The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, urged the Kenyan Government to reconsider setting up a special tribunal to pursue accountability for the crimes committed during the violence that followed the disputed December 2007 elections. Ms. Pillay arrived in Kenya following a visit to Uganda, where she participated in the Review Conference of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
While she welcomed the ICC’s involvement in the investigations into the post-election violence in Kenya, she warned that its role is limited. “The involvement of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a major development in the fight against the current almost total lack of accountability for the terrible events that took place in the wake of the elections,” Ms. Pillay said. However, “the ICC will, for practical reasons and as a matter of policy, only be able to address a small number of high-profile cases of people suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide,” she added.
An estimated 1,300 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in the violence, which also included widespread rape, arson, robbery and other crimes.
Last month ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo conducted a five-day trip to Kenya to start investigations into the violence, and to meet with some of those directly affected by the unrest.
Ms. Pillay also voiced concerns about Kenya’s newly established Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, which she said has so far been a “disappointment to many.” In addition, she highlighted issues of witness protection, the forthcoming referendum on the proposed new constitution, and the shortcomings of the Kenyan police.
(from a UN Press Release)