ICC president to visit Kenya

The President of the assembly of Rome statute states will be visiting Kenya from Thursday this week.

Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, who heads the International Criminal Court (ICC) political arm, is expected to hold discussions with government officials and members of Parliament.

During the two-day visit, the ICC president is also expected to meet members of the civil society members and the media on issues regarding the international court.

Kenya is a state party of the Rome statute and has ratified the law that created the ICC, and it is obliged to cooperate with the court in the investigation and prosecution of crimes, including the arrest and surrender of suspects.

Kenyan legislators last year, however, almost unanimously voted to pull out of the ICC process, and vowed to introduce a bill in Parliament to repeal the law.

Currently, the Hague-based court is handling cases against six Kenyan individuals who are the main suspects of Kenya’s post-election violence of 2007-2008, which left over 1000 people killed and 350,000 others displaced.

The six were named by the court’s Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in December, as he requested the court’s Pre-Trial judges to “issue summonses to appear against six Kenyan citizens to face justice for massive crimes committed during the post-election violence in Kenya.”

The judges are expected to make a ruling later in the year, even as the country’s top officials lobby for a deferral of the case so that the trials can be conducted locally.

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has already been to several African countries to lobby for their support, securing the support of the African Union Commission and Ethiopia

Last week, AU Commission chair Jean Ping endorsed Kenya’s request, saying it is within the realm of the rights of all ICC member states.