OCAMPO SAYS NO

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said he is in Kenya to collect evidence and no one is a suspect in the post election violence.

He said he is willing to meet "persons who feel they were wrongly identified" as being responsible for organising and financing the chaos.

"I am here collect evidence, no one is a suspect," he said Saturday during a news conference at the Serena Hotel, Nairobi.

The ICC Prosecutor said that he will start the process of collecting evidence "from scratch" and the "fast investigation" will last around six to seven months.

"People were raped, burned and killed. We will define who was criminally responsible."

Mr Moreno-Ocampo said he will make sure "we collect enough evidence to convince the judges" saying the ICC cannot rely on statements and interviews conducted by NGOs and various institutions.

"We will do our own interviews, collect statements based on our own protocols," he said.

Build list

He said the ICC will build its own list and investigate crimes against humanity- the systematic and widespread attacks on the civilian population- to ensure a peaceful election in 2012.

"In one-and-a half- years there will be about 15 elections in the region. Kenya has to send a signal that when you commit crimes you go to the Hague."

Mr Moreno-Ocampo said he will seek to link the individual to the crime by identifying what happened and prosecute those most responsible for the most serious crimes.

He said he will present two cases to the ICC judges consisting of two or three individuals based on information gathered from no more than 30 witnesses.

A report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) titled On the brink of a precipice: A human rights account of Kenya's post-2007 election violence named 219 individuals adversely as inciters, organisers and financiers of the post election violence.

The Prosecutor said it was the policy of the ICC to prosecute those most responsible according to the evidence gathered.

"We cannot prosecute thousands of people at the Hague. Young men raped and killed, but who gave the order, who paid the money?''

He said that the ICC was very selective and they will only find a limited number of people.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo said there were no witnesses at present but he will seek them in a "discreet and confidential way".

He said there were security concerns surrounding the process of securing witnesses but he assured those who will come forward that he has a "duty to protect them".

On the issue of threats to potential witnesses, Mr Moreno-Ocampo said it was the responsibility of the Kenya Government to protect them.

"I am the Prosecutor not the government. I cannot police in Kenya," he said.

Several potential witnesses have received threats including Nyanza Central deputy Provincial Commissioner Oku Kaunya, who fled to Germany after his efforts to meet senior government officials was unsuccessful.

Mr Kaunya is a former commandant of the Administration Police Training College in Embakasi which, according to the Waki report, was a central cog in the chain of events leading to the post-election violence.

The report said 1,600 officers were sent to the college for “special training” so that they could act as election agents for PNU. “All officers deployed were dressed in plain clothes, easily identified as they were not from the local community and travelled in large groups by more than 30 chartered buses,” the report said.

He said he did not see the possibility of "people building attacks" once he moves in on certain individuals since identifying a person did not mean they were guilty.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo said he will listen to the victims and acknowledged it will be a delicate process that includes conducting a trauma analysis especially on those who were raped to prevent opening new wounds.

Cooperation

The ICC Prosecutor said he was pleased by the government's committment and cooperation with his office in the investigative process.

During his five-day visit Mr Moreno-Ocampo is expected to meet victims of the violence, the business community, religious leaders, the media and government officials.

He has also invited people with evidence and those who suspect their names to be on the list to meet him.

The ICC judges gave the Prosecutor the go ahead to start investigations in March.

The post election violence broke out after President Kibaki was declared winner of the General Election in 2007. His challenger from the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Raila Odinga disputed the results saying the vote was stolen.

The stand-off triggered chaos that left 1,133 people dead and another 650,000 displaced from their homes.