Tuesday 2 October 2012

[wanabidii] Fatou Bensouda - Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court



 
Folks,
 
 
 
Justice delayed is Justice denied......The two Principals of the Coalition Leadership
inclusively should go through the threshold of Crime against Humanity, Violation and
Abuse........if properly investigated, they could have played Key role as the situation
has not improved........Insecurity, crime, violation and human rights abuse is getting
worse by the day........organized crime is equally on the rise........and this is clearly
unacceptable.......


Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
 
 
 
 
 
 

Fatou Bensouda

Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court

Remarks to the 22nd Diplomatic Briefing

[check against delivery]

The Hague

19 September 2012 Page 2 of 7

Fatou Bensouda

Procureur de la Cour pénale internationale

Allocution à la 22ème séance d'information à l'intention du corps diplomatique

[vérifier à l'audition]

La Haye

19 septembre 2012 Page 3 of 7

 

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for being here today.
This is my first opportunity to brief you as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as three months have passed since I assumed office. Before anything, let me join President Song in offering my sincere condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the US Ambassador and staff who so tragically died in Benghazi. Allow me also to thank you once more for the privilege, responsibility and vote of confidence bestowed upon me by the Assembly of States Parties and the wider international community, and to express my gratitude for the honour to continue to serve international justice.
As President Song mentioned in his statement, this Court has witnessed many changes in the recent months, which have been an intense period. I personally alia spoke at two gender seminars in The Hague, earlier this month; I was invited to travel for official visits to Senegal and Nigeria, in July, where I amongst others met with the respective Presidents; and my Office also opened a preliminary examination into the situation of Mali, following the visit by a delegation from Mali, led by the Minister of Justice, on 18 July, formally requesting an investigation.
These are just a few examples. But I mention them, as they relate to some of the priorities I have identified for my tenure as Prosecutor.
I should also add here that last week, I submitted to the Assembly of States Parties the names of the three candidates for the position of Deputy Prosecutor. Following an extensive process, the following candidates were selected: Ms Raija Toiviainen (Finland); Mr Paul Rutledge (Australia); and Mr James Stewart (Canada). These candidates were selected from a pool of 120 applicants. This nomination is a culmination of an extensive interview process, which was conducted by myself and my Office with outside assistance. The process, which started in May 2012, included an initial screening, written test, oral presentations, face-to-face interviews as well as interaction with Senior Managers and Trial Lawyers within the Office. Allow me to stress here that all interviewed candidates were of very high quality. I selected the candidates that possess the capabilities and qualities of an excellent Deputy Prosecutor, taking into account the requirements of article 42 paragraph 3 of the Statute and my vision for the Office. Page 4 of 7
Of course, the list of pressing issues for me as Prosecutor is long, but one important goal I have set is to ensure that the Office delivers high quality and efficient investigations and prosecutions, which are at the heart of what my Office does. Next to focusing on actually doing those investigations and prosecutions, I also want to reflect on how we can further improve them. We have already defined our basic standards on how we do the investigations with the issuing of our operational manual but I now want to further improve those standards aiming at defining what could be commonly accepted standards for doing international investigations. For that purpose, I am reaching out to the other international tribunals, to international organizations like Interpol and to the law enforcement community in general. With the first trials coming to an end and the lessons learned exercises that the Court is embarking upon, my plan is to further consolidate our prosecutorial standards in the operational manual.
Specifically, regarding our investigations, we have an obligation and a duty to focus our attention on sexual and gender violence. As it can be a challenge to gather evidence of these crimes in some contexts, we will continue to look for innovative methods for the collection of evidence to bring these crimes to Court in a way that will ensure their prosecution and will respect and protect the victims.
The Office will continue to pursue the gender crimes and crimes against children defined in the Rome Statute and the Office will do so systematically. In so doing, I would like to strengthen the cooperation between my Office and civil society. My Office will continue to periodically and consistently revisit its policies and practices regarding sexual and gender crimes, to ensure effective prosecution of these crimes and always striving to do it even better. I hope to finalize a gender policy paper soon.
The appointment of Brigid Inder as the new Special Gender Adviser of the Office will also help to get strategic advice on sexual and gender-based violence, together of course with the strong team I have within the Office.
During my tenure, I also want to contribute to the Court's efforts to strengthen the Court's relationship with Africa. Mali is the fourth African State to refer a situation to the Office of the Prosecutor. ECOWAS also officially supported the Office's intervention in Mali. I am proud of this support as well as the commitment to this Court expressed by the African continent. I will continue to seek the support of all States Parties, including in Africa. Already plans are underway for my visit to Addis Ababa to meet the new Chairperson of the AU. Page 5 of 7
I also want to continue to clarify the process of the Office's preliminary examinations, and ensure transparency in the decisions. For me, preliminary examinations are key elements of OTP activities, as they can provide early opportunity, through contacts with relevant authorities as well as public information, to encourage national proceedings and prevent recurrence of violence. In the coming months the Office will, similar to last year, publish a report on all its preliminary examinations, as well as a comprehensive report on the preliminary examination in Colombia.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In general, the relationships of the Office, within and outside the Court, are important to me. In these relations, the Office's independence as the cornerstone of the Rome Statute system should at all times be respected and protected, in particular by States Parties. The system established by the Rome Statute is based on the concept of independent judicial activity. Without its independence, the Court risks losing its value.
This however does not mean that the Office is an isolated organ. On the contrary. The efficiency of the Court and of this Office relies on the cooperation it receives from the international community. After ten years in operation, the Court and its States Parties have established a system that is operational. Assistance is largely forthcoming. But in order to maximise the Court's role and impact, as well as to improve the Court's effectiveness, it needs the sustained cooperation of all the States Parties to the Statute, in particular when it comes to arresting individuals sought by the Court. In this light it is also perhaps worth recalling the 66 recommendations formulated by the Bureau in 2007. Strategies and efforts to ensure the arrest and surrender of those individuals against whom arrest warrants have been issued must remain at the top of the political agenda of all States Parties. The cost of impunity is simply too high.
Bosco Ntaganda's continued presence in the Kivu provinces is a high risk; the international community needs to support the efforts of the Government of Uganda to arrest the leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army. The Government of Sudan has consistently failed in its responsibility to cooperate with the Court and to arrest and surrender the individuals sought by the Court in relation to the situation in Darfur. The collective community of States therefore should now consider what measures can be taken to ensure execution of the arrest warrants short of military intervention. Page 6 of 7
On a separate note, but similarly related to the support by the Assembly of States Parties, I would like to join President Song in mentioning the resources of the Court. We are all aware of the very difficult economic environment, including for the States Parties, and also aware of the very difficult budget discussions last year.
Throughout the years, the Court, including the Office of the Prosecutor, has consistently found creative ways to ensure and increase efficiency and find savings. For the Office, in addition to the operational manual and standardized policies, the rotational model of moving teams across cases depending on needs has in particular created cost benefits through efficiency gains. However with ever increasing Court activities, we have reached the limits of our absorptive capacity; the 2013 proposed budget is the minimal and reflects the Court's efforts to cut down on costs. Any additional cuts will have considerable impacts on Office's capacity to do its work and fulfill its mandate given by States. I would therefore encourage positive attitude of delegates in the discussions on the budget, knowing that justice is a worthwhile and relatively inexpensive investment in the future.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
With the necessary support from the States Parties, in the coming months and years, the Office of the Prosecutor will continue to improve the quality of its prosecutions. The decision of Trial Chamber I sentencing Thomas Lubanga to 14 years imprisonment, as well as the decision on the reparations principles and proceedings, which the President mentioned earlier, are a great incentive to continue our prosecution in our other cases.
In The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, the judgment is expected to be delivered hopefully before the end of this year, and in The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, presentation of evidence by the defence started on 14 August 2012, within a total timeframe of up to 8 months set by the Trial Chamber.
As we prepare for trial in April next year for the two Kenya cases, we continue to face huge security and witness intimidation issues in Kenya. We can also do with much better cooperation from the Government of Kenya. Page 7 of 7
As the President also mentioned, we are awaiting to hear what will be the new date for the commencement of the confirmation of charges hearing in the case against Laurent Gbagbo, and the same goes for the trial date in the case of The Prosecutor v. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus regarding the attack of the AU peacekeepers in Haskanita in Darfur.
All in all, it is safe to say that there will be sufficient work ahead of us. I hope I may count on your cooperation and support throughout these activities of the Office and more.
Thank you for your attention.
 
 
 

Who gains from Kenya's ICC cases?

 

6 April 2011 Last updated at 19:22 ET

 

 

 

Protesters in Nairobi lobby in support of the ICC case against Kenyan officials According to opinion polls, Kenyans support the ICC's push to punish the perceived perpetrators

Six Kenyan politicians accused of links to the violence which followed the 2007 elections are to appear at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Some Kenyans have been lobbying for the case to be deferred. As Kenyan analyst Gitau Warigi writes for the BBC Focus on Africa magazine, this has more do to with politics than justice

The ICC tug-of-war has provoked another savage bout of infighting within Kenya's shaky coalition government.
The Kibaki wing of the coalition, the Party of National Unity (PNU), is spearheading the deferral campaign and has even instigated a motion in parliament to have Kenya withdraw entirely from the Rome Statute, the treaty that underpins the ICC.
President Mwai Kibaki is entirely fixated with the predicament of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of independence leader, Jomo Kenyatta.
He is also worried about the case of his closest confidante Francis Muthaura, a secretary to the cabinet and that of the former police commissioner, Hussein Ali.
The case against these three is that they organised retaliatory attacks against the initial perpetrators of the massacres. Overall, the violence left 1,200 people dead and more than 500,000 homeless.
The rival Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) faction, led by Prime Minister Raila Odinga, is pulling in the opposite direction and has insisted the country's obligations to the Rome Statute be upheld.
Justice unserved
Whatever the debate, this is in fact about politics rather than justice and it is threatening to destroy the political settlement that ended Kenya's post-election crisis.
Continue reading the main story

Ocampo's list

Supporters of Mwai Kibaki in 2007
  • Uhuru Kenyatta - deputy prime minister and finance minister and son of Kenya's founding president
  • Francis Muthaura - head of civil service and cabinet secretary
  • Hussein Ali - police chief during the violence
Supporters of Raila Odinga in 2007
  • William Ruto - former minister of higher education. Member of the Kalenjin community
  • Henry Kosgey - former minister of industrialisation - chairman of Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement
  • Joshua arap Sang - reporter and executive of radio station, Kass FM

Mr Kenyatta and William Ruto, the former higher education minister who has also been summoned to The Hague, have been saying they will be candidates in the 2012 presidential election when Mr Kibaki's tenure comes to an end.

An indictment by the ICC would almost certainly end these ambitions.
The foremost beneficiary would be Mr Odinga, already being prejudged by opinion polls as the 2012 presidential frontrunner. Yet the ICC matter is hurting the ODM leader almost as much.
It has intensified the long-running feud between Mr Odinga and Mr Ruto.
Those who are backing Mr Ruto have been driven into a marriage of convenience with the PNU, and specifically Mr Kenyatta, with the sole intention of stopping the prime minister's political ambitions dead in their tracks.
Improbable as it sounds, a whispering campaign that Mr Odinga somehow wrote the list of targets for Mr Ocampo, is spreading among both Mr Kenyatta's and Mr Ruto's core supporters.
The other silent beneficiary of the ICC ruckus is Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, but he has opted to play his cards more tactfully than his bitter foe Mr Odinga. With an eye on 2012, he has deliberately chosen to be the face of the government's anti-ICC campaign.
By doing this Mr Musyoka is making a critical investment, drawing on potential supporters in the areas that Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto control.
The expectation is that he will reap the rewards come election time. If indeed the ICC was to put Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto out of political circulation, then Mr Musyoka may be looked upon kindly for his efforts.
So far, the question of his sincerity is being delicately side-stepped.
What is beyond doubt is that if this previously implausible alliance between Mr Kenyatta, Mr Ruto and Mr Musyoka ends up fronting a joint candidate - who the vice-president fervently hopes will be himself - the numbers they can call up would easily overwhelm Mr Odinga.
Already, that is apparent in parliament where the ODM's dominance has been eroded with the defection of Mr Ruto's allies.
Political backfire
The person who could end up paying the highest price over the ICC imbroglio is Mr Kibaki himself. He is the person whom victims of the violence look to for restitution and justice.
Continue reading the main story

Focus on Africa

  • Focus on Africa is broadcast by the BBC World Service

Mr Kibaki's uncharacteristically unsubtle campaign to forestall any ICC trials has left the victims pained and disillusioned.

More so as they see the president hobnobbing with characters like Mr Ruto in whose area most of the violence and destruction was carried out.
Meanwhile, the ICC business remains unfinished, with Mr Ocampo suggesting that the court's decision on indictments could come very soon.
Kenya's lobbying has gone a notch higher to target UN Security Council members. However, there is no guarantee the council will heed Kenya's and the AU's deferral request.
Under ICC rules, a deferral is allowed if a state party guarantees that it has established a credible and independent judicial process to try the crimes in question.
The state party must also demonstrate that it is singularly committed to prosecuting those crimes.
Kenya has yet to demonstrate a commitment on either front.
If anything, attempts to create a special tribunal to try the cases arising from the post-election mayhem have failed twice in the Kenyan parliament.
 
 
 

Why Kibaki and Raila are top candidates for The Hague

By George Nyongesa
Sunday, November 1, 2009

It is foregone that ICC prosecutor Mr. Ocampo shall on 3rd of November be a guest of the people of Kenya. The ICC prosecutor will be in the country to shop around for the fastest ship or airplane services that will shortly route the masterminds of the 2007 post election murders, rape and plunders to The Hague. Mr. Ocampo's excursion seems a basket of mixed reactions for 2012 presidential hopefuls as for all Kenyans.

For Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, Ocampo's mission to Kenya is a living nightmare they wish was just a bad dream. The duo is already sleep deprived and experiencing serious weightloss. For Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka alias 'miracle-man' this a divine tsunami that will drown competitors especially if Raila Odinga is part of Waki envelop. Is it any wonder that Kalonzo is on new found mission to unite Kenyans? Ask yourself where he has been over the last 2 years. For Raila Odinga, Ocampo's visit heralds good tidings for fixing the Ruto problem in the Orange Democratic Movement. On the other hand, Daniel Moi and Mwai Kibaki are also suffering a migraine from a likelihood of second miscarriage of project Uhuru.

However, Ocampo's mission considered in the right way is not a mission to fix political antagonism. It is a journey of hope for Kenyans who have for so long suffered grand impunity from their political leaders. It is the rays of dawn after a midnight of disrespect of human rights and rule of law by the powerful.

In all these it should slip our mind that it would be great injustice and an even greater debacle of democracy if the two principals are not indicted to The Hague. The violence that ensued after the bungled 2007 elections was composed of wars fought by persons who were doing it for their preferred leader between the two principals. If anything, none of the two principals is on record as coming out in condemnation of the violence. In fact, one of them issued a call for mass action to protest the stolen election, while his antagonist employed state resources of terror to quell the resulting protests. Whichever side of the divide you may have viewed it from, what ensued was nevertheless murder, rape and wanton destruction of public and private property.

If The Hague process is truly about addressing the impunity that has dogged Kenya for a long time, it must remain clear that there are very few top politicians that can claim to be clean of the impunity. The two principals cannot be absolved while their soldiers bear the brunt of the prosecution. No matter that there were people who executed the orders on their behalf, those people acted on the instructions of or misguided ambitions of their principals. Therefore, if the generals are to be indicted, it is only befitting if not imperative that the principals should lead the pack as they did during PEV. Otherwise, the Hague process would be a cosmetic approach to addressing the roots of impunity. Why should ICC come for William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta and leave Kibaki and Raila? If Uhuru and Ruto are guilt of crimes against humanity for post election violence, Kibaki and Raila are more guilt on the same account. Why should Kibaki and Raila get a soft landing? Who doesn't know the two were protecting the interests of their masters? Didn't Waki tell us that some part of violence was planned in the house on the hill?

Further, there is every logical reason that the events that led the run up to, those that characterised the elections and thereafter, are ample basis to indict the two principals. One for having failed as the president of the country, and the other for having failed as a leader of his followers. This leadership vacuum necessarily triggered the senseless killings and plunder by leaving Kenyans confused and with undirected negative energies as the two principals faced off. We cannot pussyfoot around arresting and bundling the principals in MV Hague for fear that their arrest might re-ignite post election violence. We must have the two most powerful men taken to The Hague to reassure the ordinary Kenyans that after all the rich and powerful can also face justice. We must have these two arrested to warn anyone else nursing motives of deploying tools of violence in order to acquire power. Anything short of making Kibaki and Raila to account for their commissions and omissions; for their action and inactions shall be a mockery of justice.
 
 

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