Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Kenya President Unlikely to Attend ICC Trial



Kenya President Unlikely to Attend ICC Trial


In the aftermath of the attack on a Nairobi shopping mall, Kenya's president appears increasingly unlikely to attend his trial at the International Criminal Court where he is charged with crimes against humanity.
Even as heads of state prepare to gather for an African Union summit Saturday, where they could debate the possible exit of some African countries from the International Criminal Court, Kenyan officials are warning that President Uhuru Kenyatta might not show up in The Hague next month for his trial.
"He has cooperated fully with the court up until now," Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed told a news conference Wednesday held in front of the president's downtown Nairobi office. She was referring to past ICC hearings before Kenya's presidential election in March.
Mohamed underscored the contrast between then — when Kenyatta was the country's deputy prime-minister and a presidential candidate — and now, when he is president of East Africa's most powerful country, which faces a rising threat posed by Islamic insurgents.
"Are the circumstances different? Absolutely. Totally. Completely different. Before he wasn't the head of state of the republic. ... It's going to be the first time that a sitting head is brought before any court of any time, not just here but anywhere in the world," Mohamed said.
The ICC charges against Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto relate to Kenya's 2007-08 post-election violence that killed more than 1,000 people. Kenyatta has asked the court if he can attend the trial by video link. Judges have not yet ruled and have rejected that request from Ruto.
Herman von Hebel, an ICC executive, told reporters in The Hague on Wednesday that Kenyan authorities have so far fully cooperated with the case and he has not yet seen "any concrete element" to indicate that will change.
Privately, several members of Kenya's government have told The Associated Press they do not believe Kenyatta will report to The Hague. One official said tribal elders are urging Ruto not to return after finishing his current court session. All officials insisted on anonymity to speak freely about internal government deliberations.
Before this year's election, U.S. officials obliquely warned Kenyans that it wouldn't be a good idea to elect Kenyatta, the son of modern Kenya's founding father, as their president because of the charges hanging over him. Washington's assistant secretary of state for Africa said "choices have consequences."
Before this year's election, the top U.S. official for Africa obliquely warned Kenyans that it wouldn't be a good idea to elect Kenyatta as their president because of the ICC charges, saying "choices have consequences."
But the Sept. 21 mall attack has increased Kenya's — and Kenyatta's — value to the West in the war against terror. The Somali Islamic group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the assault and said it was in retaliation for Kenya's sending of troops into neighboring Somalia.
If he decides not to attend the ICC trial, Kenya could become politically isolated and be sanctioned. But after the mall attack that killed more than 60 people, international repercussions may be lighter.
Officials at the U.S. Embassy refused to comment on the developments and the possibility that Kenyatta may snub the court.
"The already strong but now reinforced counterterrorism relationship between Kenyatta's administration and the U.S. and U.K. will likely diminish the impact of ongoing ICC cases against Kenyatta and his deputy," said Clare Allenson of the political consulting firm Eurasia Group.
She pointed out that the West's heightened security engagements with Kenya "will require more direct interaction and support of the Kenyatta administration at a senior level, including with the president himself."
Seth Jones, a terrorism analyst at the Washington D.C.-based Rand Corporation, said: "Kenya's importance as a counterterrorism partner should increase after the Westgate attacks."
At the African Union summit in Ethiopia's capital, African leaders could recommend a deferral of Kenyatta's case, or even seek to rebuke the court or sever the continent's relationship with it. Kenya's parliament in a non-binding vote last month voted to pull out of the Rome Statue, the legal mechanism that created the ICC.
The ICC faces a perception that it singles out Africans for prosecution even though many of the cases before the ICC were self-referred, said David M. Crane, a professor at Syracuse University College of Law.
"Politically I cannot see a head of state voluntarily being present in The Hague to stand trial," Crane said. "Legally I see no advantage for him to submit himself to the court. The bright red thread of modern international criminal law is politics. Politically this is a lose-lose situation, for both the ICC and the Kenyans."
The United States, which is not a party to the Rome Statute, says it supports the goals of the ICC and believes in promoting justice and ending impunity.
More than 1,000 people were killed in Kenya's post-election violence six years ago. Kenyan courts have prosecuted less than a half dozen people.
———
Associated Press reporter Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands contributed to this report.
REVEALED: Journalist BARASA first worked as ICC dealer, THAT is how he KNEW witnesses!
JOURNALIST Walter Barasa who is wanted by ICC originally worked with the Hague based court to look for witnesses against Deputy President William Ruto.
After Barasa differed with the ICC, he switched to working with a network of people working behind the scenes to encourage witnesses to recanted their statements.
Yesterday Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku announced that he had passed on the ICC arrest warrant for Barasa to Chief Justice Willy Mutunga so that the courts can handle it.
According to multiple sources, Barasa, 41 years, began working for the International Criminal Court in 2012 around Eldoret as an intermediary for investigators collecting evidence for the post election violence cases.
The ICC investigators needed individuals who knew the Rift Valley and understand how the post election violence occurred.
One investigator approached several journalists to serve as intermediaries supporting the ICC.
Some journalists rejected offers to work with the ICC but eventually they struck a deal with Barasa.
“Barasa’s work would mainly be to get in touch with people who had been identified to be witnesses and then convince them to be put under protection in or out of the country in readiness to give evidence before the ICC,” said a source.
After agreeing with the witnesses, Barasa would help arrange their travel documents like passports so that they could travel to the Hague when the case started.
Barasa reportedly handled more than ten witnesses for the ICC and helped move the witnesses out of Kenya to other East African countries for safety.
“He would be sent to those countries to locate areas where the witnesses were to be put under protection,” said one source.
Barasa linked up with several civil society groups who had also helped the ICC carry out its investigations.
NGO sources indicated that the agreement between Barasa and the ICC was on casual terms and he was paid according to the work he did.
The ICC paid him through allowances for travel costs and other needs. He reportedly could get between Sh50,000 and Sh100,000 for a single operation like helping a witness to get travel documents.
Around June, Barasa started to disagree with the ICC over payments.
However some operatives heard that Barasa was unhappy and and approached him to help bring back the witnesses due to testify at the ICC.
He continued to work with the ICC although he was suspected of dealing with individuals interested in having the witnesses refuse to testify.
The ICC investigators were reportedly caught by surprise when some witnesses did not arrive at the Hague at the start of Ruto and Sang’s trial in September.
Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda immediately dispatched a team to the areas in Kenya where the witnesses were to living to find out what had gone wrong.
The investigators led by Paul Ilani met Barasa and reportedly disagreed hotly. He was cautioned that a warrant of arrest would be issued against him for attempting to bribe witnesses.
The warrant was issued secretly in August but was made public last week.
Yesterday Peter Murigi Macharia, a TNA media officer during the last election, send out a “profile of ICC double agent Walter Baraza containing the hard facts about his involvement with the ICC.”
The document was prepared by a lobby group called African Forum on ICC which is based in Chester House on Koinange Street, Nairobi.
The document claims that the ICC wanted Barasa to work with them to “implicate” Ruto as they had realised that he was tampering with witnesses.
Barasa was apparently angered by insinuations that he was working with Ruto.
“He told them that the last time he met the Deputy President was in 2007. Ilani told him that they were aware that he met the DP after he came back from Japan. Barasa dared them to instigate any warrant of arrest against him and that he was ready to face them before the ICC,” said the document prepared by the lobby group.
The document says that Barasa was in touch with a lady witness who was in Uganda, Burundi and Congo under ICC protection but who sought his help to leave the witness protection programme.
-source, The Star Newspaper, Kenya.


No comments: