Rob Macaire

UK, Kenya and the International Community

A crucial time for Kenya.   The EU, in the company of many other countries issued a statement on Friday expressing concern that nothing has been done to attack impunity for the post-election violence: neither a special tribunal nor referral to the International Criminal Court.  The ICC prosecutor issued an important statement a day earlier, supporting what he called a 'three pronged' approach to those crimes:  ICC, a special tribunal, and the TJRC to tackle historical issues and reconciliation at community level.   Now Kofi Annan , on behalf of the African Union,  has arrived in Kenya for talks with the two Principals and others.  All this coming hard on the heels of some tough, and well-chosen, words from the Obama Administration about the urgency of reforms and the responsibility of politicians and officials to act swiftly on them.   There's a strong sense of unanimity among the international community, and it echoes what is being heard far more loudly from Kenyan voices.   My impression from all this is that  the Kenyan people aren't willing to accept 'business as usual', particularly when that makes the chances of a repeat of last year's violence more likely.   While reconciliation is vital, I can't think of any country in the world where reconciliation has been achieved by deciding to allow people to get away scot-free with the use of violence for political ends on a massive scale.  Meanwhile Agenda 4 remains largely in the realms of commissions and recommendations, with Kenyans waiting  anxiously for the key actions to be taken.
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Posted at 07:08 06 October 2009 by Rob Macaire  |  Comments[2]

UK and Kenya-Response to Dr. Wapili Job

I'd like to respond to the comment posted by Dr Wapili Job.   As I wrote earlier, it's not for us to try to dictate how Kenya pursues justice for the post election violence.  But we do support the findings of the Waki commission (and the government's own repeated statements) that a serious judicial process is needed.  The question seems to be "what constitutes a serious judicial process".  Kenyans I speak to seem divided on this.   But I do think it important that there should be an informed public debate.  I think a lot of people are misled by the phrase "a local tribunal".  What Waki recommended, and we support along with Kofi Annan and others, is the concept of a tribunal based on the international law that governs the ICC, with constitutional protection, and thus insulated from the existing judicial and prosecutorial system.  So it would have international investigators, international prosecutors, and a majority of international judges at both the trial and appeal level.  That is the proposal that Parliament rejected, which is a shame, because whether or not the ICC gets involved, such a tribunal seems to be the best way to attack impunity in the country.  

One thing does seem pretty clear to me though - given the doubts people have about even such a strong tribunal, a weaker one isn't likely to carry credibility with many Kenyans or others.    The idea of a tribunal set up under the existing court system is doing the rounds, but certainly lacks that credibility, which is what I have said to anyone who has raised it with me.  I'm not, of course, going to comment on any specific meetings I've had that were not in the public domain.

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Posted at 11:48 01 July 2009 by Rob Macaire  |  Comments[4]