ICC prosecutor to visit Kenya
2009-10-30 13:54
The Hague - The International Criminal Court's prosecutor will visit Kenya next week for talks on trying those responsible for violence after 2007 elections, his office said on Thursday.
"The prosecutor will arrive on November 5 and stay one or two days," a spokesperson said, without giving details on who he would meet or what was on the agenda.
Kenya said earlier this month it had invited the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, for talks with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga over the trials of suspects in the post-election violence.
Moreno-Ocampo's office said last month he would pursue those "most responsible" for alleged crimes against humanity, with Kenya itself trying the rest. He said he would hold talks on the modalities with senior Kenyan officials within weeks.
Some 1500 people were killed and another 300,000 displaced in a matter of weeks following presidential polls in December 27, 2007, in which then opposition chief Odinga accused Kibaki of having stolen the vote.
Face justice
Odinga is now prime minister under a power-sharing deal.
The Kenyan government has yet to act on the recommendations of its own inquiry last October that a special tribunal be set up to try those responsible.
In June, former UN chief Kofi Annan also called on Kenya to set up a special court to try suspects, or have them face justice before the ICC.
Annan, the chief broker in Kenya's power-sharing talks, sent the court a list of names of key suspects in July that is believed to include top government officials.
The ICC is the world's only independent, permanent court with the jurisdiction to try genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
- SAPA