Last week the six prominent Kenyans accused of crimes against humanity in the aftermath of the 2007 disputed elections had their first pre-trial appearances before the International Criminal Court at the Hague. The court has now verified that the suspects are aware of their rights and the charges against them. Hearings for confirmation of the charges have been set down for 1st and 2nd September this year.
The cases have arrived at the Hague via a curious process. Kenya is a member of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, which gives the ICC jurisdiction over crimes against humanity in cases where a member country is unwilling or unable to carry out the investigation or prosecution. The Kenyan parliament had ample opportunity to set up a procedure for investigating and trying the crimes but refused to do so, and the ICC has undertaken the investigations and prosecutions as a last resort.
Although the Kenyan parliament effectively voted to have the crimes tried at the Hague, it has recently been trying to have the hearings deferred on the ground that Kenya has the ability to conduct the trials itself. However, no steps have been taken to commence such trials; the unspoken reality seems to be that Kenyan politicians seem to feel they have the right to commit crimes against humanity without having to account to anyone.