Story By Dickens Wasonga
It is now official.The International Criminal Court investigating Kenya’s post poll chaos that rocked the East African country in early 2008 will not use the Waki nor the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights reports to prosecute the key perpetrators violence.
This means that the ICC will not depend entirely on the Waki list or the KNCHR list of suspects to prosecute those said to have influenced the violence which led to the loss of 1,300 lives and displacement of about 350,000 others.
Even the witnesses who testified before the two commissions (Waki and KNCHR) may not be called upon to testify at the ICC when the prosecutions begin.
Speaking in Kisumu on Wednesday during a forum with civil society organizations drawn from Nyanza and Western provinces led by Nyanza CSO leader Betty Okero, two ICC investigators termed as misconceived ideas belief by majority of Kenyans that ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will use the Waki and KNCHR lists of suspects in his prosecution.
The duo, Clause Molitor and Mohammed Kheir cited that the two reports were only relevant during the initial stages of ICC investigations in the country.
“They simply helped us build a foundation for our investigations,” said Kheir adding that currently they are carrying out their own independent investigations to ascertain the truth about the violence that rocked the country soon after the last general elections.
They said ICC had identified their witnesses whom were accurately vetted to ascertain their integrity adding that the two witnesses Ken Wekesa and Kipkemboi Rono whom recently confessed to having given false information at KNCHR commission after receiving bribes are not among their selected witnesses.
They also maintained that the ICC will not shield any individual because of their status in the country.
“Once we conclude gathering our evidences, we shall present them to Ocampo who sent us here to use them to prosecute the suspects regardless of their status,” they said.
If this is anything to go by, even the two principals if found to have participated in the violence that hit the country soon after President Kibaki was declared the election winner will not be spared either.
They dismissed as empty talk that ICC targets leaders from certain communities citing that the court stands to gain nothing from the prosecutions but only aims at doing justice to the victims of the violence and to ensure that a repeat of such is not witnessed again in the country.
“We do not target any community and you should rest assured that ICC has no political deal in Kenya’s 2012 elections,” said Clause adding that the recent visit to the ICC headquarters at the Hague by some Kenyan politicians was genuine as anybody is free to visit the court to present information.
The two detectives sounded a warning to those making attempts to bribe the ICC investigators citing that they too risk arrest and prosecution at The Hague.
And on a gesture which is likely to make other leaders breath with a sigh of relief, the officials hinted that ICC will not prosecute individuals who acted on self defense during the violence.
“Those who acted on self defense and on defense of their property will be spared since they had no intention of causing harm to anybody,” said Kheir.
He however maintained that the court will only release them once it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that they were actually acting on self and property defense.
They criticized those holding the opinion that the Kenyan government is not committed in ensuring that the ICC prosecutes prime suspects of the violence adding that they have received ample time from the government during their investigations.
“I think if the government was not committed towards this process it would send us away like the Sudanese administration did,” said Kheir.
They assured the victims of the post election violence that it is only a matter of time for them to get justice.
Ends