On 22 January, 2014 the former ICC prosecutor, Louis Moreno Ocampo was interviewed by The Hague Trials Kenya (THTK) on the Kenyan cases at The Hague. Questions asked during the interview were crowd- sourced from followers of the THTK Facebook page. By Verita* The interview In this interview, Ocampo gave a candid explanation of the challenges faced in a criminal trial of this magnitude. They include collection of evidence and the protection of witnesses. Further, he adequately addressed the allegations of witness bribery and the withdrawal of witnesses. Ocampo gave a clear insight into how the ‘Ocampo Six’ were chosen and why the names of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga were not included in this list. What is most impressive is that he addressed international justice from a holistic perspective, stating that international justice is just not about judges and prosecutors but also about leaders’ political will. He too, just like many of us in this field, feels that justice is not easy to come by and that people will get disappointed in this process. It is just the way it is. Reactions to the interview People will see what they want to see. Despite Ocampo’s comprehensive interview on a myriad of issues on the Kenyan cases, one paragraph caught the eye of various media outlets and the spin that followed from their skewed interpretation did not paint a flattering image of the ICC. Suffice to say that a few sentences, taken completely out of context, fuelled the anti-ICC propaganda. The contentious ‘Ocampo confession’ read as follows: “There were some diplomats asking me to do something more to prevent Kenyatta or Ruto from running in the elections. And I said, its not my job. Judges in Kenya should do that. And if they authorise them to run, people will vote. And if people vote for them, we have nothing to say.” This was in response to a question on the biggest challenge Ocampo had encountered in the investigation. These few last sentences formed part of a lengthy explanation on the challenges. It must be read in its entirety to avoid misinterpretation. The media coverage of this interview exposed a deliberate and targeted attempt to discredit the ICC and to rally the masses against this ‘neo-colonial’ court. These are but a few of the blown out headlines and stories that followed: ‘Ocampo’s bombshell leaves ICC flat on its face’ : “In an exclusive interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) in early February 2014, Ocampo revealed that the Kenyan ICC cases were trumped up charges by Western foreign envoys who had asked him to block Kenyatta and Ruto from contesting Kenya’s presidency. With Ocampo’s recent revelations in the RNW interview, it is now emerging that the ICC cases against the Kenyan leaders are nothing but a neatly choreographed plot by Western diplomats and their home governments to deny Kenyans of the leaders voters wanted.” ‘Ocampo remarks spark fury over ‘politics’ around Kenyan ICC cases’: Mr Kibe Mungai, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, says Ocampo has finally confirmed that the ICC cases have been riddled with political power games. “It was obvious people like Kofi Annan and some Western nations particularly Britain and Germany wanted Uhuru out of the race to create an easy path for Raila by eliminating competition.” ‘Ocampo: Envoys Wanted Uhuru and Ruto out of polls ’: He tells how some diplomats, whom he did not name, exerted pressure on him to ensure President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, Mr William Ruto, were not on the ballot at the elections. The reactions from the ruling class, which obviously made headlines, came in fast, furious and targeted. The majority leader of the ruling coalition, Aden Duale, called for Ocampo to appear before the court as a witness in the case against three Kenyans, given his admission that some diplomats wanted him to bar Uhuru and Ruto from contesting the 2013 elections. A senator allied to the Jubilee Coalition, Charles Keter , asked the former ICC prosecutor to name all the ‘meddling’ envoys who tried to force him to indict Uhuru and Ruto. Another legislator allied to Jubilee, Kabando wa Kabando, called for the ICC to jail Ocampo for lying and for admitting publicly that he was pushed to fix President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto. It is not surprising that in the Ocampo interview, the spotlight was not turned on pertinent issues such as challenging cooperation from the Kenyan government during the collection of evidence and exposure of witnesses to the defence team due to the nature of criminal trial processes. Instead, the focus was on building a narrative against Ocampo and the ICC. It worked extremely well, if the backlash is anything to go by. Too little too late Ocampo recently tried to clear the allegations that he ‘fixed’ Uhuru and Ruto, as was sensationally claimed by various media outlets . In my opinion, this was too little too late. Ocampo should have struck while the iron was hot, when the spin was fresh. Now the spin had served its purpose, and Ocampo’s response seems like an ill- thought afterthought. Predictably, the Kenyan media have picked up on Ocampo’s latest interview with one of the headlines reading Ocampo Beats Retreat on Cliams of UhuruRuto fixing . This headline again does nothing for Ocampo. Instead it makes it appear as if Ocampo is guilty and trying to clean up after himself. Perhaps, Ocampo should have been more guarded in his first interview and saved a few of his sentiments for his memoirs. I am sorry to break it to Mr. Ocampo, but the damage had already been done. Lead image: Former ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo (Photo: Clara Sanchiz/The Hague Trials Kenya) *Verita M. is the pseudonym of a Nairobi-based human rights activist. The opinions expressed here are those of their author and are not intended to reflect those of The Hague Trials Kenya.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 15:05:29 +0000
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