Monday, October 14, 2013




 
Good people !!!
 
 
I tend to agree with Tutu in many ways when it comes to calling shots for Justice where two (white and black) tango.............Where will the world stand for justice???  So if foreign/Western Diplomats caves in, there is no justice afterall.........
 
 
In the meantime, all remaining evidences will be destroyed. Where is the world headed really..........??? Does this not explain our fears that, fear of the big business names as expressed by the opinion lawyers on the TV weekend talk show in Nairobi, fear to be named??? So after one year, all facts will have been barried and the truth is murdered.......is it because, no African is of any Value???


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



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Monday, October 14, 2013

Uhuru Kenyatta ICC case to be put off, Western diplomats say



President Uhuru Kenyatta arrives for the extraordinary session of the African Union's Assembly of Heads of State and Government on the case of African Relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC), in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, October 12, 2013. Photo/FILE
President Uhuru Kenyatta arrives for the extraordinary session of the African Union's Assembly of Heads of State and Government on the case of African Relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC), in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, October 12, 2013. Photo/FILE
By Lisa KamauMore by this Author
Western diplomats have reached a deal to have the UN Security Council defer Uhuru Kenyatta's International Criminal Court trial by a year, according to a report in The Telegraph.
The western leaders' move is aimed at avoiding a stand-off between the ICC and African countries after the African Union directed the President not to attend the trial.
Speaking at the African Union extraordinary summit, President Kenyatta accused the court of being used by European and American governments, adding that the court had humiliated and stigmatised him and his Deputy William Ruto.
Speaking to The Telegraph, a senior European diplomat said: “Uhuru is not an indicted figure who is defying the court like Sudan’s president (Omar) Bashir. He is someone who is working closely with the West in a region in chaos that needs to tackle a very worrying terrorist situation,” adding that a solution must be found that avoids a breakdown in relations with President Kenyatta or the court’s authority.





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Sunday Live Interview: AU Resolutions on Uhuru Going to the ICC
Published on Oct 13, 2013
No description available.




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Sunday, October 13, 2013

Why Africa leaders failed to strike deal on ICC in Ethiopia

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. Photo/AFP
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. Photo/AFP

By BERNARD NAMUNANE
More by this Author
A clash between French-speaking and English-speaking African countries sunk a move to withdraw Africa from the International Criminal Court in Addis Ababa at the weekend.
A combination of factors — including a division between Anglophone and Francophone countries and endless conflicts in the continent — put paid to efforts by some countries to have the African Union announce its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.
They instead issued five demands to the ICC and its guarantor, the United Nations Security Council, to meet and pave the way for new relations with the court on crimes against humanity and high level impunity.
They also warned that should their list of demands not be met by November 12, the date set for President Kenyatta’s trial at The Hague, they will convene another Special AU Summit to make far-reaching resolutions. (VIDEO: Uhuru urged to skip ICC trial)
Sources at the AU executive council and the Heads of State meeting said that Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Malawi, Tanzania and Algeria pushed for the immediate declaration of the withdrawal from the Rome Statute. Algeria is a French-speaking nation and is not a member of the ICC.
Kenya’s delegation at the executive council meeting, led by Foreign Secretary Amina Mohamed and Attorney-General Githu Muigai was said to have reminded their colleagues that what ICC was doing to Kenya could be done to any African country in future.
This was the reason, they said, decisions should be taken to stop the ICC. They were aghast that the ICC had failed to respect elected African presidents and time had come for the continent to flex its muscle by renouncing its ICC membership.
It was said that they were disturbed by remarks made by the lead prosecutor in the Ruto case, Mr Anton Styneberg, that Kenya could appoint someone else to play the Deputy President’s role to allow the substantive holder of the position to be tried without interruption.
The remark, they said, bordered on lack of respect for elected African leaders.
However, Francophone countries were opposed to the proposal for mass withdrawal, saying, the AU should pursue their concerns with the UN Security Council and the State Parties forum.
Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Mali and Burkina Faso were unhappy with the slow pace at which the AU has been moving to resolve conflicts in Africa.
Joined by Botswana, they argued that while they were in agreement that the ICC should not prosecute sitting presidents, Africa — which has a long list of conflicts — should not be seen to be taking a move that will create room for such dark acts. They cited civil war in Eastern Congo, the Boko Haram conflict in Nigeria and events in Mali where the AU failed to act on time.
The Francophone countries were further opposed to the proposal that all AU members who wish to invite the ICC to investigate cases in their countries should first consult the union. This, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire argued, would deny countries their right to solve internal problems.
It was also understood that Côte d’Ivoire and Sudan, which have cases at the ICC, wanted their position in the final statement from the Special AU Summit to be strongly reflected as was Kenya’s. Their delegations argued that while the Kenya case was urgent, their own situations also merited being included higher up in the resolutions.
Perhaps, this was the reason AU chairman Hailemariam Dessalegn, also Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, said in his opening remarks: “It should be underscored that our goal is not and should not be a crusade against the ICC, but a solemn call for the organisation to take Africa’s concerns seriously.”
The Special Summit apparently had attracted the attention of the UN and the ICC.
Sources at yesterday’s meeting said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called each of the presidents in attendance, seeking to persuade them against resolving to withdraw from the ICC.
Mr Ban promised to use his position to amend the Rome Statute charter to bring on board the concerns that were being raised by the continent.
It is understood that President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, a strong supporter of severing links with The Hague, reminded the UN boss that he has “no teeth” to push for the amendments.
CONSIDERING DEFERMENT
AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zumba, in her welcoming remarks, said:
“I met ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda early in the week and expressed to her the concern that the UN Security Council and the ICC should work with us to enable the elected leadership of Kenya to fulfil their constitutional obligations by urgently considering deferment of the ICC proceedings against the President and Vice-President of Kenya in accordance with Article 16 of the Rome Statute.”


Lawyers warn of arrest if Uhuru absconds

A section of lawyers on Sunday warned of the possibility of the International Criminal Court issuing a warrant for President Kenyatta’s arrest should he fail to attend his trial in The Hague.
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Liberia's Charles Taylor prefers Rwandan jail to UK
Updated Monday, October 14th 2013 at 17:17 GMT +3
Ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor has asked to serve his 50-year sentence for war crimes in Rwanda, rather than the UK.
In a letter sent to the court that convicted him, he says it would be easier - and less expensive - for his family to visit him in Africa.
He also said he feared being attacked in a British prison.
Taylor was convicted of aiding rebels who committed atrocities in Sierra Leone during its civil war.
Last week, a UK minister confirmed that Taylor would be transferred to a British prison.
He was convicted by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), but his trial was held in The Hague in case it sparked renewed unrest in West Africa.
The Netherlands only agreed to host the trial if he was imprisoned elsewhere.
'Own brand of justice'
In a letter seen by the BBC, Taylor wrote:
"My position is that serving my sentence in Rwanda, in my home continent of Africa, would be substantially more humane not only on my own account, but also on account of the impact on my family."
He noted that the court's statutes said access for prisoners' relatives should be taken into account when deciding where they should serve their sentence.
He said that it would be cheaper and easier to travel to Rwanda - and that Liberian nationals could obtain visas at the airport, unlike in the UK.
Taylor, 65, was convicted on 11 crimes including terrorism, rape, murder and the use of child soldiers by rebel groups in neighbouring Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 conflict, in which some 50,000 people died.
He was found to have supplied weapons to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in exchange for so-called blood diamonds.
The rebels were notorious for hacking off the limbs of civilians to terrorise the population.
Taylor has always insisted he is innocent and his only contact with the rebels was to urge them to stop fighting.
He is the first former head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since World War II.
In his three-page letter, dated 10 October, Taylor continued: "My name is now associated with horrendous atrocities. Prison inmates, whether from the region or not, are likely to be inclined to inflict their own brand of justice by attacking me."
He pointed out that "a significant number of individuals from Sierra Leonean background are in detention in prisons in the UK" and noted that in 2011, Bosnian war criminal Radislav Krstic was attacked in a British jail by three Muslim men, apparently in revenge for his role in the Bosnian conflict.
Taylor argued that the UK authorities "may also simply be unaware of the groups that might be particularly motivated to attack me in prison".
"In short, incarceration in the United Kingdom will likely - and very soon - lead to me being seriously injured or killed."
Some other people convicted by the SCSL are already serving their sentences in Rwanda.
Last week, UK Justice Minister Jeremy Wright noted that the British offer to host Taylor had enabled his trial to proceed in The Hague.
He told parliament: "The conviction of Charles Taylor is a landmark moment for international justice."
"It clearly demonstrates that those who commit atrocities will be held to account and that no matter their position they will not enjoy impunity."
Taylor's appeal against his conviction was rejected last month and he remains in The Hague, awaiting transfer.
-BBC
 
 
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Govt: United Nations considering African Union deferral request on Kenyan ICC cases
Updated Monday, October 14th 2013 at 16:53 GMT +3
By Standard Reporter
Nairobi, Kenya: Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed Monday reiterated African Union (AU) summit resolution that President Uhuru Kenyatta should not attend his trial at The Hague.
Uhuru's trial is set to commence on November 12.
Mohammed also emphasised AU’s decision that no sitting Head of State shall go on trial during his/her tenure.
“No charges shall be commenced or continued before any International Court or Tribunal against any serving Head of State or Government or anybody acting or entitled to act in such capacity during his or her term of office,” said Mohammed.
The AU summit request to have trials deferred has been forwarded to the UN security council and cabinet secretary said the country should respect and await it’s action.
“The summit requested the ICC to postpone the trial of President Kenyatta and suspend proceedings against Deputy President Ruto until such a time as the United Nations Security Council pronounces itself on Kenya’s request for a deferral.”
While briefing the press on AU’s resolution the International Criminal Court (ICC) case facing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, Mohammed said that Kenya will continue to cooperate with The Hague-based court.
She however added that the president’s atatus has changed since his election into office and therefore the matter is no longer personal.
“The president’s case is no longer a personal matter, otherwise it would not have attracted attention of the AU,” said the cabinet secretary.

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