A prominent human rights lawyer has faulted the International Criminal Court (ICC’s) for summoning President Uhuru Kenyatta to appear during the Trial Status Conference on October 7.
Njenga Mwangi argues that the issues the President is being called to clarify, among them allegations that his government has withheld documents requested by the ICC, touch on the government and not him as a person.
The lawyers said issues of the country’s co-operation with the ICC could be dealt with by the office of the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions or the relevant commissions set by law.
“The ICC is disregarding demarcation of roles. It is not the President’s duty to provide the said documents and evidence to the court, ICC should have summoned the AG or the DPP to answer to their questions,” he said.
Addressing a press conference in Nakuru, Mwangi said the ICC had been a disappointment to the world since it was dealing with witnesses who have confessed to being paid and coerced to testify.
“The case against Deputy President William Ruto and former radio presenter Joshua Sang has been a drama galore with witnesses being forced to testify and when they say the truth, they are declared hostile,” he said.
He wondered why ICC judges were allowing prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to go on evidence fishing expedition when it is clear that she did not have it at the start of the case. He said that the case against President Kenyatta should not have been confirmed in the first place.
Separately, a group of the 2007/08 Post-Election violence urged the ICC to immediately close the two Kenyan cases at The Hague.
They said the cases were a constant reminder of their suffering during the violence and a hindrance to proper healing and reconciliation.
In a press release read on their behalf by Evans Ekaliche, the victims wondered why the ICC had picked coached witnesses while leaving them out. They vowed to do everything within their powers to ensure that the President did not leave for The Hague on the fateful date.