Kenya argued that since the premature naming of the six suspects, the pace of implementation of the new Constitution had slowed down. The Government also cited the possibility of renewed violence if some of the suspects were charged, alleging that tension was high.
This, according to diplomatic sources in Nairobi, has led to apprehension in the United States and Britain — who hold veto power at the UN Security Council — that the inflammatory language being used at public forums lately by politicians opposed to The Hague process is a deliberate move to show that fresh ethnic passions are likely to come to resurface.
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| Last month, President Kibaki breached orders by ICC when he attended a meeting in which Henry Kosgey, William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta were present. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD] |
Consequently, senior officials of the United Nations urged on by chief mediator in Kenya’s peace process, Dr Kofi Annan, and leading development partners are said to have influenced the International Criminal Court’s decision to immediately summon the six Kenyans facing charges of crimes against humanity.
The summonses follow fears that parties opposed to The Hague process are planning to stoke fresh violence to justify claims of mounting tensions.
These details emerge only hours after it became clear that Kalonzo had failed to win the US backing on the trials.
Flurry of letters
The decision to speed up the Kenyan cases was precipitated by a flurry of letters Government functionaries have been writing to the ICC and the UN Security Council to press for the deferral of the cases for a year.
Two of the letters signed by Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Macharia Kamau; take the recurring theme of imminent violence if the six suspects make the trip to The Hague.
Diplomats based in Nairobi say Annan and top US officials, after reviewing TV footage and reports of ICC agents in which President attended rallies with the suspects in open show of defiance, are said to have called for the speeding up of the process to pre-empt an outbreak of ethnic violence.
The letters to the United National Security Council President for the month of March, Mr Li Baodong, acknowledged on March 7, as a United Nations document under symbol 2011/116, warns of looming outbreak of ethnic violence if ICC presses ahead with the planned trials at The Hague. The warning is contrary to the actual situation on the ground in Kenya, diplomats say.
Stoking fears
The letter referenced KMUN/LAW/CON/1A and dated March 4, says:
"Ongoing ICC process has the potential risk to reignite violence, breakdown of law and order and result in loss of human life in Kenya and disruption of economic, peace and security activities in the fragile and sub-region, in which Kenya has played a significant and stabilising role."
In the letter to ICC president Christian Wenaweser, Kamau writes, "The ICC should not be part of a political calculus, as in Kenya, where the real danger of "undermining accountability and countenancing impunity on the one hand and orchestrating the evisceration of political opponents and thus facilitating a perceived grab for power accusation on the other, have become the flash points of a presidential election campaign unfolding in the shadow of the ICC pre-trial chamber context."
From the letters, it becomes evident that the slowing down of the new Constitution implementation is a deliberate move that could in turn lead to the delay of next year’s General Election. The trial of two of the suspects, who according to the letters are leading presidential contenders, could incite violence.
The letter to ICC says: "Since the announcement of the Ocampo Six suspects, the pace of reforms has ground to a crawl. The political climate in Kenya in the build-up to the presidential elections in 2012 could very well threaten the implementation as well as trigger violence and conflict that would have costly wide ramifications."
But Fred Kapondi, who is the chairman of the House Security Committee said: " The language of violence or escalation of tension if The Hague process proceeds is sensational and this is not right," said
He said the local process and reconciliation would have been the right way to go.
Although Kenya has regained political stability the two letters harp on recurring theme of a resurgence of violence to persuade The Hague and United Nations Security Council to review their positions.
The six suspects, save Maj-Gen Ali, have been meeting in public rallies where the International Criminal Court has been roundly castigated and the innocence of the suspects proclaimed.
Breach of orders
But it was the rally in Eldoret town that upset western diplomats and the ICC. At the rally attended by Kibaki, Uhuru, Ruto and Kosgey sandwiched the President and would occasionally engage in discussions with him.
Sources at the Office of President told The Standard On Saturday that the President was made aware of the breach, which resulted in his refusing to meet two MPs who had gone to seek his audience before they headed to last week’s Eldoret Agricultural Society of Kenya Show.
The two MPs are said to have gone to the Office of the President, without appointment, to ask why he would not be attending the show where he was expected to officiate at the opening.
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