Key US Senator opposes 'divisive' UN vote on ICC deferral

A United States senator highly influential on Africa issues warned on Wednesday against forcing a "divisive" vote in the United Nations Security Council on a resolution to defer the Kenyan cases at The Hague.

"I strongly oppose a vote on this matter at the UN," declared Senator Chris Coons, chairman of the Senate's Africa affairs subcommittee.

"The move is divisive and sends a chilling signal of impunity for perpetrators of political violence," he added.

The Security Council is tentatively scheduled to vote on the resolution on Friday, even though it appears likely to be defeated.

SIGNIFICANCE OF CROON'S STANCE

It is unusual for sponsors to insist that the council vote on a resolution they believe will fail.

Underlining the significance of Senator Coons' stance, the Senate last week unanimously approved a resolution he had sponsored that reaffirmed US support for the government and people of Kenya.

That declaration initiated by Coons also expressed the Senate's support for President Uhuru Kenyatta's decision not to pull Kenyan troops out of Somalia following the September 21 Westgate terror attack.

Senator Coons studied at the University of Nairobi in 1984 and led a US congressional delegation to Kenya in May 2012.

In his Wednesday statement emailed to the Nation, the Democratic senator said the Kenyan government's request to the ICC for "procedural flexibility, such as allowances for video-conference appearances, is understandable given their positions and need to govern".

"However," he added, "such requests can be addressed through existing mechanisms that guide the operation of the Court rather than suspending the process or taking action through the UN."