Kenyan Ministers Want ICC Trial for Violence Suspects
By Philip Emase
At least five Kenyan ministers want the International Criminal Court (ICC) to try suspected masterminds of the country’s 2008 post election violence despite the recent formation of a domestic truth commission.
Speaking at various public meetings last weekend, the government ministers appeared to break ranks with a cabinet decision to form a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC).
"We are not going to forgive murderers,” Forestry Minister Noah Wekesa declared in Western Kenya.
Cooperatives Minister Joseph Nyagah said that while the TJRC’s purpose was to reconcile Kenyans, the ICC was welcome to make any arrests if it felt the commission would fail to meet international standards.
The post-election violence broke out in January 2008 after the then opposition candidate, Raila Odinga, rejected President Kibaki’s narrow re-election, claiming he had been defrauded of victory.
Kibaki and Odinga later formed a power sharing government after an estimated 1,300 people died in two months of tribal violence between their supporters. A subsequent commission of inquiry identified ten key masterminds of the violence and recommended two options to bring them to justice: a local tribunal or extradition to The Hague.
On July 22, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki unveiled a truth commission to investigate unlawful killings, human rights violations, corruption, and tribal clashes since independence in 1963, including the 2008 post election violence.
Lands Minister James Orengo, who is one of current Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s closest associates, said the formation of the TJRC had been misconstrued to mean the suspects would not be prosecuted.
"The Cabinet’s decision does not mean we promote impunity. The suspected masterminds should not celebrate because they cannot run away from the ICC," Orengo said in Kisumu.
Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula and Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya have also backed the ICC option.
President Kibaki’s choice of Bethwel Kiplagat, a former ambassador and civil servant, to chair the TJRC has also sparked divergent views.
Optimists have cited Kiplagat’s long years of service as Kenya’s Ambassador to France and Britain, a permanent secretary in the ministry of Foreign Affairs, and later as a mediator in the Somali conflict.
Critics have however frowned at the fact that Kiplagat gained most of his experience as a top official in the administration of former President Daniel Arap Moi, which was widely regarded as repressive.
Local newspapers have meanwhile reported that the ICC’s Chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has formed a 14-member team to examine the case against prominent individuals suspected to have incited and financed the violence.