 | Ocampo to request Kenya trials |
11/7/2009 9:57:46 AM
The International Criminal Court's prosecutor has said that he has a "strong case" against a number of people for crimes committed during post-election violence in Kenya in 2007.
Luis Moreno Ocampo announced in the capital, Nairobi, on Saturday that he planned to present two to three cases for trial possibly by July next year.
"Everyone is worried about the next election in Kenya in 2012. That is why I understand the importance of speed," he said.
"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."
Ethnic clashes broke after the opposition disputed the re-election of Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent president.
At least 1,300 people were killed and more than 300,000 displaced by the violence.
List of suspects
Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, who acted as mediator following the crisis, cautioned that there was a serious risk that the violence would be repeated if the people responsible for the killings were not brouggt to justice.
In July, he gave Ocampo a list of 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," Ocampo said.
He met Kibaki and Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister, on Thursday and told them he would request the go-ahead for an investigation in December from the ICC's pre-trial judges.
He said that he had taken the decision to proceed unilaterally because the Kenyan leaders, who now serve in a power-sharing government together, had decided against referring the case to the court in The Hague.
Kibaki and Odinga have reportedly agreed to co-operate with any trials, but reiterated that the government remains committed "local judicial mechanism".
Numerous attempts to start a local process have stalled and many Kenyans are sceptical that anyone in a position of power will be arrested and charged.
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