A bid to suspend the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s investigations have failed, as Kenya moved its lobbying for a deferral on the Hague cases to the United Nations Security Council.
After securing African Union support, the government is now set to write to the UN Security Council, which under the Rome Statutes, can ask the ICC to suspend the case for 12 months as Kenya sets up a local process to try the suspects, according to Office of the President political strategist Prof Peter Kagwanja.
In a bid to halt Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s investigations, security chiefs and former provincial administrators had asked that his activities in Kenya be stopped until their concerns were addressed.
But ICC Pre-Trial Chamber judges on Monday said they had no powers to stop the investigations.
The security chiefs, who served during the post-election violence period, had also sought assurances that they will not be prosecuted but the judges again declared they had no powers to do so and that only the prosecutor could decide who to charge.
However, the Chamber agreed that they would not be compelled to appear before Lady Justice Kalpana Rawal to give evidence.
The officials include Kingori Mwangi (former provincial police officer), Ernest Mwinyi (provincial commissioner), Hassan Noor (former Rift Valley PC) and PPOs Grace Kaindi and Njue Njagi.
Others are former PCs James Waweru and Paul Olando.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo has expressed his intention to prosecute Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura and Eldoret North MP William Ruto in connection with violence, as well as former police commissioner Hussein Ali, ODM chairman Henry Kosgey and radioman Joshua arap Sang.
The Monday ruling came a day after Mr Ruto’s lawyers appealed against ICC judges’ decision rejecting his attempts to bar the prosecutor from seeking warrants of arrest.
On the deferral issue, Prof Peter Kagwanja, who is in a Kenyan delegation that is in Addis Ababa, said that the plan was now to convince the five Security Council members who hold the veto power.
China has indicated that it is ready to support Kenya’s efforts. Russia and the United States have also expressed support for a local process but which meets international stands.
The other two countries that the Kenyan government is seeking to convince are France and Britain in order to have all the entire Security Council supporting the decision.
The two European countries have been the mos critical over the fight against impunity in Kenya.
The government has pledged to establish a local tribunal, with the help of the UN, to try the Ocampo Six.
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