A fresh team will be appointed to lead Kenya’s efforts to seek the UN Security Council’s support to defer the Ocampo Six trial at The Hague over the post-election violence. Photo/FILE
By BERNARD NAMUNANE bnamunane@ke.nationmedia.comand PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, February 8 2011 at 21:00
In Summary
- The committee’s job is to appeal for support to defer ICC cases
A fresh team will be appointed to lead Kenya’s efforts to seek the UN Security Council’s support to defer the Ocampo Six trial at The Hague.
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed on Monday to set up a new Cabinet committee to include members of the team that has been handling International Criminal Court (ICC) matters.
The committee, comprising members of both PNU and ODM, will appeal to the five members of the powerful UN body while at the same time lobbying those with no veto powers.
The government successfully lobbied the African Union to support its bid to try the Ocampo Six on Kenyan soil.
“The Grand Coalition Government is undertaking diplomatic and legal initiatives with the UN Security Council and the ICC with an appeal that the cases before the ICC be deferred for one year and thereafter referred to a competent local mechanism,” a Presidential Press Service statement said.
This development comes as it emerged that the search for a successor to ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, whose term ends mid next year, was on.
This means that should the plan to defer the trials succeed, the cases facing the six Kenyans may be handled by his successor.
Critics accuse the current committee on the ICC led by Internal Security minister George Saitoti of not having a common stance.
On Tuesday, Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said Kenya was determined to push for deferment.
“A sub-committee has been dealing with ICC matters but the two principals have agreed to reconstitute it to make it more inclusive,” he said.
The government said the rush to name a new Chief Justice, deputy CJ, Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecutions was meant to prove that the Judiciary had been overhauled.
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