Kenya faces great odds against ICC

FILE | NATION A group protests at the naming of the Ocampo Six in December last year. The government wants the UN Security Council to defer ICC trials by a year.  

By OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com

Posted Monday, February 7 2011 at 21:00

In Summary

• It will take only one of the five permanent members of the Security Council to block request for a delay

The government faces great odds in the push to defer Hague trials by a year.

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This is because it will take only one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to block Kenya’s request.

Decisions of the Security Council are made by an affirmative vote of nine members, including the votes of the five permanent members.

If a permanent member casts a negative vote, the draft resolution being voted on is not passed.

The permanent members are China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States. The non-permanent members are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Portugal, Brazil, India, South Africa, Colombia, Lebanon, Gabon and Nigeria.

Article 16 of the Rome Statute says only the Security Council can suspend proceedings at the International Criminal Court for a period of 12 months.

The resolution has to be adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations and the request may be renewed by the council through the same process.

Kenya must convince the Security Council that there is a threat to peace if the Ocampo Six are tried at The Hague. It will also need to prove that it can put in place a local judicial process to try the suspects within a year.

On Monday, President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga said they were lobbying for a delay in the trials.

“The one year deferment will give the country the necessary time to establish the local mechanism as envisaged in the ongoing Constitutional Reforms. This process will be handled through a Grand Coalition bipartisan Cabinet Committee,” read statement in part.

Last month, the African Union and China endorsed the push for a deferral following intense lobbying led by Vice- President Kalonzo Musyoka.

“After consultations in government, we will now move to lobby all the permanent members,” Mr Musyoka said on Sunday.