US to Help the ICC Protect Kenyan Witnesses

On February 11, 2010 U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, Stephen Rapp, stated that the United States would assist in protecting witnesses that testify in International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings.   The ICC is carrying out preliminary examinations into the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya. ICC judges are currently in the process of deciding whether Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo can proceed with an investigation into the violence that killed more than 1,000 people and left over 300,000 people displaced. As an ICC State Party, Kenya would be obliged to arrest any citizen indicted by the Court.

According to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights more than 20 witnesses who testified during the 2008 government-led investigation into the violence went into hiding or exile after receiving death threats.  Ambassador Rapp underlined a holistic approach to protecting witnesses: "The reform agenda, in particular in regard to police and the judiciary, [is] critical. Without that, you won't have the confidence of witnesses to come forward."

A further criminal justice issue in Kenya surrounds Felicien Kabuga. Kabuga is a fugitive who owned a Rwandan radio station which urged ethnic Hutu to kill ethnic Tutsi during the Rwandan genocide.  The prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda have said that Kenyan officials have not done enough to assist in capturing him.   Ambassador Rapp told reporters in Nairobi: "I'm here to convey the message that the level of cooperation has to dramatically improve . There is no question that Felicien Kabuga has been in Kenya."

Ambassador Rapp emphasized the importance of bringing perpetrators of grave violence to justice: "If there is not accountability for the violence of 2007, 2008, when the election cycle returns in 2012 it could happen again, and it could be worse.The blood of Kenyans would be spilled, the hopes for the future would be dashed, and it would affect the entire region."

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