Ocampo: Kenya shielding ICC suspects

BY BERNARD MOMANYI

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null 1/1 ICC Prosector Luis Moreno Ocampo with Kibaki and Raila NAIROBI, Kenya, May 29 - The International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo is raising serious concerns over what he terms as “the Kenya government’s attempt to protect six suspects wanted for planning and financing the 2007 post election violence”. Mr Ocampo said he has dispatched a team of top officials from his office in The Hague, Netherlands expected in Nairobi on Monday to demand an explanation from President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on why the government is no longer cooperating with him. “My question to the Kenyan government is this: does the government of Kenya want justice for the victims? We need an unequivocal answer, an answer that Kenyans and the world could understand,” Mr Ocampo said in a strongly-worded statement on Sunday. “Is the government of Kenya protecting witnesses or protecting the suspects from investigation? That is the question,” he posed. Mr Ocampo said recent maneuvers by the Kenya government were not reflective of the commitment the two Principals made to the ICC on November 5, 2009 when he met them at Harambee House. “We received strong cooperation, but since we announced the names of the six suspects we have seen a shift in position,” he said. In an apparent reference to the shuttle diplomacy Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka spearheaded two months ago and the admissibility challenge the government has filed in The Hague, Mr Ocampo said: “High ranking members of the government are misrepresenting ICC efforts to do justice for the victims as an attack against Kenyan sovereignty.” “They are pursuing regional and political campaigns to stop the case. Not only is this sending the wrong signal, but it is also promoting a growing climate of fear that is intimidating potential witnesses and ultimately undermining national and international investigations,” the Prosecutor said. A team from his office is expected in country on Monday to put the questions to President Kibaki and the Prime Minister and also seek fresh assurances of maximum cooperation and witness protection. “We will asses not just the specific protection program, but will also want to understand the current position of the Government in relation with the Post Electoral Violence,” he said, adding that “Our Office is doing what we promised to do: Justice for the victims. Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of the Civil Service Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police commissioner Mohammed Hussein Ali are facing war crime charges at the ICC. Others facing similar charges are former Cabinet Ministers William Ruto and Henry Kosgey as well as Kass FM radio presenter Joshua Arap Sang. Follow us on TWITTER@CapitalFM_Kenya and the author at https://twitter.com/momanyibernard

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