President Uhuru Kenyatta. Kenya has backtracked on one of the amendments it initially proposed to the international law which created the ICC. PHOTO/FILE Photo/SALATON NJAU
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Kenya has backtracked on one of the amendments it initially proposed to the international law which created the ICC.
On November 4, Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Mr Macharia Kamau, had asked that a clause allowing attendance through “communication technology” be included as part of the amendments to the Rome Statute.
In a letter to Mr Paul Seger, the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN who was then chairing the UN Working Group on Amendments of the Rome Statute, Mr Kamau had asked for support for the proposed amendment which if accepted, would allow President Uhuru Kenyatta to attend court sessions via video link from Nairobi.
“Kenya wishes to submit the attached proposal for consideration by your working group at the meeting scheduled for Tuesday 5 November, 2013,” said part of the letter seen by the Nation.
One of the proposals included “changes to the trial schedule or temporary adjournment or attendance through the use of communications technology or through representation by counsel”.
Mr Kamau had asked Mr Seger’s team to consider his proposal alongside another by Botswana which also proposed amendments to the same clause.
However, the Kenya government is now up in arms after the British government submitted a similar proposal to allow some accussed to participate in trial through video link to ease of the burden of having to be physically present in the courtroom. Kenyan leaders say the British-sponsored amendment was meant to water down the changes being proposed by Kenya and the African Union for immunity for serving Heads of State.
CRITICISED BRITISH
On Wednesday, Jubilee MPs led by the Leader of Majority in Parliament, Mr Aden Dualle, criticised the British government for the proposal saying it was meant to create unnecessary confusion and water down Kenya’s move to push for deferral.
“We do not want video link. We want total immunity,” Mr Dualle said.
Some 122 State parties to the Rome Statues meeting in The Hague are expected to deliberate on the proposals during the conference.
Although Deputy President William Ruto left Nairobi for The Hague yesterday, it was not clear by the time of going to press, whether he was going to attend the conference or be in time for his case. Mr Ruto is expected in court Friday.
Thursday, judges allowed him to be away a day after Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had asked them to revoke Mr Ruto’s excusal. Ms Bensouda had said that Mr Ruto was scheduled to address the state parties meeting yet he was a party to the dispute. In his response, Mr Ruto’s lawyer, Mr Karim Khan, asked the judges to dismiss the application because Mr Ruto would be in court Friday and nothing had changed since his team applied for him to be excused from attending Thursday’s session.
In a related development, the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Amina Mohamed, has also been forging ahead with a proposal to grant immunity for heads of state until they leave office.
Speaking in The Hague on Wednesday night, Mrs Mohamed argued that the amendment would help address the tension between the ICC and the African continent and for the sake of peace.
“The amendments we are seeking are achievable and we count on your support,” she said while addressing the Assembly of State Parties.
ITEMS LISTED
Eleven items have been listed in the agenda of conference now underway with the amendments to the Rome Statute and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence being one of them.
Thursday Human Rights Watch asked ICC state parties to reject efforts to provide immunity from prosecution to sitting government leaders.
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