Slim hope as Kenya pushes for ICC deferral

Kenya has been handed a glimmer of hope after the UN Security Council announced it will meet this week to decide whether to support deferral of the cases facing the Ocampo Six.

The President of the UN Security Council, Mr Li Baodong, said the powerful body had agreed to meet Kenya, though informally, to discuss the request to have the cases deferred by 12 months to give the country a chance to set up a credible judicial mechanism to try the cases locally.

“The council ... decided to have an interactive dialogue next Wednesday afternoon,” Mr Li told reporters in New York.

“The Kenyan side and also a representative of the AU (African Union) will participate in the consultations,” media reports quoted Mr Li who is also China’s representative at the 15-nation body as saying.

The request was handed to the Security Council by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka last week as part of Kenya’s frantic efforts to have the cases facing Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey, former police commissioner Maj-Gen (rtd) Hussein Ali, public service head Francis Muthaura and radio presenter Joshua Sang, deferred. All six have been summoned to appear before the ICC on April 7.

On Saturday, former Kabete MP Paul Muite criticised the argument that the trial of the six suspects at the ICC would trigger violence in the country.

“In the letter to the Security Council, the argument is that the prosecution at ICC is going to cause chaos in Kenya. How do you reconcile the argument in the letter to the UN with the statement that they are prepared to prosecute them at home. How can you argue that prosecuting them locally is not going to cause chaos. It is so contradictory,” said Mr Muite.

Mr Musyoka has held several meetings with representatives of the 15 nations in the Security Council to convince them to support its bid to have the cases postponed.

Whereas the VP’s handlers maintain that Kenya has already bagged the support of member states such as China, Russia, Nigeria, South Africa and Gabon, diplomats in the council told the media that the country has little chance of succeeding in its mission.

The United States, Britain, France – all permanent veto-wielding council members – are among those that oppose deferring the proceedings, envoys said.

A statement issued by a US State Department official on Wednesday confirmed that Washington did not support Kenya’s efforts to have the cases deferred. The statement was issued soon after Mr Musyoka and members of his delegation met US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg.

Without US backing, Kenya has no chance of gaining the UN Security Council’s approval for the proposed deferral.

The Security Council cannot halt ICC proceedings though it has the power to suspend them for up to 12 months. It would be up to The Hague-based ICC, not the Security Council, to decide whether Kenya would be able to credibly prosecute those suspected of being behind the violence.

Kenya has written letters to both the Security Council and the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute arguing that the country may plunge into chaos if the ICC process is allowed to go on hand in hand with the campaigns for the next General Election because Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta are “presidential front-runners”.

The country wants the two bodies to influence the postponement of the cases for at least 12 months to avert such chaos.