Date: Fri Dec 5 18:08:24 2014
ICC drops murder and rape charges against Kenyan president
Blow for court's credibility as key prosecution witness refuses to testify
in Uhuru Kenyatta trial and another admits lying
* <http://www.theguardian.com/profile/owenbowcott> Owen Bowcott,
legal affairs correspondent
* <http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian> The Guardian, Friday 5
December 2014 14.10 GMT
*
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/05/crimes-humanity-charges-kenya-
president-dropped-uhuru-kenyatta#start-of-comments> Jump to comments (.)
All charges against Kenya's president have been dropped by the international
criminal court (ICC), highlighting the tribunal's difficulties in bringing
to justice the high-ranking officials it has accused of atrocities.
With a show of reluctance, the chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda,on Friday
filed a notice withdrawing
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/03/kenyatta-kenya-election-2013>
allegations against the president, Uhuru Kenyatta. She accused the Kenyan
government of harassing and intimidating potential witnesses.
"Given the state of the evidence in this case, I have no alternative but to
withdraw the charges against Mr Kenyatta," the Gambian lawyer explained. "I
am doing so without prejudice to the possibility of bringing a new case
should additional evidence become available."
He added: "This is a painful moment for the men, women and children who have
suffered tremendously from the horrors of the post-election violence, and
who have waited, patiently, for almost seven years to see justice done."
Kenyatta had been charged with crimes against humanity including murder,
rape, persecution and deportation as an "indirect co-perpetrator" in
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/31/kenya.haroonsiddique> violence
that flared after Kenya's 2007 elections, leaving more than 1,000 people
dead.
The collapse of the case is a new blow to the credibility of the court's
prosecution office. The office has
<http://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/may/06/international-criminal-court-tas
k-vital> begun nine full investigations since it was established in 2002,
all of them in Africa, and has just seven suspects in custody.
Reacting to the news on Friday, Kenyatta said he was excited and called for
a case against his deputy, William Ruto, and another Kenyan to be dropped as
well. "One down, two to go," he said.
Kenyatta's British lawyer, Steven Kay, said the court and its prosecutors
"owe [Kenyatta] an apology for bringing proceedings based upon false
witnesses and impugning his integrity".
Kenyatta's trial was postponed twice this year while
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/icc-uhuru-kenyatta-kenya>
prosecutors attempted to shore up their case after one of their key
witnesses refused to testify and another admitted giving false evidence.
Kenyatta was indicted in 2011 but went on to become president in the 2013
election, using his indictment at The Hague-based court as an election
issue. His government lobbied hard to have the case against him deferred by
the UN security council, arguing that the delay was essential because Kenya
needed its leader to help fight al-Shabaab terrorists in neighbouring
Somalia and at home.
The court's mission is to prosecute perpetrators of atrocities when a
country is unwilling or unable to prosecute them itself. It has no police
force and must rely on help from governments that may only wish to cooperate
when it suits their political purposes.
<http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/Pa
ges/otp-stat-04-12-2014.aspx> In her statement, Bensouda blamed the Kenyan
government for obstructing her investigations. "Contrary to the government
of Kenya's public pronouncements that it has fully complied with its legal
obligations in this case, the ruling has confirmed that in fact it has
breached its treaty obligations under the Rome statute by failing to
cooperate with my investigation," she said.
"I have persistently sought to secure the cooperation that my office
required from the government of Kenya in this case in order to execute my
mandate. Crucial documentary evidence regarding the 2007-08 post-election
violence, including concerning the conduct of the accused, can only be found
in Kenya and is only accessible to the prosecution through the assistance of
the government of Kenya. This crucial assistance was ultimately not
provided, as confirmed by the recent decision of the trial chamber."
Bensouda said prosecutors had also endured a "steady and relentless stream
of false media reports about the Kenya cases, an unprecedented campaign on
social media to expose the identity of protected witnesses in the Kenya
cases [and] concerted and wide-ranging efforts to harass, intimidate and
threaten individuals who would wish to be witnesses."
In October, Kenyatta became the first head of state to appear before the
ICC. He temporarily handed over power to his deputy, William Ruto, before
flying to The Hague. The international statute that established the ICC
removed the principle that serving heads of state or governments should be
granted immunity from prosecution under international law. He had previously
appeared before being elected president.
The African Union, which represents countries across the continent, has
accused the court of focusing its hearings excessively on African countries.
Kenya has cooperated with the ICC while Sudan's president, Omar Hassan
al-Bashir, has defied repeated summons to appear.
Bensouda last month requested an indefinite postponement, saying Nairobi had
refused to cooperate with a request for financial statements and other
statements leaving her without enough evidence for a trial.
On Wednesday, however,
<http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/Pa
ges/PR1071.aspx> the ICC rejected the prosecutors' request for a further
adjournment, directing instead that they either withdraw charges or proceed
to trial. The court also dismissed a prosecution request for a finding of
"non-cooperation" against Kenya.
"The decision to drop charges against President Kenyatta is devastating to
the thousands of survivors who saw the court as their last hope for holding
one of Africa's most powerful leaders accountable," said Karen Naimer,
director of the Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones at Physicians
for Human Rights (PHR). "The collapse of this case is a serious blow to the
international criminal court and international justice, where gathering
evidence against political leaders protected by their state remains an
enormous challenge. We hope the court can use the evidence it has gathered
to support its case against the remaining perpetrators."
Earlier this week, the UK charity Redress, which supports survivors of
torture, criticised the court for failing to ensure Kenya cooperated.
"Effectively, the court is saying: our powers to compel a state to cooperate
with the ICC are limited so we will not even try," said Carla Ferstman,
director of Redress. "There should be real consequences for states who fail
to cooperate with the court.
Uhuru Kenyatta at the ICC in October 2014Kenya's president, Uhuru Kenyatta,
at the international criminal court in The Hague in October. Photograph:
Peter de Jong/EPA
(image/jpeg attachment: image001.jpg)