Acting Internal Security Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and Inspector General Joseph Boinet (Photo/kenyans.co.ke)
Several heads of state are listed to be among dignitaries that shall grace the swearing in ceremony of President Uhuru Kenyatta at Kasarani on Tuesday.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya) has directed that the government arrests Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir when he visits the country next week.
ICJ Kenya in a letter to the Acting Internal Security Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has demanded for the arrest of the Head of State who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.
In the letter ICJ Kenya indicates that President Al-Bashir has two arrest warrants issued against him by the ICC dated March 4 2009 and July 12 2010.
“He is wanted by the Court for committing crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide during the Darfur armed conflict that took place between 2003 and 2008. To execute such warrants, all member states to the Rome Statute have an obligation to arrest any individual who is wanted by the Court,” reads the statement by ICJ Kenya.
ICJ Kenya’s statement explains that Kenya has an obligation to arrest and present President al Bashir to the ICC in the event jets in since Kenya had ratified the Rome Statute on 15 March 2005.
President Bashir has visited Kenya in 2010 during the promulgation of the new Constitution and flew out of the country without any problem, a matter that did not go down well with human rights activists.
In November 28, 2011, the High Court of Kenya issued a provisional arrest warrant against President al Bashir should he set foot in the country, after the organization went to court seeking the same.