Section of NGOs not happy with ICC withdrawing Kenyatta's case

ASP update: "something very sinister on the part of the executive in Kenya"

The 13th session of the Assembly of States Parties(composed of countries who have signed up to the ICC) is currently underway, and Kenya's civil society is strongly represented at the meeting in New York. The activists - who have been quite vocal at the ASP - say that they are advocating for justice and providing accurate information about the latest developments in the Kenya ICC cases.

By Janet Anderson

“We’re exercising our right to participation,” says James Gondi, of the Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ), a coalition of NGOs which came together in the wake of the 2007/8 post-election violence to seek justice for the victims. 

Although the Rome Statute was developed with the input of many NGOs, Gondi stresses that the Kenyan ones who are the ASP also have contacts and interest in the victims and they are “genuinely interested in prosecuting those responsible for the crimes that were committed" during the PEV.

(Image: James Gondi of KPTJ)

The Kenyan civil society organizations form quite a block – 17 strong – and they’re taking part in any event they can: speaking to lobbyists, government and international organizations.

“We’re providing states with accurate information and analysis on what’s happening in Kenya. We’re asserting the true position on the Kenyatta case,” Gondi says.

Basically they’re not giving up, even though the Kenyatta case may be dead. “The withdrawal of charges does not amount to an acquittal. It’s simply a withdrawal of charges. Fresh ones can always be brought in,” says Gondi.

According to Haron Ndubi, who’s worked as a lawyer representing victims at the Waki Commission, “many victims are happy that there’s at least that little window. So long as it’s open and not completely closed, it means it can be exploited at whatever time it becomes useful and effective.”

KPTJ has brought out a hard-hitting analysis of how they reckon the Kenyan government has been trying to avoid justice. In a a seven-point bitter series of accusations, they claim that the government has been “playing jurisdictional shell games”, implying that: it has been pretending to support different initiatives to set up tribunals to get the events of the PEV to court, and then scuppering them. And also that the government has been blocking investigations and ignoring victims.

The criticism does not let up there. Let’s remember, says Gondi that “one of the reasons the charges were withdrawn [against Kenyatta] was because a lot of the witnesses disappeared, were intimidated or coerced into withdrawing their evidence. So there is something there that is very sinister on the part of the executive in Kenya”.

And Gondi believes that the Ruto case is next on the government’s agenda: “the pressure is now on the Kenyatta wing of the coalition to get a withdrawal of charges for Ruto because the glue that holds the coalition together is the Uhuroto axis – as two accused persons at the ICC. So I think William Ruto’s backyard is going to being sending a lot of signals that you better put the work in to get us free too. Otherwise we’ll support somebody else at the next election.”

Also read about reactions from the Rift Valley to the withdrawal of Kenyatta's ICC case: 'We too want the ICC to free our sons'

Ndubi is incensed by the way the state apparatus has been used. “The state machinery has been deployed to defend the president as the defendant. The attorney general should have had more of a neutral position – supportive of victims and defendants and not just one side. He was acting as if he was a defence counsel.”

Will being here in New York make any difference? Gondi says the NGOs are making sure the ideals of the Rome Statute are being followed through: “advocating for justice for victims of atrocities is definitely not a waste of money,” he says.

Images: Scenes from the 13th Assembly of States Parties in New York (Photos: Janet Anderson/Justice Hub)