 12:11 em
What about going around their villages claming ” we are being finished”? dont we know this is what they will immediately start singing? And the gullible villagers will belive them, forgeting the fellow lives at Karen/or Muthaiga (and such places) alone with his wife and happy healthy kids while they languish in abject poverty?
Submitted by dkiatu
Posted december 15, 2010 10:58 fm
i still think kuna mpango some politicians wanapanga,coz they know their names are there,are we just expecting that they are waiting to be named and just continue keeping quiet?? we know Kenyan politicians character, God just help Kenya. by Kiatu mwenyewe
Submitted by si_cheki_ovyo_ovyo
Posted december 15, 2010 08:28 fm
I guess there will not be newspaper adverts from the accused wishing us merry Christmas…..like I care! Ha! Away from us! Be gone!
Submitted by kennedy8888
Posted december 15, 2010 07:37 fm
yea its tym for kenyans to stop electing corrupt n bad leaders we want a revolution the best thing is to remove all this leaders n get new qualitu ones its now tym 4 independence lets fyt 4 it coz kenya is still not independence lets fyt 4 awa freedom from the hands of these jackals
Submitted by alfotula
Posted december 15, 2010 06:09 fm
Take these guys away immediately. We don’t want them to celebrate xmas with us this yr.
Submitted by mainaw
Posted december 14, 2010 10:26 em
I see!
Submitted by Frediste
Posted december 14, 2010 10:17 em
In as much as I really want these guys to be heald accountable no matter who they are denying the accused the rights to communicate directly with each other is a bridge of some freedom even if they only have to use their lawyer. I also would wish that they just stay at the hague.
Submitted by vanduvosi
Posted december 14, 2010 09:42 em
And this is when I officially proclaim “ni kubaya!”. Or for the sheng’ speakers, “kumedhoka!”
Submitted by Jena33
Posted december 14, 2010 09:34 em
Just lock them up, feel no mercy on them that is what they do to the small fish. I will put them in a small hole like that a latrine pit I swear. Thank God you am not O’campo otherwise you six will known, still shame on you all six.
Submitted by thecreature
Posted december 14, 2010 09:34 em
Finally! Thank you Lord! Finally, impunity will be dealt a blow.
Submitted by chairmanmao
Posted december 14, 2010 09:30 em
10th condition: They should not sire any more offspring!
Submitted by jobeka1
Posted december 14, 2010 09:27 em
Asiiiii?! whats this? God help Kenya!
Submitted by MKM
Posted december 14, 2010 09:25 em
Ocampo kindly proceed, kenyans are with you all the way.
Submitted by lynnmolly10
Posted december 14, 2010 09:16 em
Those supporters who were prepared to do what they know best have a choice to do it and their leader will be a permanent resident in a cube at hague
Submitted by madhair
Posted december 14, 2010 09:01 em
and the show begins. the souls of the innocent women and children whose lives were sacrificed for power will finally be avenged. welcome the hague. we thought it would not be till 2090!
Submitted by oddipapa1
Posted december 14, 2010 08:57 em
Thois are the same culprits who shouted loudest for ICC rather than a local tribunal, they thought ICC would take 5 years to summon them, let them carry their own cross!
Submitted by ELPASO1
Posted december 14, 2010 08:49 em
Ok… let the roll call begin!
Submitted by Talk2me
Posted december 14, 2010 08:40 em
Ocampo, one more please: that they should not stage a hero’s welcome on their return home after each summon to the Hague.
Submitted by olegaita66
Posted december 14, 2010 08:24 em
Ocampo is the Kind of foreigner we need in our supreme court,i am sure he could make more money in Kenya.This goes well with Ms.Karua’s recent suggestion that three foreigners be appointed to supreme court so as to avert tribal bias.
Submitted by amsyengo
Posted december 14, 2010 08:09 em
This is a crack of dawn for justice for those who suffered during the PEV. I think the journey has just started for Kenyans to see the end of impunity.
Submitted by bizmogul
Posted december 14, 2010 07:59 em
Moreno Ocampo investigated crimes of Argentina’s military junta and violations of the laws of war during the Malvinas-Falkans conflict. Mr. Moreno Ocampo also led prosecutions arising from Argentina’s September 1987 military rebellion, amongst other key roles.
Submitted by kimathi73
Posted december 14, 2010 07:35 em
This is the defining moment in the history of our country since we became indepedence.The bell for justice has already been rung ready to uproot the the monester of impunity and corruption.The die is cast for the untouchables on kenyan soil.Go OCAMPO for them, and you will make history to the generations to come after us.
Submitted by Tankman
Posted december 14, 2010 07:21 em
Kimeumna sasa! Sasa sema.No more chest thmbing,Ocampo is dead serious about bringing to an end impunity in Kenya. I’m happy to be Kenyan!
Submitted by kamaujm
Posted december 14, 2010 07:20 em
No more meet the people tour or tribal alliances! They can no longer meet to greet “my supporters” Period. Tutaona sasa ndume ni nani?
Submitted by juju
Posted december 14, 2010 07:19 em
It has been a long time coming! But will the government comply with the ICC or Kenya will become a pariah State hit with international sanctions? Well take a leaf from Mugabe and us all going to need a wheelbarrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread!
Submitted by mzeemmojakenya1
Posted december 14, 2010 07:16 em
Bravissimo!