Kenya banks on ICC talks to delay cases

{Kenya is optimistic that the International Criminal Court state parties meeting in The Hague from Tuesday will pass an amendment to shield sitting presidents from prosecution at the court.}

Attorney General Githu Muigai and Foreign Affairs Secretary Amina Mohamed said Monday that the government was hoping that the assembly of state parties will adopt the resolution, which is being pushed by the African Union (AU).

Thirty-four African countries, which have signed the Rome Statute, have resolved to push for immunity from prosecution by ICC for serving heads of state and government.

However, a group of African NGOs in New York, USA, yesterday asked the ICC member states to reject the amendments proposed by the AU.

“Immunity for government leaders before the ICC is contrary to the basic principle that no one should be above the law,” said Mr Georges Kapiamba, president of the Congolese Association for Access to Justice.

“We should not deny justice to the victims and their families because their tormentors hold high political positions.”

But speaking in Nairobi, Prof Muigai said that other nations, which are also state parties to the Rome Statute — which created the ICC — have also expressed support for the amendment.

“There is no likelihood that the amendment will not go through,” he told journalists on the sidelines of a seminar for judges in Nairobi.

According to him, Britain and France are among the countries that have already expressed their support for the amendments.

“There are many amendments that will be on the table, including reviewing of the cases that have been handled by the court and those that are currently before it,” he said.

Prof Muigai, who is set to join the Kenyan team for the talks at The Hague, also said that the amendments have been drafted over a period of some months through meetings of contact groups, which have been working to review the rules of the ICC to make the court more flexible.
He, however, denied that a rejection of the amendment would affect the relationship between Kenya and the ICC.

Daily Nation