International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. The search for his replacement has started after a five-member search committee was mandated to facilitate the nomination and election of his successor February 7, 2011. FILE
By PETER LEFTIE
Posted Tuesday, February 8 2011 at 14:30
The search is on for the person to replace International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo whose term ends mid next year.
The search for Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s successor coincides with Kenya’s efforts to have the Hague trials for the suspected masterminds of the post election violence deferred by a year.
This means that should Kenya succeed in its push to have the trials deferred, the cases facing six Kenyans accused of masterminding the post election violence may be handled by the prosecutor's successor.
A statement from the New York based Secretariat of State Parties said a five member search committee had been mandated to facilitate the nomination and election of Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s successor. The committee has already held its first meeting and is expected to start receiving applications from interested individuals, states, regional and international organisations over the next few months.
“The Search Committee will also actively identify and informally approach individuals who may satisfy the applicable criteria, in particular those contained in article 42 of the Rome Statute,” the statement, released on Monday, read.
The committee will proceed to vet the applications and shortlist the best three candidates to be considered by the Bureau of the Assembly of State Parties.
“The next Prosecutor will be elected by the tenth session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” the statement adds.
The committee comprises South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mr Baso Sangqu who is representing Africa, Jordan’s Permanent representative to the UN Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Asia), Mr Milos Koterec representing Eastern Europe, Mr Joel Hernandez representing Latin America and Caribbean and Sir Daniel Bethlehem representing Western Europe.
Supporters of some of the six Kenyans accused of masterminding the post election violence have accused Mr Moreno-Ocampo of politicising the Kenyan situation and have supported the government’s efforts to have the trials deferred.
But the government faces a daunting task to convince the UN Security Council to defer the cases as it will take only one of the five permanent members of the council to shoot down Kenya’s request.
The five permanent members of the security council are: China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States. Of these, only China has shown indications of supporting Kenya’s quest to have the trials deferred.
To convince the Security Council, Kenya must demonstrate that there is a threat to peace if the 'Ocampo Six' are tried at The Hague. It must also prove that it can set up a credible local mechanism to try the suspects within a year.
On Monday, President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga said they were lobbying for the delay of the trials.
“The one year deferment will give the country the necessary time to establish a local mechanism as envisaged in the ongoing Constitutional Reforms. This process will be handled through a Grand Coalition bipartisan Cabinet Committee,” the two principals said in a statement.
The six Kenyans Mr Moreno-Ocampo accuses of bearing the greatest responsibility for the violence include deputy prime minister Uhuru Kenyatta, suspended ministers William Ruto and Henry Kosgey, civil service head Francis Muthaura, former Police commissioner Hussein Ali and vernacular radio presenter Joshua Sang.
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ocampo's term is almost over. the clock is ticking. will he handover the prosecution of the six
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