Helping Post-Election Violence Victims: Write to Ocampo

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Saturday Nation

Politics

Britain asserts that Ruto, Uhuru be tried by ICC

By BERNARD NAMUNANE (bnamunane@ke.nationmedia.com)

Posted Saturday, May 26 2012 at 22:30

The British government has told Kenya that it will not change its position about the International Criminal Court and the cases before the Hague-based court must run their full course, whatever the outcome.

The message was relayed to Prime Minister Raila Odinga who, on May 1, held talks with the UK minister for Africa Henry Bellingham in London.

The previously unreported meeting, the Sunday Nation has learnt, was arranged at the request of Mr Odinga through the Kenyan High Commission in the UK.

The UK government subsequently wrote to its high commission in Nairobi stating that its position on the prosecution of Kenyans facing charges arising out of the 2008 post-election violence is that the cases should go on as scheduled by the ICC.

The British High Commission in Nairobi confirmed the meeting following inquiries by the Sunday Nation.

The meeting

“We can confirm that a meeting between FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) Minister of State for Africa, Mr Henry Bellingham, and PM Odinga took place in London on May 1. The meeting was arranged at the request of Kenya’s High Commissioner.

“Mr Bellingham reaffirmed our view, which is well known and shared by others in the international community, that Kenya should continue its cooperation with the ICC,” said the statement from the British High Commission.

“We recognise that it is a difficult process and welcome cooperation by all. Working with this independent judicial process will bring great credit to Kenya that other countries can follow. It will help deliver justice, whatever the outcome, for victims of the violence,” the statement added.

Mr Bellingham had earlier visited Kenya after the tabling in Parliament of a letter, which the British dismissed as a forgery, which alleged that the British were using the ICC cases to advance a political agenda in the country. (VIDEO: Minister distances UK from ICC dossier)

The UK currently holds the presidency of the UN Security Council. If their position on the trials were to change, that would raise the possibility of the success of a request for deferral at the UN.

Britain often votes together with the other Western veto-wielding powers – France and the US – while the other members of the Security Council, China and Russia, rarely vote in support of the ICC.

Mr Odinga, through spokesman Dennis Onyango, told the Sunday Nation that the PM was concerned that the ICC question had become an election issue and a divisive one.

“As with any international meeting, the British were keen on the ICC. The PM expressed frustration about the turn of events where someone is trying to make it an election issue.

“He wished that this was not the case and said Kenya would abide by the court process. The British later told him that ICC should proceed as it is,” Mr Onyango said.

Last Thursday, the ICC Appeals Chamber threw out the appeal by Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, former Civil Service head Francis Muthaura and Kass FM presenter Joshua Sang challenging the court’s jurisdiction over the cases. (READ: ICC rejects Ocampo Four’s last appeal)

The ICC has named three judges to hear the case and, last week, the Trial Chamber set June 11 and June 12 as the dates for the status conference to agree on the modalities of the proceedings.

During the conference, they will also agree on the date the trials will start. The prosecution arising out of the violence which followed the 2007 elections has divided the political class.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto accuse Mr Odinga, who is their main rival, of pushing for the crimes against humanity trials in order to smooth his path to State House.

The PM has denied the accusation, blaming the two for leading MPs in Parliament to thrice defeat efforts by the government to establish a local tribunal which would have made it possible for them to be tried on Kenyan soil.

In earlier statements, Mr Odinga had said that those facing crimes against humanity charges should be in jail instead of going round the country using their cases as an election campaign issue.

Despite this hard-line position, there have been suggestions that within the PM’s camp there are those who see different possibilities. Speaking in Wareng district in the North Rift last Friday, the PM appeared to soften his stand on the ICC trials.

He told mourners at the burial of an ally Mr Joseph Kogos that he was confident there would be justice for Kenyans facing charges at the ICC as well as the victims of the post-election violence.

The Saturday Nation quoted Mr Odinga as saying: “It is our hope that there will be justice in the end. Mr Henry Kosgey was there and he came back after some time.”

Regional Development minister Fred Gumo – a close ally of the PM – early this month said the cases facing Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto should be deferred until after the elections so that Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi does not become the beneficiary of their trials.

Mr Gumo, who was recently appointed acting Local Government minister in place of the Mr Mudavadi, spoke during the homecoming ceremony of Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa in Kitale after his appointment. Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto were at the function.

Suffering of families

In a statement to media houses in January, Mr Odinga’s wife Ida said the cases should be brought back home, adding that she understood the suffering of the families of the accused. (READ: Ida calls for local trial of ICC suspects)

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/I ... index.html

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Saturday Nation

Opinion

Will merchants of impunity let Mutunga do his job?

By MAKAU MUTUA
Posted Saturday, May 26 2012 at 18:03

I am worried – very worried – about my mentor Chief Justice Willy Mutunga. Street “chatter” suggests that CJ Mutunga’s life could be in danger. As governments are wont to say, there’s no specific threat.

But – and this is huge – CJ Mutunga had better watch his back. That’s because he’s making some people really mad. Let me be very clear.

Unlike ODM Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo, I am not alleging an assassination plot. But – and this is common knowledge among the hoi polloi – Dr Mutunga has quickly become the “moral champion” of the poor.

He’s now the pivot for the new Constitution. He’s determined to clean up the State. That’s why he could be in mortal danger.

Ordinarily, the election year should be the “silly season”. But in Kenya, unlike in real democracies, the election cycle is a “deadly season”. Merchants of impunity are in a fierce battle for the control of state power, wealth and privilege.

They are intent on doing so by any means necessary. They have done so at every election. They even did so in 2002 when they “rebranded” themselves under Narc and hijacked the “revolution” against Kanu.

But this election year could be different. That’s because Dr Mutunga is a “game changer”. He has vowed to use Chapter Six of the Constitution – on Leadership and Integrity – to guillotine thieves, murderers, rapists and the craven. I can predict that very many prominent heads will roll.

There’s only one problem. Will the merchants of impunity let the CJ do his job? We don’t know the answer to that question. But we know this for sure – they’ll try to stop him by hook or crook.

Until CJ Mutunga took over, the Judiciary had been the Executive’s concubine. While that’s changing, I would say we are a long way from a clean Judiciary. Many judges and magistrates still live with the Executive in a state of concubinage.

It’ll take several years to get rid of them and change judicial culture. The truth is that the Kenyan Judiciary is still a snake pit. Many judges will try to blunt CJ Mutunga’s reformist guillotine. Will he survive the backlash?

History isn’t on CJ Mutunga’s side. Truly reformist Kenyan leaders didn’t live to see the fruits of their labour. Take the Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi as your starting point.

Fast-forward to Kanu’s leftist ideologue Pio Gama Pinto. They killed him in 1965 to make Kanu a right-wing party.

In 1975, JM Kariuki, the “people’s millionaire”, was assassinated. Perceived enemies of the power nomenklatura have often been eliminated. It didn’t matter they were not even progressive.

Think of wunderkind Tom Mboya who was eliminated in 1969, or Foreign minister Robert Ouko who was “rubbed out” in 1990. There are many others – some progressive, others less so.

They had one thing in common – they “stood in the way”. There’s one chilling example CJ Mutunga would do well to remember. One could draw parallels.

Kenya’s first black Chief Justice, Kitili Mwendwa, was forced to resign in 1971 after being suspected of involvement in a plot to overthrow Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

He died in a suspicious road accident in 1985. A strangely conducted government inquest came up empty. His death is shrouded in mystery up to this day. Foul play was suspected, but never proved.

It was not lost on observers that Mr Mwendwa had been permanent secretary to Vice-President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga with whom he – and his wife Nyiva Mwendwa – remained close.

Dr Mutunga, like Mr Mwendwa, his predecessor, is from Kitui. Mr Mwendwa, like Dr Mutunga, was stubbornly independent.
Most pivotal election

Any Kenyan worth his or her name knows that this year’s election will be the most pivotal since the country’s independence. The left and right wings of Kenya’s political class will clash in a titanic electoral battle.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga leads his troops against the so-called Moi Orphans – the constellation of G7 leaders led by Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, and Internal Security minister George Saitoti. Former ODM deputy leader Musalia Mudavadi ideologically falls in the G7 camp.

In this battle, only one thing is for sure; one side will win and the other will lose. This is the vortex into which CJ Mutunga has been thrust. One side in the contest won’t be happy with him.

But let me warn those who may want to do the CJ harm – back off. CJ Mutunga is a man who is universally loved and revered in Kenya. I have never met a soul who had an unkind word to say about Dr Mutunga.

Even those who don’t agree with him on some issues – like the ear stud – admit that he’s a kind and honourable man.

I know that the man can’t be bought. It’s not that I have tried it – but I’ve seen how the corrupt and mendacious become small in his presence.

None has had the courage to suggest any shenanigans. He’s simply incorruptible. This is no secret to Kenyans. An attempt on his life wouldn’t be accepted.

My view is that CJ Mutunga is the bridge between Kenya’s “today” and its “tomorrow”. I know it’s dangerous to pin a country’s hopes on one man or woman.

It’s true that no one makes a revolution alone. The great Mahatma Gandhi didn’t do it alone. Nor did the revered African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

But they both inspired movements. As did Prof Wangari Maathai. Our chief justice is cut from a similar cloth. He’s a single man, but he carries the hopes of millions. He must live to take Kenya across that bridge.

Makau Mutua is Dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.

http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Wi ... index.html

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Standard Digital

Group plans another Limuru meeting

Updated Saturday, May 26 2012 at 22:40 GMT+3

By Moses Njagih

After the dramatic cancellation of the Limuru 2B Gema meeting last month, the organisers are this week at it again.

The group will on Wednesday be heading to Jumuia Conference Centre in Limuru, where police evicted them under fumes of teargas.

After the aborted meeting disrupted by security officials over claim it was a security threat, the organisers are exuding confidence that this time, they will push through their agenda.

The organisers plan to meet in Limuru only days after Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru, who is viewed as the groups target in some quarters, set in motion his bid for the presidency by launching The National Alliance party.

But Ngunjiri Wambugu, one of the organisers of the Limuru 2B dismisses claims their meeting targets the DPM.

“We want to deliberately move the socio-political conversation from ‘tribe-thinking’ to ‘Kenyan-thinking’ by challenging tribal narratives from within and across several communities,” says Ngunjiri.

He adds: “After the meeting, we will then launch a movement to challenge tribalism propagated by ethnic chieftains”.

Right to assembly

The disruption and cancellation of the first meeting planned for April 18 attracted condemnation, with the organisers perceived to be “leftists” in Central Kenya politics, complaining the move was an affront to their right to assembly.

In what is seen as a move to insulate the planned meeting from possible cancellation, the group has been waging a battle against security officers in court.

Only last week, High Court Judge Isaac Lenaola ordered Police Commissioner Matthew Iteere to provide security for all those who will wish to assemble for the meeting.

But the court also gave strict conditions the organisers will have to meet before they can assemble, with Justice Lenaola saying they must do it in a peaceful manner and have to be unarmed.

Ngunjiri, who is also the Executive Director of Change Associates, says the requirements stipulated by the court had been met during the earlier meeting.

Wambugu says contrary to police claims, they had followed due process and had asked for security for the meeting they had organised only days after the Limuru 2 championed by official Gema leadership, Uhuru and his supporters.

“We had met these conditions during our earlier meeting, and will meet them again on Wednesday. The police notifications have been hand-delivered to the OCS Tigoni, as required by the law and acknowledged,” said Ngunjiri.

He added: “We have this time gone a step further and hand-delivered copies of this notification to the OCPD Lari and the DC Kiambu West”.

As was the case in the first meeting, Ngunjiri says the key speaker on Wednesday will be retired Anglican Church Archbishop David Gitari, while other political leaders such as former Kabete MP Paul Muite, former Runyenjes MP Njeru Kathangu and Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara will respond.

Coincidentally, the three fiery political leaders were among key subjects in the crusade for multi-party politics in the early 1990s and the push for a new Constitution.

Ngunjiri says other MPs including Mithika Linturi (Igembe South), Dr Kilemi Mwiria (Tigania West) and former MP Maoka Maore will also attend.

Others will include Rosemary Kariuki-Machua (JM Kariuki’s daughter), Evelyne Kimathi (Dedan Kimathi’s daughter), Zarina Patel (Author & Publisher), Hassan Omar (Former KNCHR Commissioner) and Bob Ndolo of the Bob Ndolo Foundation.

Former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga, whose supporters disrupted the first meeting where Uhuru was endorsed as Gema’s preferred presidential aspirant, will also attend.

Njenga has been critical of the manner the first meeting was dispersed, saying the group will not be cowed by police action.

Noble agenda

“We have never understood why the meeting had to be cancelled when the agenda was noble,” he recently said.

A Central Kenya MP, who does not subscribe to this group but who argues the meeting should have been allowed, says the cancellation gave credence to claims Uhuru is being protected.

“In some quarters, it has been claimed Uhuru is engaged in a contest for popularity among the youth in Central Kenya with Maina Njenga, which may not be necessarily so given that the two play in completely different leagues,” says the MP.

He added: “The disruption has given credence to the perception that the police are being used in Uhuru’s favour, which may not be the case. It would only be prudent to allow the group to meet.”

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?article ... itle=Group plans another Limuru meeting

[ICC.supporter]

The New York Times

May 26, 2012

From Tragedy to Triumph

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

BEFORE I tell you about a one-armed teenager who is a star athlete at her high school in Washington, D.C., let me take you back a dozen years to Sierra Leone, in West Africa.

A little girl there became an unlikely global symbol of human depravity. Sometimes dubbed “peace girl,” she had the sweetest smile and an amputated arm — making her the much-photographed poster child of atrocities committed by a militia that chopped off the arms and feet of civilians. Madeleine Albright, who was then the secretary of state, was photographed cradling the girl, and Sierra Leone’s president took her to peace talks.

Those wrenching images of this girl, whose arm was amputated after she was shot, and other children whose limbs were hacked off by the militia built the global political will to intervene and end Sierra Leone’s civil war (Britain did the heavy lifting). I had been fascinated by the girl as an example of the power of individual stories to help end mass atrocities — and then I heard, from Albright, that she is now an American.

I dropped by her home in Washington and found 15-year-old Memuna Mansaray McShane, a wonderfully adjusted high school freshman who plays on her school’s varsity soccer and basketball teams.

“In basketball, you only use one arm,” she explained. She paused for a moment, and then acknowledged: “Except to shoot or catch the ball.” Another pause and a sheepish smile: “I guess that’s a lot.”

She added defiantly: “I can do anything people with two arms can do. Except monkey bars.”

Memuna has no clear memory of her early childhood in Sierra Leone, but she has a photo of her family on the eve of war. She is with her parents and three brothers, all beaming contentedly in what seems a well-off house in the capital.

Then the militia attacked. Her father fled to a different part of Sierra Leone and later died in unclear circumstances. After he left, Memuna’s mother and grandmother apparently took the 2-year-old girl and hid in a mosque. By some accounts, it was Memuna’s crying that caused the fighters to look for people hiding there.

When the fighters entered, the grandmother picked up Memuna and ran. The gunmen shot the grandmother dead, and some of the bullets shattered Memuna’s arm and grazed her side.

Memuna’s mother apparently ran toward her injured daughter. That’s when the gunmen shot her; she died of her wounds about a month later.

Memuna’s older brother, Alhaji Mansaray, then just 11 years old, scooped up Memuna and carried her to a hospital across town, saving her life. But the hospital was in chaos, and it took three days for a doctor to see her. By then it was necessary to amputate her arm just below the shoulder.

At age 4, Memuna was brought to the United States by the Rotary Foundation for medical treatment. Two years later, she was adopted by Kelly and Kevin McShane; Kelly had worked in Sierra Leone in the Peace Corps.

Memuna was spoiled at first: she had figured out that adults cave at demands from an adorable one-armed girl who cries. But the McShanes would have none of that. They have a son, Michael, the same age as Memuna and a daughter, Molly, two years older, and Memuna ended up having to wash the dishes along with the other kids.

“We just wanted her to be a normal little girl,” Kelly explained.

Indeed, Memuna seems to have had a fairly typical life. “We had trouble teaching her to ride a bike,” Kelly said. “But we went rock climbing, swimming, pretty much everything.”

Memuna was impressed the first time she searched the Web for her own name and saw the photos. “I thought it was pretty cool that I got to meet all these famous people, like Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton,” she said.

The McShanes have made two family trips to Sierra Leone, and Memuna was taken aback at her fame there. “A lot of people were crying and saying, ‘You’re alive!’ ” she remembered. The McShanes hope to bring her three brothers, including the one who saved her life, to Washington for a visit this year if they can get American visas.

Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president who helped engineer the Sierra Leone savagery, recently became the first former head of state to be convicted of war crimes by an international court since the Nuremberg trials. Justice triumphed, and Sierra Leone has moved on. So has Memuna.

Once a symbol of suffering caused by the human capacity for evil, she’s now just a teenage girl with dazzling moves on the basketball court. She’s a poster child of nothing at all — just a happy kid who is a powerful emblem of the human capacity for resilience.

I invite you to comment on this column on my blog, On the Ground. Please also join me on Facebook and Google+, watch my YouTube videos and follow me on Twitter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/opini ... nted=print

[ICC.supporter]

theStar

Time to get to the bottom of the Post-Election violence

Friday, 25 May 2012 23:54

BY STAR EDITOR

If you believe – as many in this country claim to – that the International Criminal Court is an imperialist plot to keep certain very popular Kenya leaders from rising to the presidency, then the decision reached by the ICC a short while ago, is merely the inevitable outcome brought about by the machinations of foreigners.

This decision, which was massively reported by all local newspapers on Friday, was that the ICC Appeals Chamber had unanimously rejected the challenges to the ICC's jurisdiction to try two of the four Kenyans who now stand accused of crimes against humanity.

But, of course, there are many who are not convinced that the ICC is an imperialist plot. They know very well that it is a validly constituted global court of last resort, which only steps in when a country's judicial system is found to be incapable of trying key suspects after grievous crimes have been committed.

To those who welcome this entry of the ICC into our national affairs, this is now he defining moment which confirms that we may be about to find out – at last – what really happened in early 2008.

And it is indeed important to get into the public domain, all this evidence that the ICC prosecutors office is said to have collected. Not only those who lost their loved ones, but each and every Kenyan, has a right to know who did what, during those dark days.

But as the process of getting out the truth of this tragic chapter in our history moves forward, we must not forget that the accused too have rights. They must be assumed to be innocent until proven guilty. And they have a right to a vigorous defence against the accusations made by the ICC prosecutors.

We have already seen two of the original six accused, released from the attention of the ICC, because there was not sufficient evidence against them. It is entirely possible, that as the proceedings continue, yet more of the accused will be found to be innocent of the charges laid against them.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist.” - Stewart Alsop, a US journalist was born on May 26, 1914

http://www.the-star.co.ke/opinions/lead ... n-violence

[ICC.supporter]

Sunday Nation

Opinion

Most presidential aspirants have little in common with you and me

By RASNA WARAH (rasna.warah@gmail.com)
Posted Sunday, May 27 2012 at 17:35

What do most presidential aspirants have in common? They are interested in winning the next general election?

Well, yes. Most of them live in (or aspire to live in) mansions in Nairobi’s posh Karen neighbourhood? Probably.

But it’s more than that. A person who posed this question on a listserv that I subscribe to suggested that the things that these would-be presidents have most in common are the following:

Most of them are rich; they have no IDPs among their family members; they earn a fat pay cheque on the backs of taxpayers; they have ample personal security and their health is highly insured.

These people drive big cars; they live in posh neighbourhoods; they never get affected by arbitrary matatu strikes; they never queue at the Kenyatta National Hospital to get medical services (if or when they are available); their children attend the “best” (British or American-system) schools in Kenya (where Kenyan history is not taught as part of the curriculum); and when they call for a public demonstration, their spouses and children do not participate.

The lucky ones don’t wait with bated breath for Labour Day to know if their minimum wages will be increased; they have a “safe haven” abroad that they can run to when things get hot in Kenya.

Such people also think they enjoy special rights and privileges (including not being charged for crimes against humanity) that are not accessible to the rest of Kenyans; their children never sleep hungry; their houses are never demolished; and when the roads are flooded, they have the option to hire a helicopter.

Oh, and another thing, when they are in trouble, their tribes come to their rescue – the rest of us just have to rely on the kindness of neighbours, good Samaritans and God.
The only thing we have in common with this special breed of Kenyans is our national IDs. The difference is, they don’t have to queue for hours to get one, nor are they harassed when they apply for one.

Their IDs are most likely delivered to them personally. Now that we have established that we have nothing in common with most of these very important persons, may I suggest that we stop attending their prayer rallies and extravagant party launches and get on with the business of surviving this year without enduring a politically-instigated catastrophe?

In January this year, I promised my readers that I would keep away from our increasingly ethnicised politics and focus on those things that impact readers in their day-to-day lives.

The problem is that our politics impacts our lives in profound ways. Kenya is perhaps the only country in the world where GDP rates drop dramatically in an election year.

Kenyans also have a bizarre notion of justice. In which other country would rallies be called to support people charged by the International Criminal Court while IDPs languish in camps or live in abject poverty?

Here senior government officials will travel first class to foreign capitals to make a case for those charged, but will barely make the short trip to an IDP camp to see for themselves what a crime against humanity looks like.

Has any one of the persons visited a woman who was gang-raped during the post-election violence or offered to pay for the anti-retrovirals that she now needs because she is infected with HIV?

Has any of them offered to adopt the many children who were orphaned because a neighbour butchered their parents? Has any of them asked a small shop-owner who lost all his property how he manages to feed his family?

Have they measured the economic and psychological costs of the mayhem that descended on Kenya – all because they supported one of two presidential candidates, both of whom did not care who got hurt as long as they were declared head of state?

Frankly, I am fed up with the whole charade. My feeling is that some of the candidates are forming parties so they can be “bought” at the last minute by a candidate that is most likely to win, so that they can all “eat together” in a cosy multi-ethnic coalition of thieves and liars.

http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Pr ... index.html

[Terminator]

Raila may have sought British intervention to probably defer the cases. The British who hold the current Presidency of UNSC reiterated their position that the ICC is the way to go. In the absence of a local solution, I am inclined to agree.

However I am disappointed bacause Raila seems to only see the issue from the angle of elections(if my reading of him is correct). As if it is bigger than the victims. Or instead of the potential the suspects, who are still roaming around free to hunt for and intimidate witnesses and potential witnesses, have for using it to ignite more of the same crimes. I would have rather he asked for their intervention on the basis of preserving peace.

Mr Odinga, through spokesman Dennis Onyango, told the Sunday Nation that the PM was concerned that the ICC question had become an election issue and a divisive one.

“As with any international meeting, the British were keen on the ICC. The PM expressed frustration about the turn of events where someone is trying to make it an election issue.

“He wished that this was not the case and said Kenya would abide by the court process. The British later told him that ICC should proceed as it is,” Mr Onyango said.

Last Thursday, the ICC Appeals Chamber threw out the appeal by Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, former Civil Service head Francis Muthaura and Kass FM presenter Joshua Sang challenging the court’s jurisdiction over the cases. (READ: ICC rejects Ocampo Four’s last appeal)
...

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/I ... index.html

[Njamlik]

However I am disappointed bacause Raila seems to only see the issue from the angle of elections(if my reading of him is correct). As if it is bigger than the victims. Or instead of the potential the suspects, who are still roaming around free to hunt for and intimidate witnesses and potential witnesses, have for using it to ignite more of the same crimes. I would have rather he asked for their intervention on the basis of preserving peace.

Termie,

Raila, the biggest suspect is still roaming around, making the biggest noise now and realizing that his months of stoking the fire might actually backfire. Crocodile tears, why did he not back his wife when she pretty much hinted that the ICC trial and the abrasive agitation were not impacting the nation positively?

Raila sees everything in terms of his own ambitions to become King of Kenya someday.

NJL

[Terminator]

Below is one of Fatou Bensouda's interviews. She talks a bit about forced male circumcisions and why she still thinks they should be considered a sexual crime.



@NJL,

Raila is a politician who wants power. Noted.

[ICC.supporter]

theStar

Experts warn of poll violence

Sunday, 27 May 2012 23:45

BY NZAU MUSAU

THE upcoming general election is unlikely to be free and will possibly turn violent if uncertainties pointed out by experts are not addressed in time.Poll experts who visited the country a fortnight ago listed a plethora of legal loopholes, inadequacies and gaps which must be worked on before the country swings into full election mode.

The experts working under the National Democratic Institute led by former Botswana president Ketumile Masire found that there is still room for impunity, unfairness and violence in Kenya's electoral environment. This despite a poignant warning by Johan Kriegler, the chair of the commission which investigated the bungled 2007 polls, that violence could recur every five years if measures were not put in place.

“The great hope that Kenyans draw from the 2010 Constitution and related reforms is being challenged by delays in completing elements of the required enabling legislation, inaction by the executive branch in some key areas, troubling incidents of violence which may be politically-motivated and incitement of ethnic tensions,” the panel said.

At the heart of the uncertainties is the election date, the ICC trials, the implementation of the gender requirement, lukewarm reception of reforms by the security agencies and sections of the executive and a weak political party culture.

Parliament has also dithered on passing crucial legislations on campaign financing and implementation of chapter six and leadership and integrity. According to the panel, these laws go to the heart of free and fair election. “We are pushing for it to be tabled as a matter of urgency,” presidential aspirant Martha Karua told her followers on Twitter yesterday about the campaign financing bill. The Narc-Kenya party leader was answering her followers questions at a weekly programme dubbed 'Ask Martha'.

She concurred the lack of regulatory framework on campaign financing is likely to increase the unevenness of the playing field. The NDI panel also noted that there were some gray areas around a presidential run-off that must be cleared up early in advance to avoid derailment of the exercise. They said “effective and timely” means to resolve disputes arising from the first round of presidential elections should be established.

The constitution grants the Supreme Court the “exclusive original jurisdiction” of determining petitions challenging the election of the “president-elect". It is not clear how disputes arising of a first round of presidential elections will be handled.

The panelists said there is an urgent need for a comprehensive civic and voter education to empower voters. The Registrar of Political Parties must also be equipped with “exceptionally competent persons” as well as resources. “Prioritize measures to ensure security against politically motivated violence, including training of security personnel, risk mapping, timely investigations, arrests and prosecutions to protect political rights and break expectations of impunity among organizers and perpetrators,” they said.

The panel expressed fears about impeding transitions of key institutions in an electoral period particularly the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC). Terms of all commissioners expire in September. According the group, the government should take necessary steps to ensure the the continuity of the Commission beyond the election. In future, they suggested, the terms of the commissioners be staggered. They said all political parties as well as the registrar should take effective measures - early in advance - to ensure that no person is listed incorrectly as a party member as this will set off unfairness of the process.

Recently parties scrambled for a share of diminished base of people willing to be members of political parties. In the process some used unorthodox means to meet the requirement threshold. A Star's reporter found himself registered by one of the parties. Those who find themselves registered by other parties over the election period will be ineligible for election through their favorite parties. They will also not feature in the party lists of their desired parties for possible nomination to elective positions after the election.

“Provide an easily accessible means for citizens to verify that their name appears on the membership list of the political party of their choice or that it is not on any such list, and provide to each political party an electronic copy of its membership lists,” the panel recommended to the registrar. Besides Masire, other members of the delegation included the chairperson of the National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone Dr. Christiana Thorpe and U.S. and global human rights advocate Martin Luther King among others. They were in the country from April 29 to May 5, when they held 25 meetings with various groups.

http://www.the-star.co.ke/national/nati ... n-violence

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theStar

ICC TO FLY OUT 10 NEW WITNESSES

Sunday, 27 May 2012 23:44

BY STAR REPORTER

The ICC is planning to fly out of 10 new witnesses to strengthen its cases against the Ocampo Four. Investigators from the Hague and their top lawyers, who are in the country, have pieced together what they believe is new evidence on the post election violence. Some of the 10 testified before the Waki commission. The "high value" witnesses will have to go through further strict and rigorous questioning and assessment to authenticate their evidence before they are spirited out in a couple of weeks. ICC's team of prosecutors will also have to go through established procedures of providing new evidence or witnesses.

Sources revealed most of the new witnesses are from Naivasha and Nairobi, two hot spots in which the election mayhem of 2007/08 had a major human and economic consequences.

ICC lawyers and investigators have made fresh visits to post election violence hot spots in Eldoret, Naivasha and Nakuru to carry out further investigations for evidence against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, former head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura and journalist Joshua Sang'. The ICC team is particularly interested in how the mayhem was planned.

The team led by a top lawyer from a West African country interrogated more than 100 witnesses including victims and individuals mentioned in the Waki Commission report which probed the violence.

Kenya's CID officers and those from the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) were yesterday keenly following up the fresh probe being undertaken by the ICC mostly in the Rift Valley region. "We have been intouch with them even though we are not involved in the probe. We are just following up to know what is going on", said an official from the NSIS in Nairobi.

Also in the team of ICC investigator are two female lawyers from Uganda and Ghana. Two top notch crime investigators are also involved in the latest probe in which the ICC is seeking to further strengthen the evidence it has for the poll violence cases. Some of the highly rated new witnesses were taken from the three regions for interrogation at undisclosed locations.

ICC experts are tying up evidence around the aspect of the suspects having been involved in planning the violence which claimed the lives of more than 1,300 Kenyans while another 500,000 were displaced mostly in the Rift Valley region. Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, Former Head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura and Journalist Joshua Sang are the four Kenyans facing charges of crimes against humanity in relation to the 2007/8 poll violence.

The team also took more photographs of the violence hot spots including the Kiambaa KAG Church where more than 30 people were burned alive during the chaos. The ICC has already named judges who will hear the cases and the court is set to host a status conference for the trials on June 11th and 12th at The Hague. The ICC Presidency constituted Trial Chamber V and assigned Judges Christine Van den Wyngaert (Belgium), Kuniko Ozaki (Japan) and Chile Eboe-Osuji (Nigeria) to handle the Kenyan case.

Incoming Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will lead prosecution during hearing of the cases which are expected to start late this year or early 2013 just before or soon after the general elections. Sources indicate that the ICC may follow its own timetable without putting into consideration the timing of the elections but details on the hearingb schedule will be discussed during the status conference next month. “They have been here for three days and went round talking to victims and visiting some areas”, said the rights activist. In the case Ocampo accused the suspects of among other things having a network that was involved in planning and executing the violence.

Yesterday sources indicated that some of the ICC witnesses and their families who are abroad have been relocated to safer locations after Ocampo complained of about their safety. They have been placed under further tight security and their children enrolled for education at unknown schools mostly in Europe.

http://www.the-star.co.ke/national/nati ... -witnesses

[ICC.supporter]

Standard Digital

Uhuru, Muthaura want ICC trials held in Kenya

Updated Tuesday, May 29 2012 at 13:37 GMT+3

By Athman Amran

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura want their trial to be held in Kenya or Arusha in Tanzania instead of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The two said that trial outside Kenya would disrupt their lives, stress them and would also be uneconomical.

They argued the Rome Statute provides that the court may sit elsewhere whenever it considers desirable to do so.

“The defence requests the trial to be held in Kenya for reasons of judicial economy and to ensure the judicial process takes place within the territory affected,” Uhuru’s defence counsel Steven Kay QC and Gillian Higgins, submitted their observations on the Agenda of Status Conference to be held on June 12, 2012.

The submissions, whose deadline was on May 28, 2012, are in response to Trial Chamber Order dated 14 May 2012.

On his part Muthaura submitted that the trial process could affect his health as it would not only significantly disrupt his life but would also be stressful.

“It is principally for this reason – a desire to reduce disruption and the strain of a criminal trial – that Ambassador Muthaura would continue to prefer that this trial before ICC takes place in Kenya or else in Arusha, Tanzania,” Lead Counsel for Muthaura, Karim A A Khan QC submitted.

Muthaura’s defence suggested that the trial could take place at the premises of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which is winding down.

The proposal to hold the trial in Kenya or Arusha, Muthaura argues, could reduce costs, especially of witness travel and would increase court capacity, as there was not enough room space in The Hague.

This would also reduce disruption to victims of post-election violence and reduce their travelling time, Muthaura argued in his submission.

“Aside from these possible benefits, the Trial Chamber may consider that there could be additional advantages of ensuring, if possible, that the judicial process remains in (or close to) the territory concerned,” Muthaura submitted

He requested that the Governments of Kenya and Tanzania be invited to address it on the feasibility and willingness of hosting the ICC.

At the same time the two, who are accused of allegedly committing crimes against humanity during the 2007 and 2008 post-election violence, requested to be furnished with the names of prosecution witnesses.

“The defence has not at this stage received notification of all the evidence to be used by the prosecution in the proceedings, nor the identities of the witnesses it intends to rely upon,” Uhuru’s defence submitted.

Witnesses

The Deputy Prime Minister submitted that the disclosure of the names of witnesses must take place as soon as possible to allow the defence adequate time to prepare trial and asked the Trial Chamber not to allow any additional witnesses at a late stage as this could prevent them from adequate preparations.

Muthaura’s defence expressed “grave concern” about the veracity of key prosecution witnesses.

“The case appears perhaps unprecedented in the extent that certain witnesses appear to be willing to fabricate evidence, in some cases, as part of organised extortion plans, in other cases simply in the belief that there is money to be made in the ICC process,” Muthaura’s defence submitted.

It submitted that it be given sufficient and adequate time after disclosure of the names and identities of prosecution witnesses to fully and thoroughly investigate these witnesses, their reputations, associations and antecedents, as well as the accounts they give allegedly pertaining to the charge.

“It is in light of this, and so as to prevent undue delay in the trial that the defence requests that the prosecution be ordered to disclose information and otherwise complete its disclosure obligations within strict deadlines, as considered appropriate by the Trial Chamber,” the defence submitted.

The case against Uhuru, Muthaura, Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Journalist Joshua Sang are before Pre Trial Chamber V.

The judges in the trai are Judges Kuniko Ozaki (Presiding), Christine Van den Wyngaert and Chile Eboe-Osujihe

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?article ... 3&pageNo=1

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theStar

RUTO APPLIES FOR ICC TRIAL AFTER ELECTION

Monday, 28 May 2012 23:45

BY NZAU MUSAU

WILLIAM Ruto has applied to have his trial heard at the Hague after the March 2013 general election while Uhuru Kenyatta wants the ICC to try him in Kenya. The lawyers for the Ocampo Four yesterday sent formal submissions for the ICC pre-trial conference due on June 11 and 12 in the Hague. The four suspects charged with crimes against humanity are Eldoret North MP Ruto, Deputy Prime minister Uhuru, former Civil Service boss Francis Muthaura, and Kass FM radio journalist Joshua arap Sang.

In his submissions filed yesterday by his lawyers David Hooper and Kioko Kilukumi, Ruto argued that the trial should take place later in 2013 because he is standing for the presidency of Kenya next March. “William Ruto intends to submit his candidature for President of Kenya to the Kenyan people in the elections to be held on March 4th 2013,” Ruto's submissions stated. “It is to be stressed that it provides an important and further opportunity for Mr Ruto to advance the process of reconciliation in that country and to help ensure the pacific nature of the election. He has been highly active in reconciling the communities since the last election,” the application argues.

Sang's lawyer Katwa Kigen expressly called for his trial after the general election "because the election environment would limit the radio presenter's capacity to prepare for trial". “This would render an effectual defence difficult prior to the 2013 elections. For instance, some of Mr Sang’s potential witnesses were engaged in politics during the 2007-2008 election cycle, and they have likewise re-engaged themselves for the 2013 election,” Sang's application stated.

Both Sang and Ruto also argued that they would need at least four months to prepare for trial after the prosecutor discloses his evidence. Uhuru and Muthaura said in their filings that they were unable to suggest a trial date because they were not aware of all of Ocampo's evidence evidence against them. They however said they want the trial held in Kenya. "The Defence requests the trial to be held in Kenya for reasons of judicial economy and to ensure that the judicial process takes place within the territory affected. The Rome Statute provides that the Court may sit elsewhere, whenever it considers it desirable to do so," Uhuru said in his application done by lawyers Steven Kay and Gillian Higgins.

Through his lawyer Karim Khan, Muthaura argues that a trial at the Hague would disrupt his life, stress him and possibly affect his health. He said he prefers Kenya or Arusha, Tanzania, where the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is winding up. In his filing, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said it was up to the trial chamber to set the trial date. He nevertheless said the trial date should be determined by the court’s ability to protect witnesses and cooperation from the Kenyan government as well as the accused.

Ocampo said that assuming the trial chamber will sit continuously and without interruptions, he will need approximately one year to present his case. The lawyer for the victims in the case against Uhuru however wants the trial to start before next March 9. "The victims are of the considered view that it is objectively reasonable to set a date for the commencement of the trial that is within one calendar year of the date on which Pre-Trial Chamber II rejected the Defence applications for leave to appeal the Decision on the Confirmation of Charges 8 -- i.e., 9 March 2013," Morris Anyah says.

All the suspects want the court to make site visits in Kenya. They also told the court that they were in talks with the prosecution to admit to some of the facts of the case to save the court's time. Ruto asked the chamber to indicate how it proposes to hear the two cases; "Whether it will be one month on, one month off etc or any other proposed scheduling." He did not indicate if he intends to offer any alibi. Uhuru, Muthaura and Sang will however offer alibi for certain dates of the case. "The defence raises the concern that the Registry has still not provided it permanent office space in the ICC complex, more than a year after the initial appearance of the accused. The Defence is unaware of how it is to engage in the disclosure process and effectively prepare for trial without adequate facilities," Sang complained yesterday.

http://www.the-star.co.ke/national/nati ... r-election

[ICC.supporter]

Capital FM News

Matsanga Vs Ocampo: Round 2

Posted by BERNARD MOMANYI on May 29, 2012

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 29 – Ugandan peace negotiator David Matsanga has now filed an application at the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeking to disqualify the Prosecutor from investigating him over allegations of witness tampering.

Matsanga’s application, dated May 28, was filed to the Appeals Chamber and has already been received by the ICC’s registry, sources said.

In the application, Matsanga argues that his application is in pursuant to Article 42 (8) of the Rome Statute of the ICC over investigations the war crimes court has been carrying out on him since April 12 this year.

The article under which Matsanga is filing his application states that “any question as to the disqualification of the Prosecutor or his deputy shall be decided by the Appeals Chamber.”

“The applicant further seeks orders restraining the Prosecutor from conducting further interviews/investigations against the Applicant on complaints submitted by the Applicant to the President of the ICC and Appeals judges against the Prosecutor for withholding evidence from the pre trial judges at the ICC in the Kenya case, in particular, Case No. 2 also published on his website, and from making any adverse decisions against him on the basis of the information submitted during the interview/investigation,” the application filed by Matsanga’s lawyer Charles A. Taku states in part.

Matsanga was interrogated by ICC detectives from the Prosecutor’s office who traveled to Kenya’s capital Nairobi between April 12 and 13 to question him over articles and a video posted on his website about Witness No 4 James Maina Kabutu’s recanted evidence in Case 2 against four Kenyans.

They include Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, former Head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura, Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Radio Journalist Joshua arap Sang.

“The applicant believes or has a reasonable basis to be believed that the prosecutor has not and will not exercise the independence required of his office in conducting this interview/investigation or in making fair decisions concerning the matters under investigation against him,” Matsanga argues in the 15-page application which includes annexes marked as confidential.

He said he believes the prosecutor had relied on intermediaries in his investigation on him.

“The applicant has reasonable grounds to believe that evidence submitted by him (Matsanga) during the interview/investigation establishes that the Prosecutor relied on notable intermediaries/political activists, Professor Makau Mutua and Maina Kiai,” the application states.

Matsanga further argues in his application that the two individuals had worked closely with the ICC prosecutor in his investigation in Kenya, hence cannot be independent in his work.

“The applicant believes that the nature of this relationship is central to his complaint and published articles critical of the Prosecutor and the subject of his interview/investigation,” Matsanga said.

This relationship, he says, substantially compromises the Prosecutor’s independence to conduct an impartial and credible interview/investigation consistent with the threshold required by the Statute of the ICC.

“The Applicant further believes Professor (Makau) Mutua and (Maina) Kiai have interfered with the process, which is the subject of the interview/investigation against him,” he said in the application to the ICC.
Two weeks ago, the Kenyan Criminal Investigations Department (CID) wrote to the Attorney General urging him to initiate an investigation through the Prosecutor’s office, in an attempt to establish the identity of Witness Number 4 who was filmed retracting his evidence.

The details were being sought in a probe targeting Mutua who is accused of harassing anti-ICC activist David Matsanga.

Matsanga has accused Mutua of harassment in articles published in the Sunday Nation in March 2012.

In the articles, Mutua had complained that there was interference with ICC witnesses and argued that Witness 4 was coerced to retract his evidence.
The CID now wants to know what role Mutua plays in the ICC, after claiming that in 2010, he trained ICC prosecutors involved in the Kenya case.

“Before we continue with our investigations, we would wish to have it confirmed that indeed the person named James Kabutu Maina is a witness of the ICC in the current proceedings against four Kenyan suspects,” Kenya’s CID director Ndegwa Muhoro states, in a letter to the AG dated May 2.

“In this regard, we are requesting your office to facilitate an enquiry directed at the ICC prosecution concerning this matter. Our investigation can only be conclusive if we have this confirmation,” the letter that is also copied to Internal Security Minister Professor George Saitoti, Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko and Commissioner of Police Mathew Iteere reads.

The CID has also asked the AG to initiate an investigation on Mutua’s involvement with the ICC, particularly if he had been hired by the war crimes court to train investigators handling the Kenyan cases.

The CID director states in his letter that he has information to the effect that Mutua “was instrumental in training ICC prosecution investigators on the Kenyan case in or around March 2010.”

“We also wish to request you to facilitate an enquiry directed at the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC regarding any official assignment which that office may have given to Prof Makau generally or in relation to James Kabutu Maina, in the event Mr Kabutu is indeed a prosecution witness at the ICC,” Muhoro wrote.

Muhoro states in his letter that his department is investigating if Matsanga or Mutua had in any way interfered with an ICC witness or witnesses in their publications.

The allegation was first raised in Mutua’s publications – one of them titled ‘Did key Ocampo witness recant his testimony?’ which was published in the Sunday Nation of March 11, 2012 and the second one titled ‘How they tampered with Ocampo Witness’ published in the Sunday Nation of March 18, 2012.

In his first article, Mutua stated that Kabutu was ICC prosecution witness 4 currently in protective custody in USA and that the he had travelled to Kenya from Swaziland on a UN Diplomatic passport under the name Peter Karanja so as to testify before the Waki Commission.

He went on to state that Kabutu had lied on oath either to the Waki Commission and the ICC or lied on oath in his deposition.

In the second article, Mutua said Kabutu had recanted his testimony before CIPEV under duress.

He accused two officials of the then Kenya National Commission on Human Rights of bribing and threatening Kabutu to elicit a recantation and claimed there were what he termed as “dark forces out to scuttle the Hague trials of the Ocampo four.”

The CID concludes that “from both articles, it is apparent that Mutua has either been involved with Kabutu from early 2008 to present or is at least privy to matters concerning him.”

http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2012/05 ... o-round-2/

[ICC.supporter]

Capital FM News

Kenya: Ocampo to Head Fifa Ethics Team

29 May 2012

Outgoing International Criminal Court Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo is set to head the new FIFA ethics committee investigations arm.

According to BBC Sport, Ocampo is expected to respond to the appointment next month.

At FIFA he will investigate corruption allegations and breaches of ethics rules.

Ocampo who started investigations into the Kenyan 2008 post election violence is expected to retire next month after nine years of service as ICC Prosecutor.

The renowned prosecutor found his footing into the world sport when he defended Diego Maradona.

Ocampo's chamber will bring charges, while a separate arm will judge cases.

In March, football's governing body announced a wide-ranging overhaul of its governance, in light of a series of corruption allegations that have rocked the organization over the last 18 months, concerning both World Cup bidding and the presidential election.

Veteran lawyer Ocampo was appointed as the first chief prosecutor of the ICC in 2003, but is stepping down from his position at The Hague in June.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201205290517.html

[ICC.supporter]

theStar

Tuju on the Uhuru, Ruto polls debate

Monday, 28 May 2012 23:54

BY JUSTUS OCHIENG'

Presidential aspirant Raphael Tuju has said the debate on whether two of the Ocampo Four suspects can contest the presidency should be left for the Judiciary. He said politicians should not politicise the issue adding that it is only the judiciary that can determine whether Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto can run for the top seat.

Tuju, who is also gunning for the presidency, however noted that the four Kenyan cases at the ICC were unstoppable. He said the ICC process was a protocol that must go on since Parliament failed to enact legislation for the formation of a local tribunal. Last Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, one of the Ocampo Four suspects, said he will not abandon his presidential campaign despite the charges he is facing at The Hague as Prime Minister Raila Odinga asked the court to ensure a fair trial. Uhuru, Ruto, former head of public service Francis Muthaura and radio journalist Joshua Sang are facing crimes against humanity charges at The Hague.

Speaking in Siaya county, he said there was no other way that could stop the cases from proceeding. “There is a protocol that must be followed if Kenya want to pull out of the ICC process but we must understand that even if Kenya pulls out now the four cases must proceed,” he said.

He added that ICC has stated it has nothing to do with the country’s politics but maintained that he could not determine whether the two presidential aspirants (Uhuru and Ruto) could be stopped from participating in the political process. “I am not in a position to interpret Chapter Six of the constitution since that is the role of the judiciary. I am a political player and cannot be a referee at the same time to determine who plays and who does not play in a match,” he said. He advised that Kenyans must shun tribal alliances that are likely to cause chaos in the country.

The former Rarieda MP said the post election violence was as a result of tribal politics that some Kenyan leaders have continued to embrace. “Such alliances that provoke violence are fickle, useless and cannot solve the problems in our country and we must learn to embrace one another for posterity of our nation,” he said.

http://www.the-star.co.ke/local/western ... lls-debate

[ICC.supporter]

theStar

Uhuru, Ruto Should Not Run

Monday, 28 May 2012 23:55

BY MWALIMU MATI

Why would Kenyans elect persons facing life imprisonment for crimes against humanity? Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and William Samoei Ruto should abandon their presidential hopes and face their criminal trials at The Hague.

The two principals (President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga) should honour the National Accord and the Constitution and initiate the process of stripping these two men, and Francis Muthaura, of public office immediately. This was what the two principals of the Grand Coalition Government pledged to do on December 16, 2008.

The International Criminal Court cases on Kenya’s post-election violence arose from the Waki Commission of Inquiry into Post Election Violence and the unwillingness and inability of the National Assembly to establish a Special Tribunal to try the perpetrators, masterminds and financiers of the post election violence of 2007-2008.

On December 16, 2008, President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga promised Kenyans in writing that any public officer who is charged for offences related to the post election violence of 2007-8 (which the Waki CIPEV Report found resulted in the killing of over 1,133 Kenyans and the forcible displacement of over 500,000 Kenyans) would be immediately suspended from public office.

Kenyans want justice for this criminality and expect President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to keep their promises.

The Agreement signed by the two Principals of the Government of Kenya, President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga explicitly stated in Article 4 that: “The Parties shall ensure that any person holding public office or any public servant charged with a criminal offence related to 2008 post-election violence shall be suspended from duty until the matter is fully adjudicated upon. The parties shall ensure that any person convicted of a post-election violence offence is barred from holding any public office or contesting any electoral position.”

Kenyans have every expectation that now that the charges against Francis Kirimi Muthaura, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, William Samoei Ruto, and Joshua Arap Sang have been confirmed by the International Criminal Court, that the two principals will now fulfill their pledge to Kenyans that any person holding public office or any public servant charged with a criminal offence related to 2008 post-election violence shall be suspended from duty until the matter is fully adjudicated upon. Kenyans also expect that in the event of conviction the particular individuals will be barred from holding any public office or contesting any electoral position.

Francis Muthaura was Secretary to the Cabinet and Kenya’s senior most civil servant. Uhuru Kenyatta is Kenya’s Deputy Prime Minister, was Minister for Finance, and is a declared presidential candidate in the forthcoming elections. William Ruto is a former member of the Cabinet, and currently a Member of Parliament and presidential candidate. Joshua Sang is a popular radio presenter on KASS FM.

On November 5, 2009, President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga issued a statement after meeting ICC Chief Prosecutor Louis Ocampo. They said "Government remains fully committed to discharge its primary responsibility in accordance with the Rome Statute to establish a local judicial mechanism to deal with the perpetrators of the post election violence. In addition, the Government remains committed to cooperate with ICC within the framework of the Rome Statute and the International Crimes Act."

http://www.the-star.co.ke/opinions/mwal ... ld-not-run

[ICC.supporter]

BBC News Africa

30 May 2012

Liberia ex-leader Charles Taylor get 50 years in jail

Liberia's ex-President Charles Taylor has been sentenced to 50 years in jail by a UN-backed war crimes court.

Last month Taylor was found guilty of aiding and abetting rebels in Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 civil war.

Special Court for Sierra Leone judges said the sentence reflected his status as head of state at the time and his betrayal of public trust.

Taylor, 64, insists he is innocent and is likely to appeal against the sentence, correspondents say.

The appeal process could last up to six months, the BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague reports.

'Heinous crimes'

Taylor, wearing a tie and suit, showed no emotion during the hearing.

"The accused has been found responsible for aiding and abetting some of the most heinous crimes in human history," Judge Richard Lussick said.

The crimes - which took place over five years - included cutting off the limbs of their victims and cutting open pregnant women to settle bets over the sex of their unborn children, he said.

The prosecution had wanted an 80-year prison term to reflect the severity of the crimes and the central role that Taylor had in facilitating them.

But the judge said that would have been excessive - taking into account the limited scope of his involvement in planning operations in Sierra Leone.

However, Judge Lussick said in return for a constant flow of diamonds, Taylor provided arms and both logistical and moral support to the Revolutionary United Front rebels - prolonging the conflict and the suffering of the people of Sierra Leone.

"While Mr Taylor never set foot in Sierra Leone, his heavy footprint is there," the judge said.

"The lives of many more innocent civilians in Sierra Leone were lost or destroyed as a direct result of his actions," he said.

In its landmark ruling in April, the court found Taylor guilty on 11 counts, relating to atrocities that included rape and murder.

He became the first former head of state to be convicted of war crimes by an international court since the Nuremburg trials of Nazis after World War II.

This "special status" had put Taylor in a "different category of offenders for the purpose of sentencing," the judge said.

Taylor, who accused the prosecution of paying and threatening witnesses in his war crimes trial, had asked judges to consider his age when making their decision, saying he was "no threat to society".

But the trial chamber said that, given his social background and standing, "rehabilitation" was not likely.

The fact that he had not expressed remorse or apologised for his part in the conflict also affected the sentence, the judge said.

Earlier, his lawyers had urged the court not to support "attempts by the prosecution to provide the Sierra Leoneans with this external bogeyman upon whom can be heaped the collective guilt of a nation for its predominantly self-inflicted wounds".

Taylor's brother-in-law in Liberia, Arthur Saye, maintained the whole process had been "politically motivated".

"The sentence is outrageous. How can you give a man 50 years for only aiding and abetting?" he told the BBC.

Suzanah Vaye, whose husband was killed during the last days of Taylor's rule, was less sympathetic: "Today, I join Sierra Leoneans in saying this should be a lesson to people that God has his own way of bringing judgement to people."

The case was heard in The Hague for fear that a trial in Sierra Leone could destabilise the region. The Dutch government only agreed if Taylor would serve any sentence in another country. He will serve any prison term in the UK.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18259596

[ICC.supporter]

Daily Nation

Politics

Ocampo Four mum as Taylor gets 50 years

By AFP
Posted Wednesday, May 30 2012 at 22:30

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor has been handed a 50-year jail sentence by an international tribunal sitting at The Hague.

As the severe jail term sent shockwaves across the world, the four Kenyans also facing charges before a similar court at The Hague refused to comment on Mr Tayor’s sentence.

The lawyers for Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto and broadcaster Joshua arap Sang also refused to comment when contacted by the Daily Nation.

The fourth accused is former Public Service head Francis Muthaura. Approached at the Annual General Meeting of Matatu Owners Association in Kiambu County, Mr Kenyatta brushed off questions about his views on Mr Taylor’s sentence.

Separately, Mr Ruto and Mr Sang also indicated that they had nothing to say about the severity of the jail term imposed on the former Liberian leader and the process leading to his trial and conviction by an international tribunal.

Kenyan Appeal Court Judge Philip Waki, who chaired the Commisison of Inquiry into Kenya’s post-election violence, will sit as alternate judge on Mr Taylor’s appeal at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. (READ: Waki to sit on UN Sierra Leone court)

The Special Court for Sierra Leone found Taylor, 64, guilty on all 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for aiding and abetting Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front during the country’s brutal 1991-2001 civil war.

In return, he was paid in diamonds mined by slave labour in areas under control of the rebels, who murdered, raped and kept sex slaves, hacked off limbs and forced children aged under 15 to fight, the court found.

Though the Sierra Leone tribunal established by the United Nations is different for the International Criminal Court that is set to try four Kenyan post-election violence suspects, it follows the principles of international jurisdication for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

Devastating effects

He will serve any prison term in the UK but will be held in The Hague until the end of his appeal.

“The accused has been found responsible for aiding and abetting some of the most heinous crimes in human history,” said Special Court for Sierra Leone judge Richard Lussick, reading out the ruling on Wednesday.

“The trial chamber unanimously sentences you to a single term of imprisonment for 50 years on all counts,” the judge said at the international court based in Leidschendam, just outside The Hague.

“The trial chamber noticed that the effects of these crimes on the families and society as a whole in Sierra Leone was devastating,” he said.

It was the first sentence against a former head of state in an international court since the Nuremberg Nazi trials in 1946.

Taylor, with gold-rimmed glasses and cropped hair, a dark suit and gold tie, listened with his eyes closed as the judge handed down the sentence, which Taylor’s team, and prosecutors, have two weeks to appeal.

Chief prosecutor Brenda Hollis had asked for 80 years’ prison for Taylor, once one of west Africa’s most powerful men. (SEE IN PICTURES: Charles Taylor)

Speaking after sentencing, Hollis said her team would study the judgment before deciding whether to appeal.

“The sentence today does not replace amputated limbs, does not bring back those who have been murdered or forced to become sexual slaves” or child soldiers, she said.

“But it brings back some measure of justice... for those lucky enough to survive.”

In Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown, hundreds of survivors of the war that claimed 120,000 lives watched the proceedings in silence on a large TV screen.

Among them was Al Hadji Jusu Jarka, former chairman of the association of amputees, who had both his arms cut off by the rebels.

“The curtain has now been drawn on Charles Taylor,” the war survivor said. “I hope he will be haunted by his deeds as he languishes in jail.”

Human rights activist Charles Mambu called the sentence “excellent” and said: “It shows that it’s no longer business as usual.”

Taylor’s lawyer Courtenay Griffiths said the sentence meant that “effectively Charles Taylor will die in prison,” while the legal team indicated it would appeal.

Judge Lussick said 80 years would have been excessive, but that, given Taylor’s position as Liberia’s president from 1997 to 2003, he “held a position of public trust and higher authority which he abused.”

Throughout the trial, Taylor maintained his innocence and insisted he was instrumental in eventually ending Sierra Leone’s civil war.

But the judge said that, while Taylor publicly played a substantial role, “secretly he was fuelling hostilities between the (rebels) and the democratically elected government of Sierra Leone”.

Therefore, “Mr Taylor’s role in the peace process is not a mitigating factor,” he found. The nearly four-year trial, which wrapped up in March 2011, saw several high-profile witnesses testify.

Among them was supermodel Naomi Campbell, who told of a gift from Taylor of “dirty diamonds” she received in 1997 at a charity ball hosted by South Africa’s then President Nelson Mandela.

Authorities in Nigeria arrested Taylor in March 2006 as he tried to flee from exile after being forced to quit Liberia three years earlier, under international pressure to end that country’s own civil war.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/O ... index.html

[ICC.supporter]

theStar

UHURU, RUTO MAY SPEND 4 YEARS IN HAGUE

Tuesday, 29 May 2012 23:44

BY NZAU MUSAU

WILLIAM Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta may have to spend up to four years at the Hague if Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo gets his way. On Monday the outgoing prosecutor advised the court that he will need "approximately 12 months" to present his case against Eldoret North MP William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Sang in the first case. He said he will also need twelve months to present his case against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former Civil Service chief Francis Muthaura in the second case.

Under the Rome Statute, persons on trial must be physically present in the court at the Hague. The Ocampo Four are charged with crimes against humanity during the election violence surrounding the botched December 2007 election. Ocampo's application for one year to present his evidence in each case assumes that the chamber will sit daily and that he will not be interrupted often. "At this stage, any indication on the anticipated length of presentation of evidence at trial can only be tentative," Ocampo said in his application made on Monday.

The defence teams will also challenge Ocampo's evidence and this could take years as well. It would therefore appear that each trial will last at least two years. On Monday Ruto's lawyers asked the court to clarify whether the trials will run consecutively or concurrently. If they run concurrently, Uhuru and Ruto might both have to spend four years in the Hague. If they run consecutively, they might each spend two years in the Hague, but one after the other.

The prosecutor has to disclose his evidence before the trial begins but he has not yet indicated when he will do so. Ocampo said he has already disclosed a substantial portion of his evidence comprising 67 items of 1076 pages and four audio/video items of exculpatory evidence. Another 326 items of 2270 pages and five audio/video items of incriminating evidence have been revealed to the defence. "Since the confirmation hearing, the prosecution has collected additional materials and is in the process of reviewing them for the purpose of disclosure. This material and additional material resulting from ongoing investigations will be disclosed in a timely manner," Ocampo said.

In his Monday filing, Ocampo said the security situation in Kenya continues to make it difficult to protect victims and witnesses. This might make it difficult for the court to accept Uhuru's request on Monday that the cases be heard in Kenya rather than the Hague. Ocampo also advised the court that Ugandan national David Matsanga had allegedly revealed the identities of protected witnesses online. He warned the court that he will seek a ruling on how far witnesses can be prepared. He said he will call expert witnesses that the defence can also use.

On Monday, Ruto surprisingly indicated that he will not produce an alibi to show that he was not at the scene of the crime. He said Ocampo had charged him under a broad liability so it was not possible to provide an alibi. According to the court rules, if the defence intends to argue an alibi, it must warn the prosecution before the trial begins.

Ruto also asked for information about the intermediaries used by the prosecution as part of their disclosures before the trial. Together with Sang, Ruto wants the trial chamber to define the term "organisation" at an early stage of the trial. They want to know if the definition adopted by the pretrial chamber is binding or whether a new one will be employed. "The defence requests that the trial chamber order a briefing schedule for the parties to submit written submissions on their interpretation of the law on this critical definition. Fairness dictates that the accused know with clarity the precise contours of the charges against him," Sang submitted through his lawyer Katwa Kigen.

Both Muthaura and Uhuru attacked the integrity of Ocampo's witnesses. Muthaura said that the case against him "appears perhaps unprecedented in the extent that certain witnesses appear to be willing to fabricate evidence." The two said they need "sufficient and adequate time" to fully investigate the reputations, associations and history of Ocampo's witnesses.

http://www.the-star.co.ke/national/nati ... s-in-hague

[ICC.supporter]

theStar

ICC trial shouldn’t delay for election

Tuesday, 29 May 2012 23:54

BY STAR EDITOR

ELDORET North MP William Ruto has applied to the International Criminal Court to defer his case until after the March 2013 elections. His explanation is that he intends to run for president. Regrettably that cannot, and should not, be a reason to delay the trial.

A simple comparison makes this clear. A hypothetical John Smith has been charged with murder in the USA. He goes to court and asks to postpone his trial until after the November 2012 election because he wants to stand for president.

No court would entertain such a request. The court would obviously say that John Smith is accused of a crime and must stand trial at the court's convenience, not at his own convenience. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Obviously William Ruto is innocent until proved guilty. But assuming he is elected president in 2013 and the trial then starts, how could he attend? Would he request another deferment until after 2017, or 2022?

And what would happen if the trial started while President Ruto was still in office? No, it is definitely better for the ICC trial to start whenever the judges decide is best, and if that is before March 2013, so be it.

Quote of the day: "All places are alike, and every earth is fit for burial." - Dramatist Christopher Marlowe (Dr Faustus) was murdered on May 30, 1593

http://www.the-star.co.ke/opinions/lead ... r-election

[ICC.supporter]

The New York Times

May 30, 2012

Taylor Receives 50 Years for ‘Heinous’ Crimes in WarBy MARLISE SIMONS and
J. DAVID GOODMAN

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands — Charles G. Taylor, the former president of Liberia and a once-powerful warlord, was sentenced on Wednesday to 50 years in prison over his role in atrocities committed in Sierra Leone during its civil war in the 1990s.

The judge presiding over the sentencing in an international criminal court near The Hague said Mr. Taylor had been found guilty of “aiding and abetting, as well as planning, some of the most heinous and brutal crimes recorded in human history” and that the lengthy prison term underscored his position at the top of government during that period.

“Leadership must be carried out by example by the prosecution of crimes, not the commission of crimes,” the judge, Richard Lussick, said in a statement read before the court.

Mr. Taylor was the first head of state convicted by an international court since the Nuremberg trials after World War II.

Prosecutors had sought an even longer sentence of 80 years. If carried out, the term decided on Wednesday would likely mean the 64-year-old Mr. Taylor will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Asked to stand as the sentence was read, he looked at the floor.

His legal team said it would immediately appeal. “The sentence is clearly excessive, clearly disproportionate to his circumstances, his age and his health and does not take into account the fact that he stepped down from office voluntarily,” said Morris Anya, one of the lawyers representing Mr. Taylor.

The prosecution said it was considering its own appeal, both to lengthen the sentence and to broaden the responsibility attributed to Mr. Taylor for crimes committed under his leadership.

Two rebel commanders tried earlier by this court were handed similar prison sentences of 50 and 52 years respectively, and a prosecutor said that Mr. Taylor’s overall responsibility was considerably greater. The prosecutor also said that Mr. Taylor did not freely leave office but was pushed by a rebel offensive and by a delegation of African leaders urging him to stem further bloodshed.

Outside the courthouse, Salamba Silla, who works with victims groups in Sierra Leone pleaded for more help for former child soldiers, orphans and other victims of the country’s war. “You can see hundreds of them begging on the streets of Freetown,” she said. “Many who suffered horrendously need help to return to the provinces, they think they cannot survive there.”

Ibrahim Sorie, a lawmaker from Sierra Leone who had been seated in the court’s public gallery, said he found the sentence fair. “It restores our faith in the rule of law, and we see that impunity is ending for top people,” Mr. Sorie said.

After more than a year of deliberations, the Special Court for Sierra Leone found Mr. Taylor guilty in late April of crimes against humanity and war crimes for his part in fomenting mass brutality that included murder, rape, the use of child soldiers, the mutilation of thousands of civilians, and the mining of diamonds to pay for guns and ammunition. Prosecutors have said that Mr. Taylor was motivated in these gruesome actions not by any ideology but rather by “pure avarice” and a thirst for power.

The tribunal began in Sierra Leone and is still formally based there, but out of concern that holding hearings in West Africa would cause unrest among those who still support Mr. Taylor, it was moved to the town of Leidschendam outside of The Hague.

Though fighting in one of the world’s poorest regions involved Liberia and threatened to spill over into neighboring West African countries, the court’s mandate covered only those crimes in Sierra Leone between 1996 and 2002. During the trial, prosecutors introduced evidence and heard testimony of communications between Mr. Taylor’s residence in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, and the rebels in Sierra Leone.

The trial, lasting more than twice as long as planned, heard witnesses, including men with their hands chopped off, women who were raped and who saw the severed heads of relatives. There were also close associates and aides of Mr. Taylor. One aide described a secret bonding ritual in Liberia during which he and others joined Mr. Taylor in eating a human heart.

Diamonds, as well as atrocities, were also a recurrent theme in the 2,500-page judgment. Judges agreed with the prosecution that diamonds mined in Sierra Leone were used to pay for arms and ammunition that fueled Mr. Taylor’s proxy army and that rough diamonds were delivered at Mr. Taylor’s mansion in Monrovia.

One diamond story that proved a high point of publicity for the trial involved the court appearance of the supermodel Naomi Campbell. Prosecutors said Ms. Campbell had been sent uncut diamonds as a gift from Mr. Taylor after they attended a charity dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela, at the time the president of South Africa. Two of Ms. Campbell’s companions who recounted the episode in court, her agent, Carole White, and the actress Mia Farrow, were repeatedly called “liars” during cross-examination by the defense.

But the judges wrote that the two women were “frank and truthful witnesses,” contrasting them with Ms. Campbell, who they called a “reluctant witness” who “deliberately omitted certain details out of fear.” They added that “Campbell said she came to the realization that the diamonds were sent by Taylor.”

Eight other leading members of different forces and rebel groups have already been sentenced by the tribunal. Mr. Taylor is the special court’s last defendant. His trial began in 2006 and since then, 115 witnesses have given testimony.

The three-panel bench, made up of judges from Uganda, Samoa and Ireland, seemed to bend over backward in giving Mr. Taylor great leeway. He spent seven months — covering 81 trial days — in the witness chair, telling his life story without ever being cut off for digressions or political statements. He said he had heard about atrocities, saying “that nobody on this planet would not have heard about the atrocities in Sierra Leone” but that he would “never, ever” have permitted them.

Marlise Simons reported from Leidschendam, Netherlands, and J. David Goodman from New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/world ... nted=print

[ICC.supporter]

Daily Nation

Politics

Drop presidency quest, Uhuru and Ruto told

By DAVE OPIYO dopiyo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Thursday, May 31 2012 at 14:15

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto have been urged to abandon their quest for the Kenyan presidency.

Former Ethics and Anti-Corruption PS John Githongo said it would be ‘bizarre’ for the two, who are facing crimes against humanity charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to vie for the presidency in the forthcoming General Election.

“It is utterly bizarre for them to even think of standing for the presidency,” said Mr Githongo Thursday in Nairobi, when he launched the book “Advocates for Change; How to overcome Africa’s Challenges.”

The two, together with suspended head of Public Service Francis Muthaura and radio presenter Joshua arap Sanga are charged with crimes against humanity during the 2007/08 post election violence that left 1,133 people dead and 650,000 others displaced.

The four are due to attend a Status Conference on June 11 and 12 at The Hague-based court where among other things, the trial date is expected to be set.

However, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto have insisted the ICC charges will not deter their presidential ambitions.

They have found backing from Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa, who has said there was no express provision in the Constitution that bars the two from contesting any elective position.

"Article 66 of the Rome Statute outlines the basic principle of justice where one is presumed innocent until proven guilty and so does the Kenyan Constitution,” he said.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/- ... index.html

[ICC.supporter]

theStar

Njenga, Muite warn of extrajudicial killings

Thursday, 31 May 2012 14:05

BY FRANCIS MUREITHI

Organisers of the Limuru 2B meeting yesterday accused unnamed powerful individuals in government of branding the group as Mungiki so as to fight it politically. The leaders, who included former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga, senior counsel Paul Muite, Archbishop David Gitari and Ngunjiri Wambugu of Change Associates Trust also claimed to be privy to intelligence information that indicated the security agencies were planning to mount a fresh round of extra judicial killings aimed at eliminating suspected members and leaders of the group.

They cited public statements issued in recent weeks by Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere and police spokesman Erick Kiraithe claiming that the Mungiki was regrouping as an indication of the plan to revive extrajudicial killings of suspected sect members. They said at least 10,000 youth from Central Kenya were killed in a span of five years during which the police and other security agents carried out a systematic operation to get rid of the group.

Muite said the organizers of the meeting had been questioned as to why they were working with Maina Njenga. The meeting was to launch the Kenya Nationalists Forum which is a network of opinion leaders from Mount Kenya region and other parts of the country whose aim is to encourage Kenyans be nationalists and not tribalists during the next elections. "There are plans to start the extra judicial killings, and since they have sent a warning to us let me also warn them that the time for impunity is over. They should realize that nobody was born in any special way and we are all equal. They can no longer continue criminalizing poor youth by branding them Mungiki," he said.

Njenga revealed the group had since 1987 maintained a list of the names of all government officials and politicians who took oaths to join the Mungiki sect as well as the dates when they took these oaths. He urged those targeting the group's members not to “court trouble." “I know everybody and I have a register on when one joined, when he took oath. I know even when it was given. If you were not given (the oath) then something passed you,” he told the close to 4,000 people mainly young people who turned up for the meeting at Kwambira grounds in Limuru town.

Unlike last month's conference which was violently dispersed by police who used live bullets and teargas, yesterday’s five-hour meeting was peaceful. There was however a heavy police presence with armed riot policemen following the proceedings from a distance. Njenga said the Mungiki sect was no more and alleged that some people in government and political circles wanted to create the impression that the group was still active so its perceived leaders could be targeted for elimination. "People are saying some people want to re-launch, can someone like Kiraithe even tell what or who is a Mungiki? We are saying today there is no Mungiki, if there is one who has not changed, go and tell him to change,” Njenga said and announced he would launch a new forum for the youth.

Ngunjiri dismissed claims that the meeting was a Mungiki affair. “When young people from Central meet, why do the authorities always conclude they are Mungiki? What we know is that Mungiki is an illegal group and if police know who the Mungiki are, they should arrest them," he said. He said the group was being branded as Mungiki as a ploy to fight it and its leaders politically.

Former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile claimed that though ordinary Kenyans fought for the country's independence, the “home guards “were granted the leadership and they have been perpetrating new-colonialism up today. Makadara MP Mike Sonko called on youth to avoid violence. He said he was once a criminal and now he is in Parliament. "If God can forgive why can't the government forgive," he said.

Former Kenya National Commission on Human Rights commissioner Hassan Omar said the officials who ordered the extra judicial killings of youth in Central Kenya and Nairobi were known and warned that a time will come when they will be prosecuted for their crimes. He challenged youth to shun tribalism. The daughter of Field Marshall Dedan Kimathi, Evelyn Kimathi, said the sons and daughters of freedom fighters have been ignored since independence.

Chairman of the NGOs Council Ken Wafula said individuals facing charged at the ICC and those mentioned in various commissions of inquiry reports should be barred from contesting in the elections. On his part, Gitari criticized Gema leaders who organized Limuru I meeting held in March which endorsed Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta as Central Kenya's preferred presidential candidate.

He said it was unconstitutional for a few leaders to convene a rally and use the forum to endorse someone for the presidency. He added that voters should be given a chance to participate in the nomination process. He challenged Kenyans to approach the next elections as nationalists. He said some leaders seeking the presidency had already retreated to tribal and regional cocoons. He called on Kenyans to elect persons without a history of corruption or nepotism.

http://www.the-star.co.ke/national/nati ... l-killings

[ICC.supporter]

theStar

Dutch won’t offer asylum to ICC witnesses – envoy

Wednesday, 30 May 2012 23:44

BY CHRISPINUS WEKESA

Visiting Dutch minister for Immigration and Asylum Gerd Leers yesterday said his government is not offering any refugee status to the ICC witnesses. The minister is in the country to discuss refugee matters with his Kenyan counterpart Otieno Kajwang.

Leers said that the Dutch government is always happy to receive refugees from Kenya and that he was in the country to see how Dutch support is is working in practical. “The International Criminal Court is just based at the Hague. They do their own investigations and its not our responsibility to protect their witnesses. The question can be best answered by the ICC,” the minister said.

Leers added that the Dutch republic is however giving a number of refugees from Kenya asylum as long as they qualify to be given refugee status. He said his country has open but strict asylum policy and regarding Somalia, many Somalis that don't need protection have been told to return to their mother country. “The solution is that people can go back home. For the time being, we have to give you the support that you need because what you are doing is extremely enormous. Looking at the Kenyan-Somali border and Kenya Sudan border, its not easy for you to handle all the refugees and we are great full,” he said.

Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang thanked the Dutch government for helping set up a Fraud Detection unit at the JKIA. Kajwang said the unit has been equipped with advanced and sophisticated equipment for detecting document fraud, investigating suspected cases of document forgery or alteration. “We take responsibility for the documents we have issued. We try to ensure that we have registered every visitor and try to keep that in our database,” Kajwang said. He said the Immigration ministry is still working on ways to ensure that there is a robust system to register all refugees and avoid abuse of documents.

http://www.the-star.co.ke/national/nati ... -witnesses