Good People,

 

Putting records straight, I take issue with the Over 20 MPs mainly from Jubilee alliance flanked Duale at the press conference in parliament, in an outburst, accused Kofi Annan whom they termed a foreign in the African continent of being behind the woes facing leaders who are currently facing trial at the ICC; ought to be informed that, Kofi Annan as head of UN. was one of the respected and honored African Eminent Leaders, with many years of working experience dealing with African Affairs at the United Nations, he has a wealth of Wisdom that cannot be under-estimated and therefore, in the same way, as there are community elders in the local villages, so Kofi Annan qualified as an eminent Professional African renowned elder. The claims made with intention to bring him down to disrepute and embarrass him, is made in bad taste veering away from facing realities and the truth of the matter. They are therefore inconsequential and are as completely irrelevant as they are misplaced.

That Kofi Annan is a Diaspora and therefore is not confined to one Nation in Africa and that gives him opportunity as a roving Ambassador in the capacity of Eminent Leaders to serve a wider scope on Diplomatic representation to Africa. In the constituent of African Diaspora Statesmanship, the role of elderships in this case fits well with Kofi Annan and any one questioning should check with African Union constitutive Act that declares and encouraged full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of Africa’s Unity and in Building the Continent in ways and means.

Quote: The African Union Government has defined the African Diaspora as "consisting of people of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union"

The AU covers the entire continent except for Morocco and several territories held by Spain, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Morocco is not a member because its government opposes the membership of Western Sahara as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. However, Morocco has a special status within the AU and benefits from the services available to all AU states from the institutions of the AU, such as the African Development Bank. Moroccan delegates also participate at important AU functions, and negotiations continue to try to resolve the conflict with the Polisario Front in Tindouf, Algeria and the parts of Western Sahara.

We took note that, the 2013 Special African Union summit was called in regards to “Africa’s relationship with the ICC.” This was in regards to the ICC's non-adherence to AU calls to drop certain chargers against sitting leaders and that it was disproportionally targeting Africans, and we see this move as ridiculous if African Union would go this far if the African Union had found it important and made a declaration to involve African People including Africans in the Diaspora, in the processes leading to the formation of the Union Government, how then would the Kenyan MPs condemn Kofi Annan in the manner they did???

Following this decision, a panel of eminent persons was set up to conduct the 'audit review'. The review team began its work on 1 September 2007. The review was presented to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government at the January 2008 summit in Addis Ababa. No final decision was taken on the recommendations, however, and a committee of ten heads of state was appointed to consider the review and report back to the July 2008 summit to be held in Egypt. At the July 2008 summit, a decision was once again deferred, for a 'final' debate at the January 2009 summit to be held in Addis Ababa.

Where AU faces many challenges, it cannot succeed to address these recurring health issues epidemic, with confronting undemocratic regimes and mediating in the many organized Militia groups with mushrooming of civil wars, failing Africa’s economic issues from illegal and unconstitutional Trading practices that exasperated joblessness with unregulated government service delivery to conform with public mandate, the extreme corruption and impunity, degradation of environment from ecological issues such as dealing with recurring famines, desertification, unprotected mining industries with the lack of ecological sustainability that altogether lack legal and jurisdiction effectiveness.

It is important to note that, despite that there is Sovereign consideration for African leadership in their respective Nations, matters that face extra-ordinary circumstances are carefully observed and where security and the judicial is found weak and cannot be trusted to handle serious cases like the injustices of Kenya, and in the case where Political Leaders from Kenya with the majority people of Kenya were united with majority Kenyan Diaspora in the US who intervened in a very special way to broker peace through the US Government where we also joined to demand that Kofi Annan with Eminent Leaders be subjected to broker and bring peace and unity and pursue the matter of injustices of 2007/8 to bring heeling……..where it was finally delivered to ICC Hague, and this was the right thing to do. It is just, right and feasible to respect the wishes of the people………..This is because, having observed the circumstances of crime, violation and abuse of Human Rights and where Security, Peace and Unity is threatened, ICC Hague is seen as an independent institution free from intimidation of justice and where we all believe that, Justice shall be fairly delivered and it will be the beginning where Truth, Justice and Reconciliation from years of injustices that has remained pending for many years shall commence the healing process.

It is wrong for the AU to now stand on the way with excuses that Head of State must not be subjected to ICC Hague since it undermines its integrity and sovereignty. This is not the case because, all people are obligated to observe the law equally without exception, and all must be treated equal without discrimination.

Since African Union plan to accelerate the economic and political integration of the African continent, including the formation of a Union Government of Africa; this cannot succeed where the Law is discriminative and where there is no respect, dignity of life and honor for the Law to take effect with clear public demand for transparency and accountability from peoples Governments Financial Institutions where it is illegal and unconstitutional for a Political Leader to run the Peoples Finance Ministry as private and personal business.

The African Union consist of 54 African states with exception of Morocco.

The objectives of the AU are as follows:

1.To achieve greater unity and solidarity between the African countries and the people of Africa.

2.To defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States.

3.To accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent.

4.To promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its peoples.

5.To encourage international cooperation, taking due account of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

6.To promote peace, security, and stability on the continent.

7.To promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance.

8.To promote and protect human and peoples' rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments.

9.To establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations.

10.To promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of African economies.

11.To promote co-operation in all fields of human activity to raise the living standards of African peoples.

12.To coordinate and harmonize the policies between the existing and future Regional Economic Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union.

13.To advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in science and technology.

14.To work with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases and the promotion of good health on the continent.

These gives me good reason to challenge and dispute statements made against the ICC Hague as those given in bad taste that will not bring value to the establishment, mission and objectives with focus for African Unity……………

 

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

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Sunday, October 13, 2013

Rights group blasts AU action on ICC

PHOTO | VINCENT AYIMBA President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on October 12, 2013 before Uhuru left for Addia Ababa, Ethiopia to attend the African Union Heads of State special summit. Mr Ruto had just arrived from The Hague. PSCU

In Summary

• Mr Bekele also acknowledges that "the ICC has its problems."

By KEVIN J. KELLEYMore by this Author

International human rights lobby group Human Rights Watch on Saturday condemned the African Union's demand that the African heads of state be exempted from prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

The AU's move to protect "a handful of Africa's most powerful people" is not just "appallingly self-serving," declared Daniel Bekele, head of New York-based rights group's Africa division.

"It's repugnant given the kind of disincentive it would create for anyone to leave power, as well as the incentive it creates for the unscrupulous to gain or maintain power at whatever cost—by murder, coup, or fraudulent elections, just to name a few."

The AU's extraordinary summit in Addis Ababa, Mr Bekele added, has sent "a profoundly disturbing message to Africans that their leaders’ biggest priority is not development, good governance, or respecting basic rights; it’s ensuring that the leaders themselves are insulated from justice, at whatever price."

Mr Bekele also acknowledges that "the ICC has its problems."

"The cases that reach it are vulnerable to international double standards," he writes on the Human Rights Watch website. "It cannot yet ensure that justice reaches the gravest crimes regardless of where they are committed."

"Nevertheless," Mr Bekele adds, "it remains the most significant institution and achievement of the world community to fight impunity for the most serious crimes and against the most powerful people."

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Saturday, October 12, 2013

African leaders tell ICC not to try heads of state

 

 

Heads of the African States pose for a group picture in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, early this year, during the African Union Conference. African leaders yesterday opened celebrations for the 50th jubilee of the continental bloc, with Africa’s myriad problems set aside for a day to mark the progress that has been made. PHOTO I AFP

In Summary

• The Ethiopian foreign minister said heads of state from the 54-member AU would urge the UN to suspend the ICC cases pending against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto as well as the case against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir

By AFPMore by this Author

African leaders gathered for a special summit Saturday to urge the International Criminal Court not to prosecute sitting heads of state and defer the crimes against humanity trials of Kenya's leadership.

The meeting at the African Union headquarters comes amid mounting tensions with the ICC, which has been accused of acting like a neo-colonialist institution that has singled out Africans since being set up as the world's first permanent court to try genocide and war crimes.

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told ministers and delegates at the opening of the two-day meeting on Friday that the Hague-based court was guilty of "unfair treatment of Africa and Africans".

"The court has transformed itself into a political instrument. This unfair and unjust treatment is totally unacceptable," he said of the ICC, which is currently handling eight cases -- all of them against Africans.

The Ethiopian foreign minister said heads of state from the 54-member AU would urge the UN to suspend the ICC cases pending against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto as well as the case against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

The African Union (AU) had agreed that "sitting heads of state and government should not be prosecuted while in office," he said. Under Article 16 of the international court's founding treaty, the UN Security Council can call on the ICC to suspend any case for a year at a time.

Kenyatta and Ruti have been charged with crimes against humanity for allegedly masterminding a vicious campaign of ethnic violence after disputed 2007 elections. Now allies and elected this year on a platform of national reconciliation, they argue the case is violating Kenyan sovereignty and hampering their running of the country.

Sudan's Bashir, who was among the heads of state seen arriving at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa for the summit, is wanted by the court in The Hague on 10 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Sudan's Darfur conflict.

African countries account for 34 of the 122 parties to have ratified the ICC's founding treaty, which took effect on July 1, 2002. A mass pull-out from the court -- as some countries have demanded -- could seriously damage the institution.

'License to kill'

The bloc, however, appeared to be divided on the issue -- with countries like Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Rwanda taking a tough line, but other nations seemingly more reluctant to get embroiled in a diplomatic confrontation. Prominent African figures have also lobbied hard against a pull-out.

South African anti-apartheid icon and Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu has been among those backing the world court, and has argued the number of African cases was merely a reflection on the dismal human rights record of many of the continent's governments.

"Those leaders seeking to skirt the court are effectively looking for a licence to kill, maim and oppress their own people," he wrote in an op-ed carried by several newspapers ahead of the talks.

Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan also said a pull-out would leave Africa wearing a "badge of shame".

But according to one African diplomat, there was still a sentiment the ICC -- which is an independent international organisation, and is not part of the United Nations system -- was turning a blind eye to other parts of the world where "massive crimes against humanity had been committed".

The ICC has charged Kenya's leaders, as well as former radio boss Joshua Arap Sang, with crimes against humanity linked to post-election violence in 2007-2008 that left at least 1,100 dead and more than 600,000 homeless.

The trial of Ruto and Sang has already begun, and Kenyatta is due in court on November 12.

The accused have so far pledged to cooperate with the court, but the relationship has been soured by accusations of witness intimidation in Kenya and counter-complaints against the ICC that it has been manipulating witnesses and is inflexible.

Following last month's Islamist militant attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall, the government also demanded that Kenyatta be allowed to appear by video-link so he can deal with national security issues.

Should the accused fail to turn up for any of the hearings that could trigger arrest warrants, with Kenya then running the risk of diplomatic isolation.




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Saturday, October 12, 2013

President Uhuru hits out at the West over ICC

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta at the AU Special Head of States Summit Opened in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia October 12, 2013.

 

SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H., PRESIDENT AND
COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA AT THE
EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT OF
THE AFRICAN UNION, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 12th OCTOBER, 2013

Chair of the African Union, Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, Chair of the Commission of the African Union, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Colleagues Head of State and Government, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me special pleasure to join your Excellencies at this Special Summit, where we have assembled to reflect on very significant matters relating to the welfare and destiny of our nations and peoples.

I thank you for the honour of addressing you today, because as it happens, I crave my brother and sister Excellencies' views on some issues. We are privileged to lead the nations of a continent on the rise.

Africa rests at the centre of global focus as the continent of the future. Although we have been relentlessly exploited in the past, we remain with sufficient resources to invest in a prosperous future.

Whilst we have been divided and incited against one another before, we are now united and more peaceful.

Even as we grapple with a few regional conflicts, as Africans, we are taking proactive measures to ensure that all our people move together in the journey to prosperity in a peaceful home.

Even though we were dominated and controlled by imperialists and colonial interests in years gone by, we are now proud, independent and sovereign nations and people. We are looking to the future with hope, marching towards the horizon with confidence and working in unity.

This is the self evident promise that Africa holds for its people today. As leaders, we are the heirs of freedom fighters, and our founding fathers. These liberation heroes founded the Organisation of African Unity, which was dedicated to the eradication of ALL FORMS OF COLONIALSM.

Towards this end, the OAU defended the interests of independent nations and helped the cause of those that were still colonised. It sought to prevent member states from being controlled once again by outsider powers.

The founding fathers of African Unity were conscious that structural colonialism takes many forms, some blatant and extreme, like apartheid, while others are subtler and deceptively innocuous, like some forms of development assistance.

It has been necessary, therefore, for African leaders to constantly watch out against threats to our peoples' sovereignty and unity.

In our generation, we have honoured our fathers' legacies by guaranteeing that through the African Union, our countries and our people shall achieve greater unity, and that the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of our States shall not be trifled with.

More than ever, our destiny is in our hands. Yet at the same time, more than ever, it is imperative for us to be vigilant against the persistent machinations of outsiders who desire to control that destiny. We know what this does to our nations and people: subjugation and suffering.

Your Excellencies, The philosophies, ideologies, structures and institutions that visited misery upon millions for centuries ultimately harm their perpetrators. Thus the imperial exploiter crashes into the pits of penury. The arrogant world police is crippled by shambolic domestic dysfunction.

These are the spectacles of Western decline we are witnessing today. At the same time, other nations and continents rise and prosper. Africa and Asia continue to thrive, with their promise growing every passing day.

As our strength multiplies, and our unity gets deeper, those who want to control and exploit us become more desperate. Therefore, they abuse whatever power remains in their control.

The Swahili people say that one ascending a ladder cannot hold hands with one descending. The force of gravity will be compounded and the one going up only loses.

The International Criminal Court was mandated to accomplish these objectives by bringing to justice those criminal perpetrators who bear greatest responsibility for crimes.

Looking at the world in the past, at that time and even now, it was clear that there have always been instances of unconscionable impunity and atrocity that demand a concerted international response, and that there are vulnerable, helpless victims of these crimes who require justice as a matter of right.

This is the understanding, and the expectation of most signatories to the Rome Statute. The most active global powers of the time declined to ratify the Treaty, or withdrew somewhere along the way, citing several compelling grounds.

The British foreign secretary Robin Cook said at the time, that the International Criminal Court was not set up to bring to book Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom or Presidents of the United States. Had someone other than a Western leader said those fateful words, the word 'impunity' would have been thrown at them with an emphatic alacrity.

An American senator serving on the foreign relations committee echoed the British sentiments and said, "Our concern is that this is a court that is irreparably flawed, that is created with an independent prosecutor, with no checks and balances on his power, answerable to no state institution, and that this court is going to be used for politicized prosecutions."

The understanding of the States which subscribed to the Treaty in good faith was two-fold. First, that world powers were hesitant to a process that might make them accountable for such spectacularly criminal international adventures as the wars in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and other places, and such hideous enterprises as renditions and torture.

Such states did not, therefore, consider such warnings as applicable to pacific and friendly parties. Secondly, it was the understanding of good-faith subscribers that the ICC would administer and secure justice in a fair, impartial and independent manner and, as an international court, bring accountability to situations and perpetrators everywhere in the world. As well, it was hoped that the ICC would set the highest standards of justice and judicial processes.

Your Excellencies, As has been demonstrated quite thoroughly over the past decade, the good-faith subscribers had fallen prey to their high-mindedness and idealism. I do not need to tell your Excellencies about the nightmare my country in particular, and myself and my Deputy as individuals, have had to endure in making this realisation.

Western powers are the key drivers of the ICC process. They have used prosecutions as ruses and bait to pressure Kenyan leadership into adopting, or renouncing various positions. Close to 70 per cent of the Court's annual budget is funded by the European Union.

The threat of prosecution usually suffices to have pliant countries execute policies favourable to these countries.

Through it, regime-change sleights of hand have been attempted in Africa. A number of them have succeeded.

The Office of the Prosecutor made certain categorical pronouncements regarding eligibility for leadership of candidates in Kenya's last general election. Only a fortnight ago, the Prosecutor proposed undemocratic and unconstitutional adjustments to the Kenyan Presidency.

These interventions go beyond interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State. They constitute a fetid insult to Kenya and Africa. African sovereignty means nothing to the ICC and its patrons. They also dovetail altogether too conveniently with the warnings given to Kenyans just before the last elections: choices have consequences.

This chorus was led by the USA, Britain, EU, and certain eminent persons in global affairs. It was a threat made to Kenyans against electing my Government. My Government's decisive election must be seen as a categorical rebuke by the people of Kenya of those who wished to interfere with our internal affairs and infringe our sovereignty.

Now Kenya has undergone numerous problems since its birth as a Republic 50 years ago. Yet over the same period, Kenya has also made tremendous progress. It is the same in all countries of Africa. At our Golden Jubilee, we look forward to a rebirth characterising the next 50 years, not a ceaseless harkening to our history.

I must make the point that we do not intend to forget, or discount the value of our history. Rather, we do want to learn from it, not live in it. As Kenya's President, it gives me a feeling of deep and lasting pride to know that I can count on the African Union to listen and help in trying times. Africa has always stood by our side.

When we faced violent disagreements over the 2007 election result, my distinguished predecessor, Mwai Kibaki came to you with a request for help, and you did not stint. You instituted a high-level team of Eminent Persons who came to our assistance.

Because of that, we were able to summon the confidence to speak to each other and agree. As a result, we put in place a 4-point plan, which not only put Kenya back on track, but formed the basis of the most rapid political, legal and social reform ever witnessed in our country.

Through it, we successfully mediated the dispute surrounding the 2007 election and pacified the country. A power-sharing coalition was formed with a mandate to undertake far-reaching measures to prevent future violent disputes, entrench the rule of law, prevent abuses of legal power and entrench equity in our body politic while also securing justice for the victims of the post-election violence.

We enacted a new, progressive constitution which instituted Devolution of power and resources, strengthened the protection of fundamental rights, and enhanced institutional and political checks and balances. It also provided the legal foundation for the national economic transformation roadmap, Vision 2030.

The project of national transformation presently underway in Kenya was given tremendous impetus by your Excellencies' needful intervention. On the basis of this constitution we have instituted legislation and established institutions to realise the people's basic rights, ensure transparency and accountability and protect the popular sovereignty of Kenyans.

A new Judiciary and electoral commission have ensured that we have credible elections and dispute resolution.

Your Excellencies, The people of Ethiopia warn against the deplorable presumption of chopping up meat for a lion; I cannot teach you your work, nor force you to accept my position.

Please institute a mechanism to empirically verify what I have told you. My part is to thank you on behalf of the people of Kenya for your help.

After the successful mediation of the post-election controversy in 2008, there was disagreement over the best way to bring the perpetrators of post-election violence to account and secure justice for the victims.

One proposal was to set up a local tribunal to try the cases, while another was to refer the matter to the ICC. The Mediator who had been appointed by your Excellencies referred the matter to the ICC when the disagreement persisted.

On the basis of this referral, the Prosecutor stated that he had launched investigations which, he claimed, established that 6 persons had committed crimes against humanity. According to the Prosecutor, your Excellencies, I fall among those men.

Your Excellencies,
From the beginning of the cases, I have fully cooperated with the Court in the earnest expectation that it afforded the best opportunity for me to clear my name. I have attended court whenever required and complied with every requirement made of me in connection with my case.

Other Kenyans charged before that court have similarly cooperated fully. The Government has cooperated to the maximum; the Court itself found that Kenya's Government has fully complied in 33 out of 37 instances, and was only prevented from cooperating 100 per cent by legal and constitutional constraints.

After my election, we have continued to fully cooperate. As earlier stated, we see it as the only means to achieve personal vindication, but also to protect our country from prejudice. As I address your Excellencies, my deputy is sitting - in person - in that Court.

Proceedings continue revealing the evidence against us to be reckless figments and fabrications every passing day. I cannot narrate quite accurately the calculated humiliation and stigma the prosecution has inflicted on us at every turn, within and outside the proceedings.

It is all consistent with a political agenda, rather than a quest for justice. For 5 years I have strained to cooperate fully, and have consistently beseeched the Court to expedite the cases.

Yet the gratuitous libel and prejudice I have encountered at the instance of the Prosecution seeks to present me as a fugitive from justice who is guilty as charged. All I have requested as President is to be allowed to execute my constitutional obligations as the forensic side of things is handled by my lawyers.

Even as we maintain our innocence, it has always been my position, shared by my deputy, that the events of 2007 represented the worst embarrassment to us as a nation, and a shock to our self-belief.

We almost commenced the rapid descent down the precipitous slope of destruction and anarchy. Its aftermath was similarly an unbearable shame.

We are a people who properly take pride in our achievements and our journey as a nation. The fact that over that time we had lost direction, however briefly, was traumatising.

That is the genesis of our rebirth. Until our ascension to the Presidency of Kenya, thousands of internally-displaced persons remained in camps.

It is generally difficult to resettle many people owing to scarcity of land and sensitivity to their preference. But we have undertaken to ensure that no Kenyan will be left behind in our journey to progress.

Resettling the IDP therefore was a particularly urgent assignment for us. Within 6 months of assuming office, we resettled all of them, and closed the displacement camps for good. Our efforts at pacifying the main protagonists in the PEV have similarly borne fruit.

So much so, that the reconciliation efforts gave birth to a successful political movement which won the last general election. This not only speaks to the success of reconciliation, but also testifies to its popular endorsement by the majority of the people of Kenya.

We certainly do not bear responsibility at any level for the post-election violence of 2007, but as leaders, we felt it incumbent upon us to bear responsibility for reconciliation and leadership of peace.

Our Government wants to lead Kenya to prosperity founded on national stability and security. Peace is indispensable to this aspiration. Reconciliation, therefore was not merely good politics; it is key to everything we want to achieve as a Government.

Your Excellencies,
America and Britain do not have to worry about accountability for international crimes. Although certain norms of international law are deemed peremptory, this only applies to non-Western states. Otherwise, they are inert. It is this double standard and the overt politicisation of the ICC that should be of concern to us here today.

It is the fact that this court performs on the cue of European and American governments against the sovereignty of African States and peoples that should outrage us. People have termed this situation "race-hunting". I find great difficulty adjudging them wrong.

What is the fate of International Justice? I daresay that it has lost support owing to the subversive machinations of its key proponents. Cynicism has no place in justice. Yet it takes no mean amount of selfish and malevolent calculation to mutate a quest for accountability on the basis of truth, into a hunger for dramatic sacrifices to advance
geopolitical ends.

The ICC has been reduced into a painfully farcical pantomime, a travesty that adds insult to the injury of victims. It stopped being the home of justice the day it became the toy of declining
imperial powers.

This is the circumstance which today compels us to agree with the reasons US, China, Israel, India and other non-signatory States hold for abstaining from the Rome Treaty.

In particular, the very accurate observations of John R Bolton who said, "For numerous reasons, the United States decided that the ICC had unacceptable consequences for our national sovereignty. Specifically, the ICC is an organization that runs contrary to fundamental American precepts and basic constitutional principles of popular sovereignty, checks and balances and national independence."

Our mandate as AU, and as individual African States is to protect our own and each other's independence and sovereignty. The USA and other nations abstained out of fear. Our misgivings are born of bitter experience.

Africa is not a third-rate territory of second-class peoples. We are not a project, or experiment of outsiders. It was always impossible for us to uncritically internalise notions of justice implanted through that most unjust of institutions: colonialism.

The West sees no irony in preaching justice to a people they have disenfranchised, exploited, taxed and brutalised.

Our history serves us well: we must distrust the blandishments of those who have drunk out of the poisoned fountain of imperialism.

The spirit of African pride and sovereignty has withstood centuries of severe tribulation. I invoke that spirit of freedom and unity today before you. It is a spirit with a voice that rings through all generations of human history. It is the eternal voice of a majestic spirit which will never die.

Kenya is striving mightily, and wants to work with its neighbours and friends everywhere to attain a better home, region and world. Kenya seeks to be treated with dignity as a proud member of the community of nations which has contributed immensely, with limited resources, to the achievement of peace, security and multilateralism.

Kenya looks to her friends in time of need. We come to you to vindicate our independence and sovereignty. Our unity is not a lie. The African Union is not an illusion.

The philosophy of divide-and rule, which worked against us all those years before, cannot shackle us to the ground in our Season of Renaissance. Our individual and collective sovereignty requires us to take charge of our destiny, and fashion African solutions to African problems.

It will be disingenuous, Excellencies, to pretend that there is no concern, if not outrage, over the manner in which ICC has handled not just the Kenyan, but all cases before it. All the cases currently before it arise from Africa.

Yet Africa is not the only continent where international crimes are being committed. Out of over 30 cases before the court, NONE relates to a situation outside Africa. All the people indicted before that court, ever since its founding have been Africans.

Every plea we have made to be heard before that court has landed upon deaf ears. When Your Excellencies’ resolution was communicated to the Court through a letter to its president, it was dismissed as not being properly before the Court and therefore ineligible for consideration.

When a civil society organisation wrote a letter bearing sensational and prejudicial fabrications, the Court took urgent and substantial decisions based on it. Before the ICC, African sovereign nations’ resolutions are NOTHING compared with the opinions of civil society activists.

The AU is the bastion of African sovereignty, and the vanguard of our unity. Yet the ICC deems it altogether unworthy of the minutest consideration. Presidents Kikwete, Museveni, Jonathan and Zuma have pronounced themselves on the court’s insensitivity, arrogance and disrespect.

Leaders in my country have escalated their anxiety to the national Parliament, where a legislative process to withdraw altogether from the Rome Treaty is under consideration. As I said, it would not be right to ignore the fact that concern over the conduct of the ICC is strong and widespread.

There is very little that remains for me to say about the slights that the ICC continue to visit upon the nations and people of Africa. We want to believe in due process before the ICC, but where is it being demonstrated?

We want to see the ICC as fair and even-handed throughout the world, but what can we do when everyone but Africa is exempt from accountability? We would love nothing more than to have an international forum for justice and accountability, but what choice do we have when we get only bias and race-hunting at the ICC? Isn’t respect part of justice?

Aren’t our sovereign institutions worthy of deference within the framework of international law? If so, what justice can be rendered by a court which disregards our views?

Our mandate is clear: sovereignty and unity. This is the forum for us to unite and categorically vindicate our overeignty.

Excellencies, I turn to you trusting that we will be faithful to our charge, to each other, and to our people.

I have utmost confidence that this Assembly’s voice will be clear to the entire world. Like other African countries, Kenya did not achieve its independence with ease. Blood was shed for it.

Your Excellencies,

I thank you. God Bless you. God Bless Africa. (PSCU)

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Saturday, October 12, 2013

President Kenyatta's stinging attack on ICC and Europe

PHOTO | ELIAS ASMARE Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (L) speaks with Cabinet secretary for Foreign Affairs Amina Mohammed (R), and Attorney General Githu Mungai (2-R) at the African Union ahead of a special summit on the continent's relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on October 12, 2013. AFP

By EMEKA-MAYAKA GEKARAMore by this Author

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the International Criminal Court and Western powers saying they had teamed up to humiliate African leaders, exactly one month before the start of his trial.

While addressing the African Union extraordinary summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the President accused the court of performing on the “cues of Europeans and American governments” against the sovereignty of African states.

And in what could be a major diplomatic victory by the Jubilee coalition, the African Union resolved that President Kenyatta should not show up for trial at the ICC on November 12 before the request to adjourn his case is addressed.

“What the summit decided is that President Kenyatta should not appear until the requests we have made is actually answered,” said Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus after a special AU meeting.

“This elected leader should lead his country,” he said.

The President described the court as a “toy of declining imperial powers,” which has subjected him and his deputy to humiliation and stigma.

TRIGGER ARREST WARRANTS

The tone and strong language of the speech and attack of the court is likely to trigger debate on whether the President will attend the November 12 trials.

However, the AU resolution thrusts Kenya’s two principals in a delicate situation because the Rome Statute allows the court to trigger arrest warrants in case of non-cooperation, with Kenya then running the risk of diplomatic isolation. (EDITORIAL: Siege mentality against the ICC unfortunate)

“The ICC has been reduced into a painfully farcical pantomime, a travesty that adds insult to the injury of victims. It stopped being the home of justice the day it became the toy of declining imperial powers,” President Kenyatta said, alluding to previous statements which have termed the ICC process as “race-hunting”.

“It is the fact that this court performs on the cue of European and American governments against the sovereignty of African States and peoples that should outrage us. People have termed this situation “race-hunting”. I find great difficulty adjudging them wrong,” he said.
He charged that the court was biased towards Africans and violated its founding principles.

“We would love nothing more than to have an international forum for justice and accountability, but what choice do we have when we get only bias and race-hunting at the ICC?...If so, what justice can be rendered by a court which disregards our views?” said President Kenyatta.

The Kenyan President added that African countries had made sacrifices for their independence and asked foreign powers to respect their sovereignty.

“Like other African countries, Kenya did not achieve its independence with ease. Blood was shed for it.”

President Kenyatta accused world powers who sponsor the ICC of double standards saying they were hesitant to take action against those responsible for crimes committed in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan.

The President also accused the court of teaming up with western powers to block him and his running mate Mr William Ruto from ascending to the presidency before the March 4 elections and undermining them after election.

This was in apparent reference to statement by the prosecution that Kenya should appoint an interim deputy president while Mr Ruto is attending trials.

“The Office of the Prosecutor made certain categorical pronouncements regarding eligibility for leadership of candidates in Kenya’s last general election. Only a fortnight ago, the Prosecutor proposed undemocratic and unconstitutional adjustments to the Kenyan Presidency,” he said.

The President and his deputy appear before the court as free men under conditions set by the judges, which compel them to among other things refrain from interfering with witnesses or engaging in activities that could injure the search for justice for the 2007/2008 violence victims. (READ: President Kenyatta hits out at the West over ICC: Speech)

He described western powers as the key drivers of the ICC process saying that they had warned of consequences in case the Jubilee coalition candidates won.

“These interventions go beyond interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State. They constitute a fetid insult to Kenya and Africa,” he said.

The chorus against his election, added President Kenyatta, was led by the ‘USA, Britain, EU, and certain eminent persons in global affairs. “It was a threat made to Kenyans against electing my Government.”

The president said despite the fact that he and his deputy, who are both facing crimes against humanity charges at The Hague had fully cooperated with the court, the prosecution was still subjecting them to “humiliation and stigma”.

“I cannot narrate quite accurately the calculated humiliation and stigma the prosecution has inflicted on us at every turn, within and outside the proceedings. It is all consistent with a political agenda, rather than a quest for justice,” he said.

'FUGITIVE FROM JUSTICE'

He said the prosecution has sought to present him as a “fugitive from justice” who is already guilty of the crimes he has been accused of committing.

“For five years I have strained to cooperate fully, and have consistently beseeched the Court to expedite the cases. Yet the gratuitous libel and prejudice I have encountered at the instance of the Prosecution seeks to present me as a fugitive from justice who is guilty as charged,” he said.

“All I have requested as President is to be allowed to execute my constitutional obligations as the forensic side of things is handled by my lawyers,” he said. (READ: African leaders tell ICC not to try heads of state)

He spoke as deputy President Ruto said the Jubilee government will not condone interference with the country’s sovereignty by “foreigners” yet it has been fully mandated by Kenyans to take charge.

Speaking at Teldet IDP camp in Trans Nzoia, Mr Ruto said the country and her African counterparts have the capability to solve their own problems without foreign help.

“I and the president have a responsibility to solve our country’s problems because we were mandated by Kenyans through our election in to office,” he said.

Mr Ruto spoke when he issued Sh154.4 million to 383 families towards the closure of the camp.

The deputy president said Africa has come of age to soldier on in its socio-economic development agenda without necessarily requiring aid.

“You are all aware that African heads are meeting in Ethiopia and we are saying that we have the capability as a continent to solve our own issues since we know our role,” said Mr Ruto.




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Thursday, October 10, 2013

MPs say Annan 'dishonest' over ICC stand

PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI Deputy President William Ruto and his wife Rachel arrive at the ICC ahead of proceedings on October 9, 2013. NATION MEDIA GROUP

By JOHN NGIRACHU More by this Author

A section of MPs have described Kofi Annan’s defence of the International Criminal Court as “dishonest”

The MPs accused him of coming to Kenya in 2008 to further the goals of the Rome Statute, under which the court is established.

(Read: Kenya criticises Annan on ICC)

They repeated the claims made by many African leaders that the ICC is meant to punish Africans as it has not prosecuted perpetrators of the atrocities in other countries where thousands have been killed.

“This is a very unfair approach and we need to ask the following questions; is it about skin colour, is it about race, what scale does the ICC use to weigh crimes against humanity to pursue and which to let go,” Mr Duale posed.

Flanked at the press conference at Parliament by the chairmen of the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee and that on National Security, 15 Jubilee party MPs and Joseph Nkaissery and Victor Munyaka from party Cord, Mr Duale said the processes in Parliament would have no bearing on the current Kenyan cases at the ICC.

The Majority Leader vowed to push ahead with the process to repeal the International Crimes Act and have Kenya withdraw from the Rome Statute as resolved by the National Assembly at a special sitting on September 5.

He said the Bill he has been drafting will be ready for presentation in the National Assembly either next week or the week after. The decision made at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa would have no impact on their process, he said.

“We are saying (that) never in the history of Kenya shall we allow any of our citizens, whether it’s a president or a deputy president or an ordinary citizen including the journalist (Walter) Barasa … to be tried by a foreign court,” said Mr Duale.

He said Kenya has a “robust Judiciary, a robust Constitution, the best Bill of Rights in Kenya” and they wouldn’t allow anybody else to interfere with Kenyans.

There have been suggestions from Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed and others that President Kenyatta could refuse to go to The Hague next month for his trial but Mr Duale declined to discuss that.

“If other African countries decide to do the same in their summit in Addis, that is within their right as countries and within the Rome Statute. They won’t and they don’t need to seek the permission of anybody including Kofi Annan, who in our opinion left his country of origin, Ghana, 35 years ago,” said Mr Duale.

He laid into Mr Annan some more; “He is not even an African; he is just a white man. He is just wearing the skin but he is more of a white man. He cannot lecture African leaders.”

“In any case, the Rome Statute is not a pact with the Almighty God. It was done by men and women and can only be undone by the same men and women. We are up to the task.”

Dubbing Mr Annan as the initiator and owner of the ICC, Mr Duale said part of his mission in 2008, when he helped negotiate an end to the post-election violence, was to further the aims of the court.

“What he started in 1998 in Rome as a secretary general was what he came to implement as mediator,” said Mr Duale. “The Rwanda genocide took place under his leadership as secretary general.”

Mr Duale referred to a statement by a former British foreign minister, Robin Cook, as evidence that the focus of the ICC from inception wasn’t the prosecution of leaders from the developed world.

Mr Cook, now deceased, famously said that, “If I may say so, this is not a court set up to bring to book prime ministers of the United Kingdom or presidents of the United States.”

The repeal of the International Crimes Act could take up to the two months the Bill for that purpose will take through the legislative pipeline, said Mr Duale.

COUNTER PRODUCTIVE

In the afternoon session, however, six Cord MPs came to Kofi Annan’s defence and argued that it would be counter-productive for Kenya to withdraw from the Rome Statute.

The MPs said that as much as they wished President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto and journalist well, it wouldn’t make much sense to withdraw and vilify Kofi Annan.

Arguing that many of the cases at the ICC are from Africa because many African countries are led by “dictators and despots”, Mr Mohammed said the international court is more of a deterrent.

Mr Mohammed said the Majority Leader “should be suspicious of African countries that advocate for breaking of ties with the ICC because they want to take Kenya’s position as a leader on the continent.”

“We should not vilify Kofi Annan. He is an eminent person and you remember in 2008 when we were butchering each other, he is the one who came to our rescue,” said the Suna East MP.

“Sovereignty is like virginity and one you go butchering each other in your country, you lose your sovereignty. Once you lose virginity you don’t go around complaining. It is you who decided to go around butchering each other. You lost your sovereignty,” said Mr Mohamed.