Ocampo to use leaked US cables as evidence

International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will use leaked American cables released by WikiLeaks earlier this year as part of his evidence.

This emerged as he prepares to hand over the last batch of the evidence he will rely on in the September hearing against three of Kenya’s six post-election violence suspects.

The evidence to be released on Wednesday relates to the cases against Eldoret North MP William Ruto, Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey and radio presenter Joshua Sang, whose hearings on whether to confirm their charges or not start on September 1.

Among the cables is one prepared by former US ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger on February 27, 2008, which was titled Behind a Calm Facade, Hardliners Prepare for More Violence.

The cable says that even as Kenya cooled down, the warring parties were coming up with strategies for more fighting. There are also two other cables relating to visa letters sent to some of the suspects or their close allies.

Mr Kosgey is mentioned in one of the cables as being among those who should get visa bans for allegedly supporting Kalenjin youth groups who engaged in the violence.

So far, the prosecutor has given out information that has been in the public domain and Wednesday’s release could give the defence more details on what they are to face when they appear on September 1.

Made public

Reports on the poll chaos by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the Waki Commission, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International form the backbone of the evidence the prosecutor has made public as defence teams prepare to puncture his cases.

The disclosure to the other suspects — Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura and postmaster- general Hussein Ali — will go on until September.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo will have to wait until August to know what evidence the defence teams will be presenting to counter his claims.