ICC DISMISSES CLAIMS ON KENYAN CASES

Nairobi, Kenya: The International Criminal
Court (ICC) has dismissed a resolution made
by the African Union (AU) over the Kenyan
cases before the court.
African Heads of State objected to
International Criminal Court trials facing
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy
William Ruto but The Hague-based court
responded judges couldn’t be swayed by
political positions.
In their resolution passed Monday, the
African leaders said that Kenya has a
credible Judiciary capable of hearing and
determining the cases impartially and
expeditiously.
But contacted by The Standard Monday, the
ICC dismissed the resolution by African
leaders on the Kenya cases saying the
matter should be left to the court to
decide.
Responding to the resolutions passed in the
Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa by African
Heads of States, ICC Outreach Coordinator
for Kenya Mabia Mabinty Kamara said the
court cannot consider the AU resolution
could only decide deferring the cases. She
explained that a previous request by the
Kenya government to transfer the cases to
Kenya did not convince the judges that
Kenya was conducting genuine investigations
and prosecutions.
“The ICC will not proceed with a case if the
national judicial system proves that it is
prosecuting and that it is willing and
capable of conducting such genuine
prosecution for the same people that have
been accused before the ICC,” she said.
She added: “As an independent and purely
judicial institution, the ICC does not react
to political statements and resolutions, that
are not submitted to the ICC by the parties
to a case in accordance with the ICC
procedural rules.”
In her statement, Ms Kamara said that ICC
Judges cannot be influenced by the AU
saying the court does not take any political
matter into consideration when deciding on
cases related to serious and grave crimes
allegedly committed in Kenya or any other
situation under investigations by the Court.
“The ICC Judges only apply the rules of law
and decide on the basis of the evidence
presented to them in accordance with the
procedural rules of the ICC,” she said.