International Criminal Court ICC dismisses claims on Kenyan cases

By Ally Jamah

Nairobi, Kenya: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has dismissed a resolution made by the African Union ( AU) over the Kenyan cases before the court.

African Heads of State objected to International Criminal Court trials facing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto but The Hague-based court responded judges couldn’t be swayed by political positions.

In their resolution passed Monday, the African leaders said that Kenya has a credible Judiciary capable of hearing and determining the cases impartially and expeditiously.

 But contacted by The Standard Monday, the ICC dismissed the resolution by African leaders on the Kenya cases saying the matter should be left to the court to decide.

Responding to the resolutions passed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa by African Heads of States, ICC Outreach Coordinator for Kenya Mabia Mabinty Kamara said the court cannot consider the AU resolution could only decide deferring the cases.  She explained that a previous request by the Kenya government to transfer the cases to Kenya did not convince the judges that Kenya was conducting genuine investigations and prosecutions.

“The ICC will not proceed with a case if the national judicial system proves that it is prosecuting and that it is willing and capable of conducting such genuine prosecution for the same people that have been accused before the ICC,” she said.

She added: “As an independent and purely judicial institution, the ICC does not react to political statements and resolutions, that are not submitted to the ICC by the parties to a case in accordance with the ICC procedural rules.”

In her statement, Ms Kamara said that ICC Judges cannot be influenced by the AU saying the court does not take any political matter into consideration when deciding on cases related to serious and grave crimes allegedly committed in Kenya or any other situation under investigations by the Court.

“The ICC Judges only apply the rules of law and decide on the basis of the evidence presented to them in accordance with the procedural rules of the ICC,” she said.