A group protests at the naming of the Ocampo Six in December last year. The government has began investigating the role played by the Ocampo Six in the 2008 post election violence. Photo/FILE
By OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, July 5 2011 at 15:11
Posted Tuesday, July 5 2011 at 15:11
Kenyan authorities have began interrogation of the Ocampo Six in relation to their role in the 2008 post-election violence, the government has told the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In a report to Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko and which was forwarded to The Hague court on Monday, investigators say that they have questioned Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey and plan to interrogate the rest this week.
Director of Criminal Investigations Mr Ndegwa Muhoro says in the report that Mr Kosgey was interviewed on June 6 at CID headquarters in Nairobi where he “denied the various allegations put to him”.
“In light of the evidence mentioned above, Mr (William) Ruto will be interviewed next week. It is planned that the other four suspects will also be interviewed next week,” Mr Muhoro says in the report dated July 1.
The government is seeking to prove to the ICC Appeals Chamber that there are ongoing investigations involving the six suspects and therefore the Pre-Trial Chamber should not have rejected its admissibility challenge.
The latest report says that 35 witnesses have recorded statements in relation to investigations relating to the Ocampo Six.
The investigators however add that “no evidence has been received from any of these witnesses which could link any of the suspects to the crimes as alleged by the ICC Prosecutor, or any other crimes.”
In the report, Mr Muhoro states that his investigators have not been able to trace five people who recorded statements with the CID in Rift Valley in 2008 to the effect that there had been meetings attended by Mr Ruto in which arming persons to commit violence was discussed and planned.
“It is unknown whether these persons have become ICC witnesses and have thus been moved. None of the persons interviewed to date confirmed that any of these meetings took place,” the report reads.
It adds that other than Mr Ruto, there are six more people who have been names in the report and that “efforts are still being made to find them for further interview.”
The investigators further say that they have examined police occurrence books from all the police stations in the Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western, Nairobi and Coast provinces but none of the Ocampo Six has been mentioned.
They add that they have also been reviewing press clippings and other recordings to ascertain allegations of incitement, instigation and planning.
“Although the exercise reveals that certain persons other than the six suspects were prominent in the media during this time, the inquiries to date have not shown that any of the six suspects made statements that could link them to any of the crimes alleged by the ICC Prosecutor or any other crimes,” the report says.
The CID boss says that he has put together a team of “ten senior police officers” with the brief to investigate all the allegations made against the six suspects by the ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
Mr Muhoro says that the team will now review the records of the provincial security meetings held during the chaos arguing that they may contain evidence, especially in light of allegations about meetings taking place between the suspects and others.
He adds that among the information being reviewed are the findings of the Waki Report and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Report.
“The evidence presented before the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission will be examined for any references to the six suspects and information that could be relevant to their alleged participation,” says Mr Muhoro.
In its filing accompanying the report, the government says that Mr Muhoro is required to give bi-monthly updates on the investigation Mr Tobiko who together with the Commissioner of Police, are responsible for taking forward the national investigation and any consequential prosecution of the six ICC suspects.
“The Appeals Chamber is respectfully requested to accept this Report as further confirmation that the national investigation into the six ICC suspects is ongoing and progressing expeditiously,” says the government through its lawyers Sir Geoffrey Nice and Rodney Dixon.
The CID boss adds that they would continue to seek to cooperate with Mr Moreno-Ocampo to obtain evidence and information upon which he relies as it may assist in the national investigation.
The ICC judges have already rejected the government’s request for assistance but Kenya on Monday also filed an appeal on the decision.
In the appeal, the government faults the procedure taken by the Pre-Trial Chamber judges to reject the request and in particular for not considering the updated information submitted by Kenya.Kenya is asking the Appeals Chamber to overturn the decision and grant its request for access to the evidence in the possession of the Pre-Trial Chamber and the Prosecutor.
“The Chamber chose to ignore this evidence and in effect rely on a highly technical reason to reject the Cooperation Request – that the materials were not appended to the Cooperation Request. The materials were expressly referred to in the Cooperation Request, and the materials were before the Chamber,” the government argues.
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