The Hague beckons for suspects

• Ocampo asks ICC judges for go-ahead to start the probe into Kenya’s case

The indictment of key post-election violence suspects drew closer on Thursday after International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked for the go-ahead to start investigations.

At exactly 1.31 pm, he placed before the Hague’s pre-trial chamber the case for his intention to start the investigations, marking the beginning of the process to punish perpetrators of the violence.

“Today at 1.31 pm Kenyan time, I asked the judges of the ICC for authorisation to investigate those behind the violence after the 2007 elections. Now it is up to them to decide on my request,” he said.

Was confident

Mr Ocampo was confident the three-judge bench would grant his wish because “we have more than enough evidence” to start work immediately. “If the judges authorise the investigations, my teams are ready to deploy. We have analysed the boxes and other documents from the Waki Commission and other reports,” he said.

The ICC prosecutor was speaking at a press conference at The Hague which was beamed live at the UN offices in Nairobi. It has taken Mr Ocampo three weeks to make the request after his visit to Kenya during which President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga declined to hand over the case to the ICC.

The prosecutor said he had taken the step because the government had failed to set up a local tribunal. However, he said, should one be established, Kenya could challenge his investigations. “There are no national investigations into violence but in future they can challenge and give reason,” he said.

Though he had said he would seek authorisation next month, the ICC’s time table indicating that judges will go on vacation after December 12, pushed him. He said he was moving fast to ensure suspects were punished before the next elections. “We are trying to be as fast as possible. Individuals should face justice in 2010,” he said.

Mr Ocampo said the government had promised to cooperate with investigations and allayed fears that witnesses might fail to give evidence following threats. He said the ICC had an “efficient” witness protection programme nurtured over six years.

“Protection of witnesses is our responsibility. We have used it for the last six years in different countries without fail and we intend to maintain that record.”

The ICC prosecutor said reports in the Kenya media citing intimidation of witnesses could be attributed to claims that police were involved in the killings and said Internal Security minister George Saitoti and Attorney General Amos Wako had assured him of witnesses’ safety.

Final list

Mr Ocampo said there was a possibility some of the suspects would be heard by investigators before the final list is taken before the judges but said this would depend on requests from those who think they were mentioned in the Waki Commission or any other report. “We are thinking of the idea (that) those most responsible can request to be interviewed to hear what they say about the chaos,” he said.

He also signalled that new names could come up for prosecution as his office would compile a list based on evidence from various reports. “I will collect evidence and decide who will be the suspects. There is of course the Waki Commission list but legally the court makes its own conclusion,” he said.