Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Ali: Am ready to face ICC Judges

By CYRUS OMBATI Former commissioner of Police Maj-Gen Hussein Ali on Wednesday said he will honour the summons by the ICC and is ready to face the Judges at The Hague on April 7.
Ali spoke in Nairobi through his lawyer Evans Monari who announced that his client would fully co-operate with the court.
" For now we have made a conscious decision to co-operate with the Pre- trial Chamber and make appropriate arrangements to appear at The Hague on April 7," Mr Monari said in Nairobi.
He said they were to communicate with the Court on Wednesday to indicate their willingness to co-operate and appear as directed by Pre-trial chamber judges, who issued a majority ruling on Tuesday night.
"We have read the ruling, we very much of course regret where we have reached but we have made a conscious decision we shall make appropriate arrangements to be at the initial appearance on April 7 as required and we are going to communicate with the chamber to tell them so….and we have always said we will co-operate, and we had already done that before," he said.
Monari, who is among three lawyers representing Ali in the case said there is no doubt about them appearing before the court. The other lawyers include Canadian John Philpot and Gerishom Ottachi of Ogeto, Ottachi and Company Advocates.
Mr Monari said he was pleased that the ICC Judges had made a favourable ruling on their client and taken consideration on some of the issues they had raised in their application, which was dismissed last month.
He spoke in Nairobi before rushing for a series of meetings to plan how to handle the issue.
Evidence dismissedMonari said he was particularly happy that the ruling had dismissed evidence presented by the ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo that Ali had ordered the use of excessive force at protestors in Kisumu and Kibera slums in Nairobi where hundreds of youths were shot dead by police sent to quell riots.
Former Police Commissioner, Hussein Ali
In his application submitted in December 2010, the Prosecutor had asked Judges to investigate the fact that the police were out intentionally to kill ODM supporters in Kisumu and Kibera.

Said Monari: "The judges have said that there is no enough evidence to show that there was any such state policy and therefore they (judges) have said they will not entertain any arguments on Kisumu and Kibera," Mr Monari said. "That is a big blow for the Prosecutor."
But other legal experts said there was no need to celebrate at this point because Moreno Ocampo may bring in fresh evidence to implicate the former police boss.
The Judges said: "With respect to these events in Kisumu and Kibera, the Chamber notes that the Prosecutor, although mentioning in his Application that the violence was executed by the Kenyan Police Forces, failed to provide an accurate factual and legal submission which would require the Chamber to examine whether the acts of violence were part of an attack pursuant to or in furtherance of a State policy."
The ruling said The Chamber had noted the Prosecutor's mentioning of the activity of the Kenyan Police Forces during the attack in Nakuru and Naivasha and the references to this effect in the material presented.
However, the Prosecutor explicitly submitted that the attack occurred pursuant to an "organizational" policy, without alleging the existence of a State policy by abstention. Accordingly, the Chamber will not entertain this issue."
Failed to provide evidence
"The Chamber notes that the Prosecutor failed to provide evidence substantiating his allegation that rape was committed as part of the attack in Naivasha."
"The ruling concludes that "The Chamber is of the view that the material submitted by the Prosecutor is not sufficient to establish reasonable grounds to believe that Ali can be held responsible as indirect co-perpetrator under article 25(3)(a) of the Statute."
Ali, Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura, Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, suspended ministers Henry Kosgey and William Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Sang have been summoned to The Hague on April 7 over their role in 2007 post election violence.
The crimes according to the 25 page ruling include murder in Nakuru and Naivasha, forcible transfer of population in Nakuru and Naivasha, rape in Nakuru.
They were also ordered to refrain from corruptly influencing a witness, obstructing or interfering with the attendance or testimony of a witness, or tampering with or interfering with the Prosecution's collection of evidence.
They were also ordered to refrain from committing crime(s) set forth in the Statute and to attend all required hearings at the International Criminal Court.
Two of the Judges Ekaterina Trendafilova (presiding Judge), and Cuno Tarfusser was satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Muthaura and Kenyatta are criminally responsible as indirect co-perpetrators under article 25(3)(a) of the Statute.
Judge Hans-Peter Kaul dissented in his ruling leaving the two- the majority to concur with chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo that Ali is criminally responsible as having contributed to crimes committed by a group of persons within the meaning of article 25(3)(d) of the Statute for acts constituting crimes against humanity committed from on or about 24 January 2008 until 31 January 2008.

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