Thursday, October 14, 2010

Top suspect seeks deal with Ocampo

By Ben Agina in The Hague

A prominent Kenyan has offered to appear before the International Criminal Court to be grilled on the 2007 post-election violence crimes.

This is the strongest sign yet that those who have received letters from the ICC may already be trying to cut their own deals, instead of waiting for the Chief Prosecutor to present his evidence at the Pre-Trial Chamber II at the Hague. The strain on those destined for indictment has been intense and some are already cracking under its weight.

It is believed that the politician is among those whose names featured prominently in investigations into the post election violence in which 1300 Kenyans lost their lives.

The news came as it emerged that a section of Government keen to protect some of those on the ICC’s list have tampered with evidence requested by the court’s detectives.

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo yesterday revealed that the politician has written to express his willingness to appear voluntarily before the judges and stand trial, if there is any case against him.

For legal reasons, the prosecutor cannot divulge the identity of the politician, or the details of allegations against him.

And The Standard has reliably established that the security minutes to be handed over to the ICC by the Internal Security ministry are deliberately biased, and may not convey a complete picture of events as they unfolded following the disputed presidential election of 2007 that sparked the violence and killings.

The Standard reported yesterday that the minutes for January were missing, and the ones vetted by the Internal Security ministry appeared to point fingers at the leaders of one political party.

Ocampo, who spoke to The Standard in his Office at The Hague, said: " there is one person who wrote to me a few weeks ago saying he was ready to appear before the Chamber, and said if there was any evidence against him, he was willing to stand trial. He asked his information to be kept confidential."

Early this month, The Standard established that ICC had written to three Cabinet Ministers asking them to have a date with investigators in connection with the post-election violence crimes.

Only one of the said ministers was in the Cabinet in 2007. The second was appointed in the half-Cabinet President Kibaki formed as post-election violence raged, while the third was conscripted into the council of ministers after the power-sharing deal signed on February 28, 2008.

Surrender self

International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo says a prominent Kenyan has written to him seeking to appear before the Chamber. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]
Ocampo said the politician has offered to appear before the Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC and that he was ready to stand trial if found to have any links to the planning of the chaos.

The Kenyan seems to be following in the footsteps of Sudanese rebel leader Bahar Idriss Abu Garda who voluntarily went to ICC following summonses to appear. Garda and two other individuals were accused of planning attacks on UN peacekeepers in Darfur that killed 12 soldiers.

But unlike the case of Kenyan suspects, there was a summons for the Sudanese to appear before the court after specific allegations were levelled against him.

However, the Kenyan case has not yet reached the stage where summons are issued.

In fact, the identity of the suspects are not yet known and the earliest the names could be revealed would be December when Ocampo is expected to appear before the judges to request summons.

The chief prosecutor said appearing before the court voluntarily was an easier option for suspects, as it would save them the trouble of being arrested after warrants are issued.

The Chief Prosecutor welcomed individuals who suspect they are part of those on the investigator’s list to volunteer information before he makes his second appearance before the pre trial chambers later in December.

"One can decide to come to us before we go to the Chambers or decide to become a fugitive when the warrants are issued. You appear before us or become a fugitive," noted Ocampo.

Ocampo also revealed that he was not limiting himself to names contained in the Waki envelope that was handed over to him by former UN chief Kofi Annan and Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC) report "On the Brink of Precipice".

He said that he was casting his nets wider and the evidence gathered by his investigators would be what would be relied on for identifying and prosecuting suspects.

Ocampo said he was however limiting his attention to "two or three" persons who have the greatest responsibility for the crimes.

Judicial process

The prosecutor is scheduled to appear before judges in December to request for warrants of arrests. Ocampo will present his case against the three individuals to the Pre Trial Chamber before the end of the year.

He said that he was currently in the middle of investigation and was targeting those attacks and gave orders. Asked whether he expects to make good progress before the 2012 Genera elections Ocampo retorted: "Our judicial process has nothing to do with election."

Ocampo also took issue with leaders who have claimed that the ICC was targeting a particular community in its probe.

Last month, PNU leaders led by the Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka held a parliamentary group meeting at KICC and accused the ICC of targeting PNU leaders. "I have no connection nor bias to anyone in Kenya. Many people suffered during that period and we would like to bring justice to them," he stated.

Ocampo further confirmed that there are several witnesses currently out of the country and willing to testify. He did not disclose their number.

The revelations by Ocampo came as the Government appeared to loosen its resistance to release sensitive security documents ICC investigators had requested.

On Tuesday, a cabinet sub-committee on ICC vetted and approved several security meeting minutes and intelligence reports for handover to investigators.

Ocampo, who has promised to make the Kenyan case an example to the rest of the world, is expected to fly into the country next week.

A team of Kenyan editors is currently at The Hague on a visit organised by the ICC’s outreach section.

On Tuesday, the team met the ICC Registrar Silvana Arbia in her office.

Yesterday, they were scheduled to have an interview with Justice Joyce Aluoch, a Kenyan who serves at the ICC.

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