Wednesday, January 11, 2012

ICC ruling may cause tension – Brussels’ ICG



E-mailPrintPDF
Share/Save/Bookmark
THE International Crisis Group has warned that ethnic tensions are likely to arise in case the International Criminal Court does not deliver similar verdicts to Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto. The respected ICG has said that confirming charges for Uhuru and dismissing charges against Ruto or vice versa would increase ethnic tensions ahead of the general elections for later this year.
The group has said confirming charged for both Uhuru and Ruto or dropping the cases for both defuse rise in ethnic tensions. “There are real fears that if charges are dropped for suspects of one ethnicity and confirmed for another, ethnic tensions could increase sharply, regardless of the legal merits,” says the group.
ICG is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation that strives to prevent and resolve conflicts mainly through issuance of early warnings and has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In less than two weeks, the ICC will rule on whether or not Uhuru and Ruto alongside four other suspects will be tried over the 2008 post-election violence that left about 1,300 people dead and displaced 300,000 others.
The other suspects are civil service head Francis Muthaura, Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey, postmaster general Hussein Ali and radio journalist Joshua arap Sang. In a report released yesterday, ICG claims that Prime Minister Raila Odinga had been painted as the person behind Ruto’s woes although the Kalenjin supported him in the last elections. It says if charges against Ruto are confirmed, the perception that Raila is involved could raise tensions between the Luo and Kalenjin.
The report adds that the general perception among Kalenjin is that they have been singled out by ICC as “aggressors” and others seen as victims. The report says Ruto has “cast himself as the person who will restore their collective dignity". The ICG adds that if charges against Uhuru and Ruto are confirmed, “their political prospects and by extension those of their ethnic groups could be tied together for the 2012 elections". “With Kibaki retiring, Odinga is the candidate to beat, but he could be the first casualty of such a ticket, since his previous Kalenjin support would be weakened,” the report adds.
ICG has said that Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka “could be a casualty of a presidential campaign” that has Ruto and Uhuru on a combined ticket. The group adds that most of MPs supporters of Uhuru and Ruto voted against a local tribunal in favour of ICC on the assumption the process in The Hague would be longer and more drawn out enabling the suspects to participate in the 2012 presidential election. The group has also warned that while the ICC is still popular, the Kenyan public’s approval of its role has been declining. ICG recommends that Kenya pursues other suspects of the post-election violence locally to end the culture of impunity.

No comments:

Post a Comment