The Pursuit by the ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo to prosecute the six suspects of the Kenya-Post-Election violence, following the disputed elections in 2007, has seen much unprecedented development. The decision by the Presidency of the International Criminal Court (ICC), authorizing the prosecutor to open investigations into the situation in Kenya, gave Ocampo the opportunity to present his evidence to the Pre-Trial Chamber II for scrutiny in an effort to enforce the issuance of summonses to the Ocampo Six, to appear before the court. On the contrary, the Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki, appointed a seven-member  team, led by H.E Vice-President, Kalonzo Musyoka, to lobby the 15 United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members to accept Kenya’s bid for deferral of the International Criminal Court cases involving the Ocampo Six.

Diplomats at the UNSC reprobated the Kenyan bid saying Kenya chose a wrong option to seek the 12-month deferral at the UN, rather than presenting its plea directly to the ICC. This decision by the UNSC has nullified the shuttle diplomacy mission being implemented by Kalonzo Musyoka and the President Mwai Kibaki’s wing of government. The pedestal of the shuttle diplomacy is fixed on the idea that Kenya is now in a position of establishing a credible local-tribunal to try the PEV suspects. The proponents of this diplomatic mission argue that trials at the Hague will threaten Kenya’s national stability. However, Article 16, of the Rome Statute, establishing the ICC allows for deferral of cases for countries, in the event that the proceedings at the court threaten international peace. Thus, Kenya on Friday 18^th March failed in its quest to overly convince the UNSC that such a threat exists.

Time is speedily running out for any disengaging maneuver upon prosecution of the Ocampo Six at the Hague, now that they have been issued with summonses to appear before the Judges at the ICC on 7^th April, and in addition the UNSC decry on deferral of the cases. Kenya can still pursue the deferral option by setting up credible judicial systems that are capable of handling the cases as stipulated in Article 19 of the Rome Statute.

References:

www.nation.co.ke, Why Kenya failed to defer ICC cases at Security Council (22^nd March 2011)

www.icc-cpi.int, Situations and Cases (22^nd March 2011)

www.kbc.co.ke, UNSC declines Kenyan bid on ICC deferral (22^nd March 2011)