Nairobi - The International Criminal Court prosecutor believes
he has a strong case against a few people for crimes committed
during Kenya's post-election violence and he will move fast to
avoid a repeat at the 2012 election.
Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told a news conference on
Saturday there was also a chance any trial could take place in
Kenya, or at the court in Arusha in Tanzania where suspects from
Rwanda's 1994 genocide have been prosecuted.
"We have so many reports saying the same, I think I have a
strong case," Moreno-Ocampo told a news conference.
"Probably here will be two or three different cases, because
there are different groups who committed crimes and we will
identify the most responsible for each group."
Kenya's image shattered
Ethnic clashes after a disputed presidential election killed at
least 1 300 people and uprooted more than 300 000, shattering
Kenya's image as a stable, regional economic powerhouse.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo met President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister
Raila Odinga on Thursday and told them he would request the green
light for an investigation in December from the ICC's pre-trial
judges.
He said his decision to proceed unilaterally was because the Kenyan
leaders had decided against referring the case themselves to The
Hague, but they had promised to co-operate.
Speed important
During a visit to Kenya in October, crisis mediator Kofi Annan
warned that unless the architects of the killings were brought to
book, there was a serious risk violence would erupt again at the
next presidential election in 2012.
In July, he gave Moreno-Ocampo a list of the top suspects
identified in a report by a Kenyan judge. Political sources say it
includes cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and businessmen.
"My mandate is to end impunity of the most serious crimes. I
will do that," said Moreno-Ocampo. "Everybody is worried
about the next election in Kenya in 2012. That's why I
understand the importance of speed."
He said that assuming he gets the go-ahead from the ICC pre-trial
judges to proceed in December, the investigation should be
completed during 2010.
Peaceful 2012 election
"And that will clean the situation, (so) that you can have
peaceful election."
The 2002 Rome Treaty established the ICC, the world's first
permanent court set up to try individuals for genocide, war crimes
and other major human rights violations.
The prosecutor said in other cases he had undertaken outside Kenya,
the people charged by the ICC were those deemed to be the leaders
of militias responsible for carrying out serious crimes.
He said that if Kenya investigated the same people for the same
crimes as the ICC, he could defer to a tribunal there, but it would
be the ICC judges who would decide whether that would happen.
Kenya had promised to deal with the masterminds. But numerous
attempts to kick-start the process have floundered and many Kenyans
are sceptical powerful individuals will be arrested and charged
because of widespread impunity among politicians.
"We expect to do the cases in four, five, six months that is
our style and that is what we are trying to do," Moreno-Ocampo
said at the end of a three-day visit to Kenya.
Reuters |