World prevented Kenya 'genocide', UN official says
File | Nation
Protesters take to the streets in Kibera as officers stand guard in 2008. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said his office plans to apply for a reinstatement of charges relating to violence meted out by police, then under the command of Maj-Gen Hussein Ali, in Kibera.
A United Nations official said on Wednesday that the “collective will of the international community” had stopped the post-election violence in Kenya from “escalating to genocide levels.”
Francis Deng, the special advisor to the secretary-general on the prevention of genocide, cited the global response to the chaos three years ago as “a very good demonstration” of preventive action on the part of the UN and other international players.
Mr Deng suggested that the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which the UN played a passive role, had “clearly sharpened the readiness of the international community to act.”
His comments came at a news conference at UN headquarters on current efforts to prevent mass atrocities from occurring in Cote d'Ivoire.
Mr Deng suggested that, as in Kenya, the international community is again demonstrating its “collective will” to stop violence from rising to the level of genocide.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga, drawing on lessons from Kenya's experience following the 2007 elections, is playing a key role in international efforts to resolve Cote d'Ivoire's own post-election crisis.
