If Africa fails to secure enough votes to curtail the trial of RUTO and kenyatta ...Africa must quit that kangaroo court intended to stabilise THE CONTINENT. UNITED NATIONS (United States) (AFP) - African nations will Friday launch one of the biggest challenges yet to the International Criminal Court by forcing a UN Security Council vote on suspending the trial of Kenyas president. A resolution seeking to defer crimes against humanity charges against President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto for one year is almost certain to fail through lack of support. But diplomats and justice experts say the action risks heightening tensions between the ICC and Africa. The two leaders are accused of masterminding unrest after a 2007 presidential election in 2007 in which at least 1,100 people died. Kenyatta and Ruto took office after an election this year. Rutos trial has started, while that of Kenyatta is scheduled to get underway February 5 after being delayed three times. Both have so far cooperated with the ICC. But Kenya has made two written requests to the council to suspend or halt the cases. Several Kenyan victims of the violence have also withdrawn from the ICC case because of what diplomats and experts call intimidation. The resolution to be voted on Friday is the most serious bid yet to suspend proceedings. View gallery. Kenyan Vice President William Ruto arrives on September … Kenyan Vice President William Ruto arrives on September 23, 2013 at the International Criminal Court … Erastus Mwencha, deputy head of the African Union Commission, told AFP it was Africas wish that the trials be deferred. Africa has submitted that motion for deferral... the wish is that, as a priority, it will be responded to, he said, speaking from AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The Security Council can ask for an ICC case to be deferred for a year under Article 16 of the courts founding Rome Statute if a trial is considered a threat to international peace. The resolution has been pressed by Rwanda, a temporary Security Council member but not an ICC signatory, with strong backing by Ethiopia, another ICC opponent. It would need at least nine votes on the 15-member council to pass. But with the councils seven ICC signatories and the United States against them, the measure has no chance, diplomats said. The draft resolution says the court case is distracting and preventing Kenyatta and Ruto from their duties. It takes up AU complaints that the two should be left to handle Kenyas role in battling Islamist militants in Somalia and the aftermath of Septembers mall attack in Nairobi, which left 67 dead. But Western diplomats and activists see a largely political campaign to halt the proceedings and, more generally by countries opposed to the ICC, to discredit the court. View gallery. A general view of the courtroom on April 7, 2011 at … A general view of the courtroom on April 7, 2011 at the International Crime Court (ICC) in the Hague … African leaders frequently complain that the ICC discriminates against their continent. All eight cases being investigated by the ICC concern Africa. But nearly all were called by the countries involved and Africas 34 members make up a key chunk of the courts 122 signatories. The Africans have now reached a stage where they are talking about this as a test of whether you are in favor of Africa or against Africa, said one UN diplomat who has taken part in the often highly emotive talks on the resolution. This was deeply resented by countries who oppose the resolution, added the diplomat, who highlighted how the Security Council voted this week to increase an African force in Somalia that is almost entirely paid for by the European Union. This is turning into the biggest challenge to the court since it was set up, added a second council diplomat. Undoubtedly, the pressure exerted by Kenya, by Rwanda, by Ethiopia increases strain on the court as it tries to strengthen its impact, commented Richard Dicker, justice specialist with Human Rights Watch. He said part of the motivation for the vote was to ratchet up pressure ahead of an assembly of the Rome Statute member countries in The Hague starting Wednesday. The assembly is to discuss possible measures such as allowing defendants to take part by video-conference and to give courts extra leeway to allow absences, which could help Kenyatta and Ruto. I dont think this would lead to a mass walkout, but if this vote goes ahead the atmosphere will be so bad at the assembly it is going to make it so much more difficult to reach agreement on things that could make a difference, said the UN diplomat.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 14:17:33 +0000
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