Deputy President William Ruto and his lead Lawyer Karim Khan at The
Hague on September 17, 2013. ICC prosecutors want to continue the trial
using statements witnesses gave before they withdrew. Kenya wants the
court's general assembly, meeting in The Hague this week, to declare
that illegal. PHOTO | FILE
By REUTERS
In Summary
- "We want to be (ICC) members," she added. "When people leave a relationship they don't leave for frivolous reasons. They leave if there is no space to move around... The space (for us) has shrunk."
- With Ruto, prosecutors want to continue the trial using statements witnesses gave before they withdrew. Kenya wants the court's general assembly, meeting in The Hague this week, to declare that illegal.
The International Criminal Court faced calls to
change its approach in Africa or face losing some of its largest members
as Kenya and South Africa joined forces at its general assembly to
lobby for more freedom to interpret the court's rules
Both countries have been rebuked by the court, with Kenya
accused of allowing intimidation of witnesses in an ICC case against its
deputy president and South Africa under fire for not extraditing
Sudan's leader when he was in the country in June.
Set up in 2002 to try the most serious
international crimes, the ICC has been criticised for only bringing
charges in Africa, leading many on the continent to portray it as a
largely European-funded neo-colonial institution.
The tensions risk driving a wedge between Europe
and Africa at a time when Europe is seeking allies in the Middle East
and North Africa in its fight against Islamist militancy.
Totally humiliated
Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said African
countries had been "humiliated" by the court when an African Union
summit in Johannesburg was overshadowed by the row over South Africa's
failure to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.
"All of us felt totally humiliated in June in
Johannesburg," she said. "We weren't allowed to focus on the issues that
were important to the continent - peace, security, Burundi, Somalia,
Mali. Totally distracted by this 'arrest the president' movement."
"We want to be (ICC) members," she added. "When
people leave a relationship they don't leave for frivolous reasons. They
leave if there is no space to move around... The space (for us) has
shrunk."
Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto is on trial at
the ICC for crimes against humanity, in connection with a wave of
violence after the 2007 presidential election in which 1,200 people were
killed. The case against President Uhuru Kenyatta, who faced similar
charges, collapsed because witnesses were intimidated into withdrawing
their testimony, judges said.
With Ruto, prosecutors want to continue the trial
using statements witnesses gave before they withdrew. Kenya wants the
court's general assembly, meeting in The Hague this week, to declare
that illegal.
The court has warned members against compromising its integrity by interfering in judicial decisions.
Sudan's Bashir, who was allowed to leave South
Africa rather than face arrest during the AU summit, is charged with
genocide in relation to massacres in the western region of Darfur.
"Hosting the summit ... we had obligations in
relation to the customary law insulating heads of state (from arrest),"
said South African Justice Minister Michael Masutha.
A deputy government minister said last month that
the ICC had "lost its direction" and the ruling African National
Congress wanted to withdraw from membership of the court
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