Kalonzo mission fails to woo US

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has apparently failed in his mission to the United States.

Soon after Mr Musyoka met in Washington on Wednesday with Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, a State Department official told the Nation.co.ke that “we do not support a UN Security Council resolution to defer the ICC Kenya investigation.”

The VP had held talks with representatives of other Security Council member-states in New York on Monday. He sought their support for a one-year suspension of the International Criminal Court’s cases against six Kenyans accused of orchestrating the violence following the 2007 elections.

The other four permanent members of the council, as well as the three African countries holding rotating council seats, did not respond to Nation inquiries regarding their position on a possible ICC deferral.

But without US backing, Kenya has no chance of gaining the council’s approval for the proposed deferral.

Vice President Musyoka declined on Wednesday evening to comment on the outcome of his visit to New York and Washington.

The State Department official added in an e-mail message to the Nation that the US does not agree with the approach being taken by the Kenyan government in hopes of shielding the six from ICC action.

Treaty

Kenya is basing its appeal for a deferral on Article 16 of the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC. This provision stipulates that a court proceeding can be deferred only if there is a threat to international peace and security.

“We do not believe that an Article 16 deferral of the Kenya proceedings would help maintain or restore international peace and security so as to warrant action by the Security Council,” the State Department official wrote on Wednesday.

“To the contrary, further delay in the process of holding accountable those responsible for Kenya’s post-election violence would undermine prospects for Kenya’s long-term stability, which could adversely affect international peace and security.”

“As we have consistently stated,” the official added, “it is critical that perpetrators of Kenya’s post-election violence be held accountable to end the country’s culture of impunity and help ensure Kenya's future peace and stability.”

The State Department official did point to a different section of the ICC’s founding treaty that might be pertinent to Kenya’s situation.

Article 19 of the Rome Statute would enable Kenya to ask the court to halt the cases against the six if Kenya itself moves to prosecute those named in the ICC summonses issued this week.

“Should Kenya establish a credible domestic mechanism, and begin proceedings against the individuals who are the subject of the ICC prosecutor’s application to the court, the Rome Statute has specific procedures to address such matters,” the US official noted.