ICC pledge on arrest of six Hague suspects

ICC registrar Silvana Arbia addresses a past press conference in Kenya. PHOTO / FILE 

By PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.com AND CAROLINE WAFULA cwafula@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Tuesday, March 29 2011 at 22:00

In Summary

• You are free men — if you behave yourselves and obey the conditions imposed by judges, top official tells Ocampo Six amid rising speculation

The International Criminal Court will not arrest the Ocampo Six when they appear at the Hague next week, the court clarified on Tuesday.

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“Those persons are free. They are not detained and will not be detained. They will come on the day of the hearing, and the next day they can be back in Kenya,” Ms Silvana Arbia, the court’s registrar, told the Nation.

But they will remain free so long as they obey the conditions imposed by ICC judges.

“Only if one of the six persons fails to comply with those conditions, the Chamber may, on its own motion or at the request of the Prosecutor, issue a warrant of arrest,” she warned.

MPs allied to some of the suspects have been threatening mass action, claiming the court was planning to arrest some of them. There has also been speculation that those still in service will be offered the choice to resign or be detained by the court.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura, suspended Higher Education Minister William Ruto, Orange Democratic Party chairman and suspended Industrialisation Minister Henry Kosgey, Postmaster-General Hussein Ali and radio presenter Joshua Sang have been summoned to The Hague.

ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accuses them for bearing the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed during the post-election violence and wants to prosecute them for crimes against humanity.

Ms Arbia said the Pre-trial Chamber will use next week’s sessions to tell the suspects the dates it will start determining whether or not to confirm the charges facing each of them.

“After the initial appearance, they are free, and on that same day, the Chamber will announce the first day for the hearing of whether or not to confirm the charges, and they will have to come back for that day,” she said.  

But the registrar noted that the ICC reserved the right to issue warrants of arrest against any suspect who breached the four conditions imposed against them. The suspects are barred from having contact, directly or indirectly, with victims or witnesses.

They are also required to refrain from obstructing or interfering with the attendance or testimony of a witness, or to interfere with the Prosecution’s investigation.

The suspects are required to refrain from committing crimes and to attend all required hearings at the ICC. 

Ms Arbia said the prosecutor had written to the government over Mr Kenyatta and Mr Muthaura’s continued stay in office.

“The Prosecutor did send a letter to the Government of Kenya as he stated during the video conference from The Hague,” she stated.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo had expressed concern that the pair could interfere with investigations due to their powerful positions in government.

But a commissioner with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, Mr Hassan Omar, accused Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto of using political rallies to whip up emotions against the ICC.

“Instead of running around the country telling Kenyans how innocent they are, they should use the legal framework and clear their names,” Mr Omar said in Nairobi on Tuesday.

“These politicians should cease this notion of running to their ethnic communities or using political parties to express their innocence. This is likely to whip up emotions. Should anything happen as a result of this, they will be held responsible,” added the KNCHR commissioner.