KENYAN PRIME minister Raila Odinga has said his government “will not shield or protect” senior officials if they are indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity committed during last year’s post-election violence.
Mr Odinga voiced support for The Hague-based court, whose prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said last week he would pursue a unilateral investigation into the 2008 bloodletting in which at least 1,133 were killed.
The main suspects include several cabinet ministers, including some from Mr Odinga’s party, who are accused of organising and financing ethnic-based attacks.
Mr Odinga’s remarks, describing himself as holding “identical” views to Mr Ocampo on the urgent need for justice, put him at odds with powerful ministers on both sides of the coalition, who are desperately seeking to derail the international process.
When parliament reopens today they are expected to try to push through a Bill creating a local tribunal in an attempt to weaken Mr Ocampo’s case when he requests authorisation next month from the ICC’s pre-trial chamber to proceed with investigations.
After meeting Mr Ocampo in Nairobi last week, Mr Odinga and Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki, whose widely discredited election win kicked off the violence, released a statement saying they would co-operate with the court.
But Mr Odinga has gone further. “We said that we will not shield or protect people found to have committed crimes against humanity,” he said. “That is what we told Ocampo.”
The ICC's intervention is a tricky issue for both Kenyan leaders, who want to avoid alienating allies in their respective parties. – ( Guardianservice)