AU push for UN deferral of Kenya's ICC cases 'unlikely to succeed'

Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto (behind), who is currently being tried at the ICC for crimes against humanity, pictured here with his lawyer Karim Khan. PHOTO | FILE 

Kenya's Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has said that the special African Union summit scheduled for October 12 will discuss continental interests including Africa’s relations
with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

She said the special summit is a follow up to an earlier summit in July this year where it was agreed that another meeting would be held to discuss Africa’s relations with ICC. Out of 122 countries that are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC, 34 are African states.

“African countries form the largest constituency of the Rome Statute and I think all of them have expressed issues that they want addressed at one time or another. The summit will present that opportunity,” Ms Mohamed said.

She made the remarks at a press conference Wednesday in Nairobi on the forthcoming special summit.

However the AU may use the opportunity to ask the United Nations Security Council to defer the ICC cases against Kenya's leaders, a UN-focused organisation reported on Tuesday.

Such a request could be based on a claim by Kenya that the recent Westgate terror attack in Nairobi constitutes a threat to international peace and demands Kenyan leaders' attention to security matters rather than to ICC proceedings in The Hague.

The Security Council is able to defer an ICC case for one year on the basis of a threat to international peace and security.

Council divided

Kenya failed to persuade the Security Council earlier this year to order an end to the proceedings against President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto. A move in 2011 for a one-year deferral of the Kenyan cases was also unsuccessful.

AU Commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told the Security Council ambassadors in Addis on Tuesday that the AU may decide at its special summit meeting this week to renew the push for UN deferral of the Kenyan cases.

But the Security Council remains divided on the Kenyan situation and does not appear likely to approve a deferral request.

"Council members expressed a willingness to consider a request from the AU, but cautioned that they had already considered such requests on two earlier occasions with no agreement," according to Security Council Report, an independent organisation that monitors the UN's top decision-making body.

"Furthermore, some Council members have concerns that such a deferral might well work against the cause of justice as there have been reports of witness tampering in the Kenya cases which may be exacerbated if such a deferral were granted," Security Council Report added in a dispatch from Addis Ababa.

It was suggested to the AU that concerns over ICC performance might be better addressed at a meeting in November of the court's 122 member states.

Meanwhile, the ICC noted in its annual report to the UN, released on Tuesday, that its investigators have conducted 104 missions to 15 countries with regard to the Kenyan cases.

And according to Kenya's Ms Mohamed, other issues that are likely to feature during the upcoming AU special summit include the election of a new AU Political Affairs commissioner. The immediate former holder of the office, Mr Ramtane Lamamra, was appointed Algeria's minister of Foreign Affairs.