Sunday, October 17, 2010

Five-star treatment awaits Kenyan suspects at The Hague


A standard cell at The Hague. Photo/ICTY

By SUNDAY NATION Team
Posted Saturday, October 16 2010 at 22:12

Post-election violence suspects will be held in detention centres at The Hague unlike anything known in Kenya.

The suspects will be comfortable and have regular access to diplomats, can have conjugal visits from their wives or their partners and can cook their own food.

Anna Osure, a Kenyan national who is the deputy head of the office of legal aid and detention at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, said detainees are kept in decent circumstances because they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“The prison cell in which they are housed is tiny, spotlessly clean, with a single bed. But they are not ordinary prisoners. The detentions are modern, humane and civilised. The detainees are permitted visits by friends, embassy officials, clergy and family members.

“They can keep fit through regular exercise in the prison gym, play sports like tennis or walk for an hour in open air within the prison facility. They get excellent medical care by the host state and very well balanced meals.”


A gym at The Hague. Photo/ICTY
Ms Osure said detainees enjoy a broad range of rights while undergoing trial, but the regime changes for those found guilty when they are taken to serve their terms in European nations.

“They are permitted to walk around on their individual floors (in the detention facility) and can take part in communal activities, for example painting, language classes, religious services or consultations with lawyers.

It’s interesting to add that they adjust to their new lifestyle, and former enemies are seen to share meals and tolerate each other’s company,” said the lawyer who has been involved in human rights cases across the globe.

Mythical status

The Hague has acquired an almost mythical status in Kenya since it became clear that the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and his team were determined to bring suspects to trial for inciting and financing violence.

Some pubs in Kenya have been renamed after the ICC while a kangaroo court operated by the illegal Mungiki gang in central Kenya also went by the name of the seat of the ICC before the police moved against the criminals.

But the situation in The Hague is not the nightmare some may imagine. A review of documents and photos available on the official website of the ICC paints a picture of facilities that allow suspects to live a dignified life.

The ICC registrar has overall responsibility of catering for the needs of detainees. A note on the website says the registrar ensures the physical, mental and spiritual needs of all detainees are catered for.

“The daily programme of the detention centre allows the detained persons access to fresh air, recreational time and sports activities. They have access to library books, news and television.

Detained persons have access to computer facilities to work on their own cases. If needed, detained persons are given the opportunity of computer training.


A computer room at The Hague. Photo/ICTY
His defence

Following the mandate of the ICC, as an e-court, each detained person has a computer in his or her cell, which is linked to one specific computer at the Court.

Only his defence has access to that computer. The defence can upload case-related material which the detained person can access and make comments on.

While the suspects are allowed to live a relatively comfortable life, they will be deprived of freedom and the comforts which they usually enjoy in Kenya where they are prominent politicians and businessmen with the best accommodation money can buy.

“This is not a five-star hotel,” Ms Osure said. “The facilities are basic. It’s definitely better than Kenyan prisons but a far cry from a world of luxury.”

The UN official said the detainees will be met when their plane touches down at Amsterdam’s Schipol airport or at Rotterdam airport by tribunal officials and Dutch transport police then transferred to Scheveningen Penitentiary.

An exception to this rule will be those who opt to surrender to the ICC before they are indicted. Mr Moreno-Ocampo told journalists that a prominent personality has already offered to cooperate with the court.

Ms Osure said surrendering to the court is a “very personal decision” which she characterises as a wise route to take for suspects.

She also said those who volunteer information can sometimes be turned into insider witnesses to testify against those they worked with in committing the crimes. The cooperative suspects are also held away from the detention facility in safe houses and only appear at the court for trial.

Once indicted, and if Kenyan authorities agree to arrest them, local suspects will join a long list of indicted war criminals at The Hague, including Liberia’s Charles Taylor, Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga and other suspects indicted for atrocities in the Balkan conflict.

The facility currently holds 55 suspects, majority whom are suspects of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

No comments:

Post a Comment