Nairobi lawyer a lone voice in the fight to secure justice for victims

Ms Sureta Chana, a Nairobi lawyer, has been representing 327 victims recognised by ICC. Photo/WILLIAM OERI

As prosecution and defence lawyers faced off before the International Criminal Court, a lone voice was making the plight of the victims known.

Ms Sureta Chana, a Nairobi lawyer, has been representing 327 victims recognised by the court and allowed to have legal representation in the case. (Read: ICC judges hear Kenya victims’ pain)

She said: “Victims are the reason we are here. They are the ones who suffered loss, their property was damaged and remain in displaced camps four years after they were attacked.”

True justice

The ICC system also allows victims to be called in as witnesses.

“The principle behind this is that true justice is achieved when voices of victims are heard and their suffering addressed,” according to the ICC.

If successful, the courts can help victims resettle, offer compensation, relocate them to safer areas or demand that perpetrators offer public or private apologies to those they harmed once convicted.

Victims who qualify van be given monetary compensation for moral, material and physical harm, loss of earnings, pain, suffering, emotional distress and lost opportunities.

They can also be assisted to re-establish the situation that existed before they were harmed.

They can also be rehabilitated to continue their lives as normal as possible.

This may include covering the cost of medical, psychological or psychiatric care, as well as social and legal services to rebuild their lives.

The cost of doing this can come from the international community, national governments, by using frozen assets from convicts.

According to this rule, those who will be convicted of sponsoring or helping perpetuate the post-election violence could be forced to pay compensation to the victims.

In the event a suspect may not have the resources, the court’s Trust Fund for Victims could be called in to help.

But sources familiar with operations of the court warned against creating expectations of widespread compensation to a large group of victims.

Tracing assets

Compensation and reparation could be made to an individual or group affected by the violence, the sources said.

The court has not ordered any compensation so far in the cases it has handled.

Court experts say the tracing of assets starts immediately the ICC allows the prosecutor to start investigations.

The process of tracing assets belonging to suspects involves drawing up inventories of what they own in their countries of residence, other places they may have visited and where they are likely to visit or settle in future.

This is done with the help of governments but the whole process is kept secret to avoid suspects transferring or liquidating assets, a lawyer working in the Victims and Witness Unit said.