Mutula roots for tribunal at UN talks

Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo. PHOTO/ CORRESPONDENT  

By  PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Tuesday, March 1 2011 at 22:00

In Summary

• State putting in place measures to expedite local trial of all people linked to the chaos

The government will cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in prosecuting post-election violence suspects.

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Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo told the 16th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, that the government was reforming the Judiciary to enable it try suspected financiers and perpetrators of the violence.

“Concerning efforts towards dealing with serious crimes, the government reiterates full cooperation with the International Criminal Court within the framework of the Rome Statute,” Mr Kilonzo told the session attended by among others, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Local mechanism

Mr Kilonzo said the government intended to invoke section 8 of the International Crimes Act which allows Kenya to try suspects of crimes against humanity using a local mechanism.

This comes in the wake of efforts by the government seeking a deferral of the trials by a year.

The ICC has named Mr William Ruto, Mr Henry Kosgey, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr Francis Muthaura, Maj-Gen Hussein Ali and Mr Joshua arap Sang as masterminds of the violence that left 1,133 people dead.

The campaign has been led by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, although Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his party, ODM, have disowned it.

“Even if we get the deferral, it will be only for 12 months so we must reform our Judiciary to make it competent and independent to handle the cases,” Mr Kilonzo told Nation.

The minister said the government was putting in place measures to expedite local trials.

“Furthermore with a reformed Judiciary, the government is determined to set up a local judicial mechanism to deal with all perpetrators of post-election violence,” he said.

The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission would, on the other hand, inquire into human rights violations, including those committed by State institutions, groups and individuals between 1963 and 2008, Mr Kilonzo said.

Mr Kilonzo praised the courts for rejecting President Kibaki’s nominees to four constitutional offices, saying the move demonstrated their independence.