Kenya launches fresh attempt to block ICC cases

Kenya this week made fresh attempts to stop the crimes against humanity charges facing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.

Sources at the International Criminal Court told Saturday Nation that the last-ditch of AU-championed campaigns ahead of the start of the cases next month were led by Ethiopia which took a five-country delegation to ICC president Sang-Hyun Song.

The purpose of their visit was to deliver a letter to the ICC president requesting the Assembly of States’ parties to consider Kenya’s request to transfer the cases to the national mechanisms.

Mr Song reportedly told the delegation that the court would consider a fresh admissibility challenge if it was brought before it.

“The Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Tedros Adhanom, led a political delegation composed of the ambassadors of Benin, Chad, Mauritania, Mozambique and AU Director in office of Legal Counsel, Djeneba Diarra, and they met with ICC President Judge Song last week,” the source said.

“President Song’s office informed the AU delegation that they should advise Kenya to re-submit an admissibility challenge if they want to have the cases transferred to national mechanisms,” the source went on, reporting that the meeting “went on well.”

The new developments came even as it emerged that ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opposed the trial of President Kenyatta in Kenya saying it would trigger protests from his supporters.

Instead, she wants President Kenyatta to face trial in The Hague from November 12. 

The President’s legal team had not filed any application, but the judges were apparently guided by an application by former Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura whose charges have since been withdrawn.

Mr Ruto’s case, as well as that of former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang, is scheduled to commence on September 10.

Before then, a status conference will be held to determine the time frame after ICC judges on Monday instructed Ms Bensouda (above) to reduce the number of hours she intends to present her case against the two.

The judges indicated that having compared practice and experience in the other cases before the court, “the chamber is of the view that the prosecution’s estimates appear excessive.”

Kenya’s Permanent representative to the UN, Macharia Kamau, kicked off a storm in May when he wrote a terse letter to the UN Security Council seeking to end the ICC proceedings against President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto.

While dismissing Kenya’s disability challenge two years ago, the court ruled that the Kenyan government had not provided sufficient evidence that it was conducting its own investigation into the suspects over crimes they are alleged to have committed.

The Presiding Judge Daniel David Ntanda Nsereko stated that for the cases to be inadmissible, a national investigation must be ongoing and must cover the same individuals and substantially the same conduct as alleged in the proceedings before the ICC.

Pre-trial briefing

Meanwhile, a pre-trial brief with details of witnesses and allegations against President Kenyatta and Mr William Ruto will be released ahead of the ICC trials set for November and September.

Lawyers at the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) in The Hague disclosed that the witnesses were ready to start trials and the information would be issued to the public on the case.

“We have 30 witnesses roughly in either case. We are finalising reduction on pre-trial brief. It will confirm charges against each accused, list key allegations and key witnesses relied on for allegations,” ICC Cooperation Advisor for the Kenya situation Shamiso Mbizvo told Saturday Nation.

Additional reporting by Lilian Ochieng’