By Dickens Wasonga.
Only 327 people have been picked as victims by the International Criminal Court which is seeking to punish those who are suspected to have been behind the post poll chaos that rocked the country in 2008.
According to Maria Kamara, the ICC’s field outreach coordinator , those were the people who got the approval of the pre -trial chamber judges as victims authorized to participate in the confirmation of charges proceedings at the Hague.
Speaking at a Kisumu hotel on Tuesday during a workshop for journalists covering ICC issues Kamara disclosed that the selected victims were amongst several Kenyans who had indicated interest of participation in the process and did so voluntarily.
She stated that although they have been picked by the judges , they will be represented by a legal team that will be put together and who will travel to represent them at the Hague.
Kamara pointed out that those victims will not have to be present during the confirmation hearings slated for next month and in October where the six suspects will get the opportunity to make a statement on the charges facing them
The first team to appear for the confirmation schedule for September 1st will be the suspects from ODM side of the coalition and includes the suspended higher education minister William Ruto, Kass FM journalist Joshua San’g and Tinderet MP Henry Kosgei.
The other group who includes ambassador Francis Muthaura[ Secretary to the Cabinet] , Hussien Ali [ postmaster Genral] and Uhuru Kenyatta [deputy prime minister] will appear in October.
The coordinator said the victims were picked after a visit to all the hot spot areas and IDP camps by a team of officers from the court’s victim’s participation and reparation division who also held consultations with victims from affected communities.
” Many people indicated interest in taking part in the process, they completed forms provided by the ICC teams and the same was handed over to the judges who picked the 327.”
She disclosed that civil society groups from the regions affected most by the poll chaos were involved into mobilizing the people who showed willingness to participate in the process.
Kamara clarified that the confirmation of the charges was not meant to determine whether the suspects were guilty or not but would offer them an opportunity to make a statement.
It would also give the ICC chief prosecutor Moreno Ocampo the chance to give full evidence he has gathered to build hid case.
And she confirmed that there were no provisions within the operations of the ICC that bar accused persons before it from seeking any political office.
” That is a constitutional matter that each country can address and the court has nothing to do with the political ambitions of those under trial should the charges be confirmed”.said Kamara.
She was reacting to concerns raised by journalists who wanted to know if the confirmation of the charges could stop the suspects from running in the 2012 elections.
This is considering that two of the suspects, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto are presidential hopefuls.
The two have been on a campaign trail and appear not bothered about the impending trails at the Hague.
However according to analysts the duo may not be out of the woods yet especially if the charges were to be confirmed.
They opined that any Kenyan would go to court and seek its interpretation of the constitution.Besides, ICC does not have a time frame of cases before it as long as there is no indication of a deliberate move to delay the proceedings.
That means if the charges are confirmed, the cases could go beyond the set dates for the general elections in Kenya thus complicating matters for Ruto and Uhuru both of whom are viewed as strong candidates in the G7alliance.
ENDS.