10 witnesses lined up against DP and Sang

Deputy President William Ruto arrived in the Netherlands on Monday for the resumption of his trial by the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

The Deputy President, alongside one-time radio journalist Joshua arap Sang, is facing charges of murder, deportation and persecution, related to the 2007/8 post-election violence.

On Monday, the Nation established that the prosecution has lined up 10 witnesses between Tuesday and October 4 when the trial chamber adjourns for a week, according to the initial court calendar.

The first prosecution witness takes the stand today after proceedings were adjourned last week.

According to the legal representative for the victims, Mr Wilfred Nderitu, there is no specific sequence for the appearance of the witnesses.

“There are no specific numbers of witnesses lined up this week but we expect that 10 will testify during this session,” said Mr Nderitu.

A woman, who was a victim of the Kiambaa Church arson attack, will be the first on the stand Tuesday.

Lead prosecution counsel Antony Steynberg had indicated that the prosecution would call up to “22 victims and witnesses, common Kenyan people, who will describe the attacks” in  the towns of Turbo, Kapsabet and Nandi Hills and five locations in the greater Eldoret in the case against Mr Ruto and Mr Sang.

The five locations are Kiambaa, Langas, Yamumbi, Huruma and Kimumu.

According to Mr Nderitu, it is not clear whether the witness will testify in public. “That would be a decision to be taken by the chamber at the start tomorrow,” he said.

Lawyers familiar with the operations of the ICC said the public may not be able to see the witness but the rest of the parties will.

“The court can direct that the curtains be drawn as the witness walks into the chamber so that the public do not get to see who the person is. However, the defence has always insisted that they want to see their accusers,” said a lawyer.

“If a witness claims to have heard certain conversations then the defence can know how to handle that after knowing who they are.”

USE OF PSEUDONYMS

However, in exceptional circumstances, the witness might also be protected from the defence.

“Protective measures, may for example include, the use of pseudonyms, the redaction of documents or a disclosure ban or the use of audio-visual techniques to conceal the identity of a person appearing before the court,” ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said.

Mr Ruto will thus, for the first time, come face-to-face with one of his accusers.

The prosecution appeared keen to start the case with the Kiambaa arson attack, in which up to 35 people were killed, to have a powerful beginning to the trial.

The burning of the church shook the world and was reminiscent of the Rwanda genocide.

The prosecution was said to have lined up three witnesses, described as insiders, who took part in the crime but had taken a plea bargain.

They withdrew just before the trial started, sending Ms Bensouda and her team back to the drawing board.

The second witness, Mr Herve Maupeu or witness P-464, is a European-based expert who will provide the historical roots of the violence.

Presiding judge Chile Eboe-Osuji had last week described the request for adjournment as a “shame” although the chamber went ahead and granted it.

This  gave Mr Ruto an opportunity to travel back home for five days.

On Monday was an ICC holiday, meaning the trials could only resume Tuesday.

Mr Ruto is accompanied to The Hague by his wife, Rachel, and five MPs.

When he returned last Thursday, Mr Ruto told Kenyans to be ready for a surprise, which could emerge from the proceedings.

The first witness is reportedly a former employee of one of the prominent personalities the prosecution, in its updated Pre-Trial Brief detailing the charges against Mr Ruto and Mr Sang, claimed hosted a meeting of Kalenjin youth at his residence to plan the attack of December 31, 2007 — a day after former President Kibaki was declared winner of the elections.

“On December 31, 2007 at the farm of businessman near Kimuri, approximately 3,000 Kalenjin youths who attended at this location on November 23 and December 26 gathered. Members of this group of youths attacked the Kiambaa Church the next day, including Steven Chamalan Leting, Emmanuel Bor, Kimei Bor as well as a youth called Brown,” the prosecution said.

Statements from witnesses state that up to 350 women, children, elderly and disabled persons from Kiambaa and surrounding areas took shelter at the church, with 150 men outside standing guard.

The prosecution alleges that “Ruto himself had identified Kiambaa as a target for attack and as being densely populated with Kikuyu. Further, Ruto’s close associate, Mark Too, hosted several planning/preparatory meetings at his compound near Kiambaa in the months preceding the elections”.

Those who will view the trial proceedings on television, however, will not be able to see or identify the voice of the witnesses owing to the strict protection procedure that are established by the ICC to secure the physical and psychological well-being of those who testify.

“There is a mechanism in place to ensure the physical and psychological well being of the witness so that the testimony they provide will not endanger their lives and that of their family,” said ICC Outreach official in charge of Kenya and Uganda, Ms Maria Kamara.

The measures include failure to read the name of the witness in the courtroom, occasional testifying in closed sessions, blocking full view of the public, blurring the witness’ face and manipulating the voice.

“The accused, however, has a right of seeing the person who is testifying against them,” she said meaning that Mr Ruto, Mr Sang and their lawyers will see the witness in court.

In extreme cases, however, the accused persons could testify from the witness room at The Hague via video link.

“This is meant to avoid eye contact with the accused person in special circumstances. However, we don’t know the protection measures which will be put in place tomorrow (Tuesday),” explained Ms Kamara.

After giving evidence, the witnesse will be cross-examined by the defence and the attorney for the victims.

Yesterday, there were reports that Ms Bensouda could present American satellite imagery expert Lars Bromley to explain satellite images, including those of Kiambaa Church, which were reportedly captured during the post-election chaos.

The geo-information specialist at the American Association for the Advancement of Science who has extensively documented the atrocities in Darfur and Zimbabwe will be expected to help locate the crisis spots, magnify the images and figure them out as proofs of arson attacks and mass murders.

He will be followed by the Frenchman, Prof Maupeu. Ms Bensouda argues that Prof Maupeu had conducted research in Kenya for many years and understood Kenya’s politics, an attribute that would help the judges understand what led to the violence.

His publications include Physiology of a Massacre in 2002; The Massacre of March 3, 2002, Kariobangi North (Nairobi Kenya) and a paper titled Revisiting Post Election Violence of 2009.

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court is expanding the detention unit to include a female section in anticipation of the arrival of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo’s wife, Simone Gbagbo.

Mr Gbagbo himself is already in detention at the ICC awaiting trial for crimes against humanity.