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According to a statement from the Judiciary, Bensouda and Mutunga discussed the principle of complementarity which allows the ICC to move to a country to investigate crimes against humanity if the member state fails to initiate a local process/FILE

Kenya

Bensouda meets CJ Mutunga, victims next

According to a statement from the Judiciary, Bensouda and Mutunga discussed the principle of complementarity which allows the ICC to move to a country to investigate crimes against humanity if the member state fails to initiate a local process/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 24 – International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Chief Justice Willy Mutunga met on Wednesday morning at the Supreme Court building in Nairobi.

According to a statement from the Judiciary, Bensouda and Mutunga discussed the principle of complementarity which allows the ICC to move to a country to investigate crimes against humanity if the member state fails to initiate a local process.

This also demands for the full cooperation from the member state.

Having signed and domesticated the Rome Statute, Kenya is obligated to cooperate with the court.

In earlier meetings, Bensouda expressed concerns over the government’s reluctance in submitting key evidence required in the investigation against four Kenyans.

On Tuesday, Bensouda met with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga during which the president pledged that Kenya will hold peaceful elections to ensure the country does not see a recurrence of the 2008 post-poll chaos.

Bensouda also held discussions with the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Police Commissioner and Director of Witness Protection on Tuesday.

On Thursday, she embarks on a two-day tour of the Rift Valley Province which is one of the hardest hit areas during the post-election violence.

She will meet and interact with victims of the 2008 chaos, some of who are still in camps. She intends to give hope to the victims and also listen to their experiences during the violence that left over 1,300 people dead and over 650,000 others displaced.

She will meet them amidst concerns by the court over the continuing harassment and intimidation of victims and witnesses which she already addressed in some of the meetings with government officials.

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Bensouda is expected to hold a press conference on Thursday evening to inform the public on the progress of her meetings including the government’s response over its reluctance to submit important information and also protection of witnesses and victims.

Presidential aspirants Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto are among four suspects whose charges were confirmed by the International Criminal Court over deadly violence following the disputed 2007 presidential poll.

Their trials are set to begin in April next year, a few weeks after Kenya goes to the polls.

Kenyatta is accused of five counts of crimes against humanity that include murder, rape, and other sexual offences, transfer of populations and persecution while Ruto faces three counts of crimes against humanity following the 2008 post-election violence.

Others facing charges are former Civil Service chief Francis Muthaura and ex-radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.

The ICC has indicated that its calendar will not be influenced by the politics in Kenya.

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