By CAROLINE WAFULA cwafula@ke.nationmedia.com, Friday, May 17 2013
Prosecutor
Fatou Bensouda said Wednesday the International Criminal Court will
"explore other options" if Kenya fails to fully cooperate on the
post-election violence cases.
Ms Bensouda, who spoke in
Geneva, Switzerland after giving a lecture to students at the
University of Geneva, said ICC maintains expectations that Kenya will
cooperate with the prosecution on the cases facing President Uhuru
Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and former radio presenter Joshua arap
Sang.
“We have been very clear since this started that we want full cooperation,” she said.
Ms Bensouda said the ICC judges will consider other options in case Kenya fails to cooperate.
“That is a matter the Chamber will look into and explore other options,” she said.
“I
have been very clear all the time about this matter. I have stated that
what we want is the full and unwavering cooperation of the Kenyan
Government.
"In the event that this
doesn’t happen, we will have no option but to bring the matter to the
attention of the Chamber for direction,” she said in an interview with
Kenyan journalists in Geneva.
Earlier,
in her lecture to the Geneva University students, she said the Kenyan
situation will be treated like any other case of international crime.
“It is all about seeking justice,” she said.
On
Tuesday, Human Rights Officer at the World Organisation Against Torture
Andrea Meraz said witness protection is key in ensuring justice.
At
the Committee Against Torture session at the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, the Kenyan delegation responded to
questions on measures put in place to protect witnesses locally.
Rhodah
Ongoma from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said the
Witness Protection Agency is up and running and that it has a large
number of witnesses protected under the program.
She said agency is supported by the Treasury and is at liberty to seek additional funding from other sources.
Ms Ongoma said staff have been trained and sensitised on human rights requirements in the protection of witnesses.
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