Ocampo's room of dark secrets

By Ben Agina at The Hague

Post-election violence suspects have zero chance of tampering with evidence secured by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has locked up records of their dark deeds in a white, high security vault that has never been graphed. In a fireproof safe inside this vault are six boxes of evidence related to the 2007-08 post-election violence, and the envelope carrying the names of leading suspects, which were handed over to Ocampo in 2009.

In addition, the safe also holds recent evidence collected by ICC teams that visited Kenya, including statements from witnesses and victims, and confessions by perpetrators.

So secret is the white vault that only photographs of the safe inside exist.

The court mounted pressure on the suspects when it opened the room storing the evidence to show its commitment, a day after it was revealed that a prominent Kenyan had offered to appear before the ICC to avoid arrest warrants being issued against him.

Only a very limited number of people are allowed to access the room, because the evidence is highly sensitive and confidential, and will only be opened when the suspects appear before the three-judge bench at The Hague at the Pre-Trial Chamber II in December.

Ocampo has already secured key witnesses in Kenya, and it is expected they will testify to support the evidence.

The ICC has sent teams of investigators to Kenya where they are expected to continue profiling more witnesses to further tighten the case against prime suspects.

Three Cabinet ministers received written invitations two weeks ago, asking them to avail themselves for interrogation over the killings that saw over 1000 Kenyans lose their lives over the disputed presidential election results.

Yesterday, Ocampo for the first time revealed where all materials containing the damning dossier on the perpetrators of the 2008 post-election mayhem were kept.


Evidence on post-election violence suspects is stored in highly guarded vault accessible to just a select few.

But Ocampo declined to allow a team of Kenyan journalists to take photos of the vault where the Waki envelope and other supporting materials are.

The highly guarded vault and coded "evidence" is about six foot long and white in colour although it is not marked "Kenya".

In July last year, Ocampo received six boxes in The Hague containing documents and supporting materials compiled by the Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence (known also as the Waki Commission).

The material presented by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also contained an envelope with a list of persons who could be implicated in the Post election violence.

During that time, Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo opened the sealed envelope with a list of names in his Office in The Hague, examined its content and resealed the envelope.

"The content of the envelope will remain confidential, there will be no leaks," said Ocampo.

He said the Waki Commission provided the names of a number of individuals and justifications for an investigation.

"I am grateful to Kofi Annan and Justice Waki for transmitting this information and for their contributions to our common goal in fighting impunity," said Ocampo.

He promised that his office would continue collecting evidence to help him reach an impartial conclusion as to whether or not to investigate those individuals or others, or none at all.

Ocampo said the materials were stored in a secure vault, where it will remain until the Kenyan case is concluded probably late next year.

The prosecutor had earlier indicated he would start conducting prosecutions in December, which is just two months away.

Kenyans are now waiting to see if the man from Argentina will live to his word because his team is still processing more evidence in Nairobi for analysis by the Prosecutor’s Office.

"There is a consensus that there will be no impunity for the crimes that have been committed," the Prosecutor stressed.

He said that was the only way to prevent the commission of new crimes during the next elections in Kenya due in August 2012.

But Ocampo stressed that the main responsibility of ensuring justice takes place to stop impunity in future now lies with the Government of Kenya.

The ICC is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It is not part of the United Nations, but cooperates extensively with it.

The team currently has accessed vetted minutes of confidential security meetings and the internal operations of the administration police unit it had requested from the government.

The Government screened all the evidence requested by ICC before passing it over to investigators who arrived in the country last month.

Attorney General Amos Wako and National Security Intelligence Agency (NSIS) officers did a thorough vetting, before the evidence was released.

The ICC had asked the Government to release minutes taken by security teams meeting in the provinces affected by the skirmishes.

But Internal Security Minister Prof George Saitoti, who chairs the cabinet sub-committee dealing with ICC, categorically stated that the Government would vet some of the minutes before they were handed over to the investigators.

"We are in the process of compiling the necessary minutes as they are many, and we shall give ICC the relevant ones," Saitoti told The Standard at the time.

The Standard further learnt Attorney General Amos Wako and National Security Intelligence Service Director General Major General (rtd) Michael Gichangi were mandated to sift through all security memos and reports used during the post-election violence period, decide what was relevant and submit the same to the Cabinet sub committee on the ICC.

The latter was to scrutinise the report and decide whether or not the evidence should be given to the investigators.

The investigators were to meet PCs and PPOs who led the security teams in the violence hotspots in Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western, Central, Nairobi and Coast provinces, after their lawyers had briefed them.

Two members of the ICC delegation met the sub-committee during which the Government promised them full cooperation.

The Chief Justice then appointed High Court Judge Kalpana Rawal to take statements from government officers.

The CJ invoked sections 77 and 78 of the International Crimes Act, 2008, which demand that evidence to the ICC officials be taken before a Judge of the High Court.

A new twist emerged last month over the ICC investigations, as leaders from one ethnic group alleged the community was being targeted.

Members of Parliament from the Kikuyu community raised the red flag at the Party of National Unity (PNU) parliamentary group meeting in Nairobi.

Documents allegedly linking the some top leaders in the community to revenge killings in Naivasha in the post-election violence were tabled at the meeting attended by Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Internal Security Minister Prof George Saitoti.

The MPs questioned the impartiality of The Hague-based court throwing new hurdles into the probe.