Rights groups want officials in Ocampo list sacked

Human rights groups and civil society organisations have called on the two principals in Kenya's coalition government to sack top officials named in the list of alleged perpetrators of the 2008 post-election violence released last month by International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

Kenya National Commission of Human Rights and other rights organisations have condemned the extended stay of public officers mentioned in the Ocampo list of six persons suspected to have bore the greatest responsibility in planning and executing the post poll violence that rocked the country following the disputed 2007 presidential elections that left 1133 killed and over 600,000 displaced.

“We call upon public officers named in corruption scandals and the ICC for suspected involvement in crimes against humanity to step aside.”

Representatives drawn from several rights groups demanded for Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta who also doubles up as the Finance Minister, Ambassador Francis Muthaura, and former Police Commissioner Mr Hussein Ali to resign (and not merely step aside) from their public offices.

They also asked President Kibaki to suspend them arguing that their continued stay in office could compromise the ICC process.

The groups also want the President and PM not to give in to a motion passed by Members of Parliament that seeks to pull out Kenya from the Rome Statute. “We urge the President not to accept any interference with the ICC process.”

They stated that the move was ill-advised claiming that pulling out of the ICC process in the absence of a credible local tribunal would entrench impunity and embolden the perpetrators of the post-election violence.

“With another general election approaching, internally displaced persons are still languishing in camps, grass grows on the graves of those killed, and justice has not been done for those who lost property and loved ones. The debate on pulling out of the Rome statute loses focus on these victims,” read a section of the joint statement they issued.

The rights groups termed the move by the MPs as misleading and a negation to the pursuit of justice for the country.

Transparency International executive director Mr Sam Mbithi who read the statement dismissed calls by Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party MPs who have raised claims of bias in the fight against corruption by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC).

“Allegations of bias against certain parties or individuals in the coalition government are premature and misplaced,” he said.

ODM MPs have cried foul saying their party members were being targeted in the war on graft. So far about three ODM Cabinet ministers are under investigations by KACC plus two others from the Party of National Unity (PNU).

The rights groups further dismissed calls for the disbandment of the KNCHR, NCIC, KACC saying the institutions were recognised in the Constitution.

“Any calls for their disbandment must be read or seen as a form of resistance to change and the desire to stick to the old ways of corruption, hate speech and disregard for human rights, equality and non-discrimination.”