THE HAGUE, Sep 30 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has now taken up the Kenya case with Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo vowing to make Kenya an example to the world on managing violence.
In a statement, Mr Ocampo said now that Kenya has missed the deadline to address the issue, his court will step in and deal with those responsible for the 2007 post election violence.
He said the International Criminal Court will prosecute those most responsible for the violence while other perpetrators would be subjected to Kenyan proceedings.
Mr Ocampo said he will be engaging in decisive consultations with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga in coming weeks.
Mr Ocampo also said justice will not be delayed.
Here’s Mr Ocampo’s full statement.
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The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has reiterated his resolve to address the post-election violence of early 2008 with the Kenyan leaders and to prevent recurring violence through a three-pronged approach.
It will involve the ICC prosecuting those most responsible; national accountability proceedings as defined by the Kenyan Parliament, such as a Special Tribunal, for other perpetrators; and other reforms and mechanisms such as the Justice, Truth and Reconciliation commission to shed light on the full history of past events and to suggest mechanisms to prevent such crimes in the future.
"Kenya will be a world example on managing violence," he stressed.
A high level delegation from the Government of Kenya met with Mr Moreno-Ocampo in The Hague on 3 July 2009, when it expressed its government’s commitment to ending impunity for the crimes committed.
The delegation also stressed that prosecuting the perpetrators of the crimes then committed was necessary to prevent new violence ahead of the 2012 elections. The Government of Kenya committed to referring the situation to the Prosecutor in accordance with Article 14 of the Rome Statute, unless the Kenyan Parliament could agree on a genuine national mechanism to prosecute those responsible for the crimes.
In the recent past, the Prosecutor has met on different occasions with members of the Kenyan Government, emphasizing that, with Kenyan leadership, these three tracks should complement each other.
Decisive consultations between the Prosecutor and the Kenyan principals will take place in the coming weeks. Justice will not be delayed.
The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
In February 2008, the Office of the Prosecutor announced that it was carrying out a preliminary examination of the situation in Kenya.
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