The Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute yesterday debated the African Union proposal to amend the Rome Statute to shield sitting heads of state from trial at the ICC.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Amina Mohammed and Attorney General Githu Muigai led Kenya’s delegation at the ASP meeting at The Hague, Netherlands Civil society groups appearing at the ASP meeting opposed the proposed amendments.
They said Kenya is vilifying the ICC yet it failed to put in place mechanisms for local trials before the ICC intervened in the 2007-08 post-election violence cases.
The NGOs, who are members of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, met on the sidelines of the ASP and said the amendments support impunity.
Human Rights Watch’s Richard Dicker and Amnesty International’s Stephenie Barobour are among those who hit out at the Kenyan government over the way it has been handling the ICC issue.
“President Uhuru and Deputy President William Ruto have managed to turn round upside down and appear to be victims in the ICC cases while making the court look like the pertrators,” Dicker said. He said it is wrong to ignore the cries of Kenya’s PEV victims and treat the court as a political organ.
George Kegoro from the International Commission of Jurists Kenya said many Kenyans support the ongoing trial of Uhuru and Ruto. He said attempts to frustrate justice are unacceptable.
Kegoro said Kenya has a legacy of political violence, which has become a culture of the country’s politics yet there have been no efforts towards justice.
Amnesty International asked the ICC to expand its operations to other parts of the world where crimes have been committed.Barbour said the amendments being sponsored by Botswana, which will lead to a change in the regulations and exempt Uhuru from attending the trials personally, is a contradiction of the Rome Statute. She said it will allow impunity and encourage such leaders to continue staying in power.
MATHEWS NDANYI at THE HAGUE NETHERLANDS, The Star
