IJCentral: International Justice Central

Situation: Central African Republic
Case: The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo

On Tuesday, 19 October, 2010, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed the decision of Trial Chamber III entitled “Decision on the Admissibility and Abuse of Process Challenges” and dismissed Mr Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo’s appeal against this decision. This judgment confirms that the case against Mr Bemba is admissible.

On 24 June, 2010, Trial Chamber III had dismissed the admissibility and abuse of process challenges, raised by the Defence. The latter filed an appeal against this decision on 28 June and submitted a document in support of his appeal, raising four grounds to appeal, on 26 July 2010.

Judge Anita Ušacka, Presiding Judge in this appeal, delivered an oral summary of the Appeals Chamber judgment. She recalled that article 17(1)(b) of the Rome Statute provides that a case is inadmissible before the ICC where the case has been investigated by a State which has jurisdiction over it, and the State has decided not to prosecute the person concerned, unless that decision resulted from the unwillingness or inability of the State genuinely to prosecute.

Judge Ušacka explained that the Appeals Chamber dismissed Mr Bemba’s ground of appeal in which he argued that Trial Chamber III erred in deciding that the case is admissible before the ICC, because it concluded that an order issued by the Bangui Regional Court’s Senior Investigating Judge on 16 September 2004 in the Central African Republic (CAR), did not constitute a ‘decision not to prosecute’ within the meaning of article 17 (1) (b) of the Statute. This Order had dismissed the charges against Mr Bemba, which concerned the events that now form the basis of the charges against him before the ICC. Judge Ušacka summarized the procedural history of the proceedings against Mr Bemba before the Central African courts, and indicated that the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation in Bangui (CAR) expressly reversed the Senior Investigating Judge’s Order, upheld the charges against Mr Bemba, and ruled that the case against Mr Bemba should be referred by the competent authorities in the Central African Republic to the ICC. O n 21 December, 2004, the Government of the Central African Republic referred to the ICC the crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed anywhere on its territory since 1 July 2002.

The Presiding Judge explained that the Order of the Senior Investigating Judge was not a “decision not to prosecute”, within the meaning of article 17(1)(b) of the Rome Statute, because it was not the final decision in the case before the Central African Republic courts. She also underlined that the Appeals Chamber has previously held on 25 September, 2009, in a judgment also relating to the admissibility of the case in the Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, that a “decision not to prosecute” does not cover decisions to close judicial proceedings in order to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court.

Judge Ušacka clarified that the question as to whether the decision resulted from the unwillingness or inability of the State genuinely to prosecute only arises once it has been established that there was a “decision not to prosecute”. Since there was no ”decision not to prosecute” Mr Bemba before the Central African authorities, the Appeals Chamber would not consider Mr Bemba’s arguments that the Trial Chamber erred in deciding that the Central African Republic was unable genuinely to prosecute.

Finally, the Appeals Chamber also dismissed Mr Bemba’s arguments that Trial Chamber III erred in rejecting his request to provide evidence from an expert on the application of the law of the
Central African Republic and in deciding that his submissions made before the courts of the Central African Republic in April 2010 constituted an “abuse of this court’s process”. The Presiding Judge recalled that the Appeals Chamber has previously held, in a judgment also relating to the admissibility of the case in the Prosecutor v. Joseph Kony, et. al., that at a minimum the appellant must set out not only an alleged error in the appeal, but also indicate, with sufficient precision, how this error would have materially affected the impugned decision. “Mr Bemba does not advance any arguments […] to indicate how the outcome of the Impugned Decision would have been different” Judge Ušacka stated in her oral summary of the Appeals Chamber judgment.

Mr Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is alleged to be criminally responsible for having effectively acted as a military commander within the meaning of article 28(a) of the Rome Statute for two crimes against humanity (murder and rape) and three war crimes (murder, rape and pillaging) allegedly committed in the territory of the Central African Republic during the period approximately between 26

October, 2002 and 15 March, 2003. Trial Chamber III is to schedule the date of the Trial’s opening.

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Moldova has become the latest country to ratify the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The country ratified the treaty on October 12, bringing the total number of state signatories to 114.

The treaty enters into force for Moldova in January.

An independent, permanent court, the ICC was set up in 2002 is to try people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Prosecution witness says Katanga intended to undermine efforts by Hema and Lendu to strengthen links.

A witness told the International Criminal Court, ICC, last week that alleged Congolese warlord Germain Katanga launched an attack on the Ituri town of Bogoro in order to scupper a tribal alliance that excluded his own tribe.

Continuing his testimony from the previous week, the prosecution witness, a former commander in the Ugandan armed forces, testified with face and voice distortion.

He told the court that the February 24, 2003 attack on the mainly Hema-populated village had been carried out to weaken an alliance between the Lendu and Hema people, which Katanga’s own Ngiti tribe was not part of.

The witness recalled that the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups had been strengthening their political ties during that period. The Front for Integration and Peace in Ituri, FIPI, which brought the two ethnic groups together under a single political umbrella, had been established at the end of 2002.

He said that during several encounters with Katanga in late 2003, he heard the alleged militia leader boast of military triumphs in Ituri as “a sign to the people….to understand that [the FIPI] would suit the Lendu but not the Ngiti”.

Katanga was “really proud of that exploit” and happy with the results of the assault on Bogoro, continued the witness, adding that a similar motive lay behind an attack on the village of Mandro, not far from the provincial capital of Bunia, which occurred just days after the Bogoro attack.

Katanga is standing trial before the ICC along with Mathieu Ngudjolo. Both men are charged with three counts of crimes against humanity and seven counts of war crimes, including the use of child soldiers, murder, pillaging, sexual slavery and rape.

Katanga was allegedly the commander-in-chief of the Patriotic Forces of Resistance of Ituri, FRPI, while Ngudjolo is said to have led the Nationalist and Integrationist Front, FNI.

The two men are accused of planning the attack on Bogoro in order to secure the route between Bunia and the Ugandan border.

However, Ngudjolo’s reaction to the Bogoro strike was markedly different from that of his co-defendant, according to the witness.

The witness - who claimed to have also served with the FRPI - said that Ngudjolo had shown remorse for his actions during a meeting at the Mango Hill hotel in Kampala, between May and June 2004, when another militia group, the Revolutionary Movement of Congo, MRC, was created.

The witness said that Ngudjolo expressed regret for killing so many Hema people, which he claimed to have done mistakenly.

Ngudjolo’s declaration surprised the witness. “He was converted,” the witness said. “He was no longer the person I knew before.”

The witness also claimed that Katanga led the attack on Mandro but not the one on Bogoro, which was masterminded by someone he referred to as “Commander Dark” – a man previously identified during the trial as an FRPI commander.

The witness added that Ngudjolo commanded his forces to root out members of the Hema tribe in Bogoro in the February 24 attack.

The trial continues this week.

source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Anjana Sundaram is an IWPR contributor in The Hague.

A Cabinet team on Tuesday approved a set of minutes of security meetings to be handed over to the International Criminal Court to speed up the trials of the masterminds of Kenya’s worst post-election violence.

The minutes will cover sensitive security meetings held before and during the 2007 post-election violence that led to the killing of 1,133 people.

The decision was reached at Tuesday’s meeting of a Cabinet committee handling matters related to the ICC.

The meeting, chaired by Internal Security minister George Saitoti, also discussed a set of regulations prepared by a technical team to guide ICC detectives in recording witness statements from top government officials who were in charge of security in various 2007 post-election violence hot spots.

The Cabinet team met as two more officials of the ICC arrived in the country for what was termed an “analysis mission”.

They were said to have divided themselves into three groups in an attempt to cover as much ground as possible before the arrival of prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo next week.

The analysts are set to visit various post-election violence hotspots, among them Kisumu, Naivasha, Molo, Eldoret, Nakuru and Nairobi slums.

They are preparing the ground for Mr Moreno-Ocampo. “He may be coming in between Monday and Wednesday next week. However, this will be determined by the progress made by the investigators who came in last week and the officials who have come in,” said a source.

At the Cabinet sub-committee, sources present who requested anonymity said the minutes of the security meetings to be handed over to ICC detectives cover the period just before the December 2007 General Election to the post-election violence period which lasted until President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga signed a peace accord on February 28, 2008.

“We have looked at the minutes and agreed in principle to give them to the ICC but we will first share them with the bigger Cabinet security committee,” said the sources.

“The minutes cover the period which ICC had requested. We all agreed with the minutes as provided to us by the AG and the DG,” the source added, referring to Attorney General Amos Wako and the National Security Intelligence Service director General Michael Gichangi.

The meeting carefully went through all the minutes of the security meetings held during the period to ensure they were relevant to the ICC investigations and that they did not compromise the country’s security.

“As you know this is a very delicate matter, whereas we have a duty to cooperate with the ICC, we are also a sovereign country,” the source explained, suggesting that minutes that could infringe on national security may have been withheld.

The ICC detectives believe the minutes of the security meetings preceding the disputed presidential election results and during the post- election violence would help establish whether “shoot-to-kill” orders were issued to security officers in various hot spots.

The sub-committee, which comprises Prof Saitoti, Cabinet ministers Mutula Kilonzo (Justice), James Orengo (Lands), Otieno Kajwang’ (Immigration), Amason Kingi (Fisheries) and Mr Wako also went through the set of regulations which will guide ICC detectives in recording statements from at least five provincial commissioners, six provincial police bosses and district commissioners who served in the hot spots.

The committee, however, deferred the final decision on the regulations until its meeting Wednesday morning.

Lawyers representing the government officials expected to record the statements Tuesday met with Public Prosecutor Keriako Tobiko.

source: Daily Nation

GOMA, Congo — An international rights group says a former Congolese warlord walks freely in Goma despite a warrant for his arrest issued by the International Criminal Court.

Bosco Ntaganda is sought for war crimes that include conscripting child soldiers. He is also accused of commanding the rebel troops who massacred 150 people in the village of Kiwanja in 2008. Ntaganda is now a general in the Congolese army.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement Wednesday that Ntaganda was behind the assassination of eight people this year, mostly his political opponents and their families.

The group said the government of Congo refuses to arrest Ntaganda and insists he is an essential part of the peace process in eastern Congo.

Human-rights groups and the Rwandan government have hailed France’s arrest of a suspected rebel leader whose group is blamed for atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Paris police detained Callixte Mbarushimana, following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Court prosecutors say Mbarushimana is a leader of the Rwandan Hutu FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) rebel group, which is accused of looting, raping and killing civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The group was most recently blamed for mass rapes in late July and early August of more than 300 civilians in isolated villages in that region.

The ICC, which has charged Mbarushimana with war crimes and crimes against humanity, has hailed his arrest. So have the Congolese and Rwandan governments. and human-rights activists like Geraldine Mattioli-Zeltner, international justice advocate at Human Rights Watch.

“We believe this arrest sends a very strong signal to abusive commanders in the Congo and else where that they will not be able to escape justice, no matter where they hide,” said Mattioli-Zeltner.

An ethnic Hutu, Mbarushimana reportedly fled Rwanda following the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsis. He has been living in France where he received refugee status in 2003.

Human-rights groups claim a number of suspects of the Rwandan genocide and other African atrocities live in France and other parts of Europe and the United States. Only some have faced justice.

“There is quite a big number of genocide suspects still at large in developed countries. And the practice of putting them to trial has developed over the past few years,” said Mattioli-Zeltner.

Belgium, for example, has held three trials related to the Rwandan genocide under its principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows for prosecutions of crimes against humanity committed elsewhere. In June, a Finnish court sentenced a Rwandan preacher to life in prison for his role in the genocide.

But Mattioni-Zelter notes other suspects have not been brought to trial.

“In France, there are about five, six well-known suspects of the genocide in 1994 who have lived unbothered since the genocide,” added Mattioni-Zelter. “And that was the case of Callixte Mbarushimana.”

That may change. The French government recently established a special judicial unit to prosecute people accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity committed in France and overseas.

Besides Mbarushimana, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against four other suspected rebel leaders in eastern Congo. Three are currently on trial.

source: Voice of America

Colombian Liberal congressman Luis Fernando Velasco calls for the investigation of former President Alvaro Uribe over the illegal wiretapping of government opponents, reports El Espectador.

Velasco warned that it is better for Uribe to be investigated in a serious manner in Colombia than have to face the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The politician made his call for an investigation to the Committee for Investigations and Accusations. He said that Uribe’s “closest collaborators” have been investigated and punished for the scandal, and “people wonder if the president knew, or if they went behind his back.”

Velasco added that “the committee has been delayed in initiating an investigation that the country is calling for.”

Piedad Cordoba, a Liberal senator barred from office due to her ties with the FARC, said that the wiretap situation is “complex and delicate” and called for those affected to come together to decide on what action to take.

Cordoba added that there should be “due process in the House of Representatives” but was skeptical about the potential investigation, saying that “everything is about [Uribe].”

Uribe’s personal secretary Bernardo Moreno was recently barred from working in public service for 18 years for his part in the illegal surveillance.

New details have emerged in the case of Moreno, who was accused of wiretapping Supreme Court magistrates, politicians, journalists, and human rights workers.

The charge which caused him to be barred from holding public office is that he “exceeded his functions” on April 24, 2008 when he met with officials from the Colombian intelligence agency DAS and the Financial Analysis Unit (UIAF) to seek information on Ascencio Reyes, a controversial businessman with alleged ties to Supreme Court magistrates and drug traffickers.

The sequence of events which led to his conviction dates back to November 2007, when Moreno provided Mario Aranguren with information about a 2006 trip to Neiva, Huila, taken by some Supreme Court justices. The trip was sponsored by the travel company Basan, which was owned by Ascencio Reyes, a rumored drug trafficker.

Shortly after, Moreno asked Maria del Pilar Hurtado, the director of DAS at the time, to “to verify information on Mr. Ascencio Reyes, his alleged ties to drug trafficking and the possible infiltration of the Supreme Court” according to court documents.

According to the court decision, there was nothing improper about theses actions, because “it is the duty of every public authority to refer to those matters within their knowledge and for which it lacks jurisdiction to process them.”

On April 24, 2008 Moreno called the UIAF to ask for progress on the case, as well as communicated with the director of DAS about the same topic.

According to the prosecutor in the case, this is the point where Moreno stepped over the line, because the secretary to the president “has no assigned functions or issues related to security or intelligence services.”

It was concluded that Moreno “ignored the right to privacy” of Reyes and “exceeded statutory functions.”

Former intelligence officials have come forward claiming that they did intelligence work focused on the Supreme Court and NGOs. They claim to have been paid to try to get as much information as possible on Supreme Court cases, and even were asked to record private meetings of the justices. This work was allegedly passed on to the presidential palace.

While Uribe has denied knowing about these meetings, he said that he takes responsibility for Moreno’s conduct and has agreed to participate in any future investigations.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 6 - The circus between the government and the International Criminal Court [ICC] continued on Wednesday, with the government asking for more time before it hands over minutes of security meetings held prior to the violence that rocked the country in 2008.

Attorney General Amos formally wrote to the ICC on Wednesday asking for two more weeks before the specific minutes investigators were asking for are submitted.

A source familiar with the correspondence between the government and ICC told Capital News that Mr Wako who is the State’s chief legal advisor had sent the request.

“The government is cooperating with the ICC, there is even a letter that was sent to the ICC today [Wednesday] asking for two weeks before the documents are given out. We have nothing to do but to wait because the documents ICC is asking are sensitive,” the official privy to the ICC process said.

As he spoke, Five ODM MPs from Rift Valley turned the ICC heat on their own party, saying the Hague-based court should investigate mass action planned at the ODM headquarters that resulted in chaos at the height of the post-election violence.

The MPs claimed that the Pentagon, which is the party’s top leadership, held secret meetings at which mass action and violence was organised.

The MPs Isaac Ruto, Charles Keter, Julius Kones, Benjamin Langat and Zakayo Cheruiyot said ODM should now submit the minutes of meetings held before the violence escalated to the International Criminal Court.

The ICC has already requested minutes of security meetings held by various state officers during the time of the crisis.

In Mr Wako’s letter to The Hague, he informed the ICC that a High Court Judge had been appointed to help top government officials record statements with ICC investigators.

ICC sleuths were in the country a fortnight ago but were unable to interrogate three Provincial Commissioners and Police chiefs who were at the helm in three provinces shortly before and during the post election violence.

The detectives who have since left Kenya had wanted to specifically question the officials on the security measures they put in place during the period.

They also wanted to know if the officials were acting under any specific government policies specifically in dealing with the violence at the time and if it was anticipated.

Security forces are blamed for the killing of some 400 people who were shot dead during the post election violence.

The Commission of Inquiry that dealt with the cases said about 1,300 people were killed and nearly half a million others displaced.

Apart from the 400 who were shot dead by security forces, the rest were killed as rival communities clashed immediately after President Mwai Kibaki was declared winner in the hotly contested polls.

It was widely expected that the PCs and PPOs would record statements with the ICC investigators before a judge, as soon as one was appointed.

One of the lawyers picked up by the government to represent the PPOs and PCs told Capital News that even when the investigators return, their clients would not rush to give them statements.

“This is a legal process.  The law must be followed to the end. Rules and regulations of taking the evidence must be formulated,” the lawyer who asked to remain anonymous said.

“They [ICC investigators] are not around, I understand they went back and are expected here in the course of next week.  Once they are here I am sure the regulations will be formulated,” he said and asked for patience.

Our source is among four lawyers picked up by the government to represent three PPOs and three PCs who are lined up for questioning.

The lawyers include Evans Monari, Ahmednasir Abdullahi, Ken Ogeto, and Gershom Ottachi.

In the opinion of the lawyer, the investigators are seeking evidence which they will use to convince judges at The Hague that there was ‘State organisational policy’ in the post election violence before warrants are issued.

The ICC has clearly indicated it is investigating crimes against humanity in Kenya and the judges cannot issue arrest warrants against potential suspects unless the Prosecutor proves that there was an element of organisational policy in the case.

“In the context of a crime against humanity, there must be an element of organisational policy. As it is, the ICC does not have that evidence… that is why they want to speak to the PCs and PPOs.  It is the same reason they are seeking for minutes of security meetings held prior to the chaos,” the lawyers said.

He cited Article 7 [2][a] of the Rome Statute which states that for a crime to amount to a “crime against humanity”, it must be made “pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organisational policy”.

“This element was lacking in the evidence Mr Ocampo presented to the Pre-Trial chambers when he was seeking for authorisation.  You remember one of the judges dismissed the case because he was not convinced,” the lawyer added.

“Ocampo is worried that the same judge or another one will raise these issues again at some point when he applies for arrest warrants because of the jurisprudence that lacked in the previous application,” he said.

Article 7 [2][a] of the Rome Statute demands that there must be involvement of the State or ‘State like’ actors to be blamed for omissions and commissions in incidents leading to violence.

source:  Capital FM

As the International Criminal Court investigation into the 2008 post-election violence continues, Kenyan law increasingly is being used by opposition to block the court’s work.

Despite receiving the support of the Kenyan President and Prime Minister, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has faced a series of high-level hurdles over the past month in his efforts to bring the organizers of the 2008 poll chaos to The Hague.

The latest in this series of frustrations is his request for documents detailing top-level security meetings during the violence.  According to the Daily Nation newspaper, the government is considering withholding the minutes of Security Council meeting held before and during the crisis.

Moreno-Ocampo began his investigation into the poll chaos after nearly two years of inaction in Kenya.  The secretary of the Law Society of Kenya, Apollo Mboya, said the obstacles facing the prosecutors only validate the need for an international mechanism for justice.  Mboya said the opposition facing Moreno-Ocampo is not surprising.

“This is what we expected.  The behavior is predictable.  We expected it to go that way. But we think that the evidence that is there, even without the other crucial evidence that is required by the International Criminal Court is enough to bring people to account for the crimes they did,” said Mboya.

Mboya said the government was first required to prove to the ICC that the minutes requested by the prosecutor would harm national security if released.  In that event, Mboya said agreements could be reached to keep the documents secret while still making them available for the investigation.

The prosecutor’s team has met with similar resistance from Kenya’s police.  Trying to establish a police response to the election chaos, Moreno-Ocampo’s team has requested statements from Provincial Police Commissioners and Officers.  Kenya’s Attorney General issued a directive for those summoned to comply with the ICC request.  But the officers and commissioners have refused, arguing the request violates Kenyan law.

It is believed the summoned police are trying to avoid becoming scapegoats for the violence, and Mboya said the refusal indicates opposition to the investigation within higher levels of the government.

“I think it is a question of them feeling that they are more of a sacrificial lamb,” said Mboya.  “That is why they are doing that.  Provincial administration is answerable to the office of the president.  So even as the attorney general gives the clearance, the main people who must actually give that authority for them to talk is the office of the president.  The attorney general giving the clearance is just a whitewash that ‘I have done this’ but we know that these people - they do not report to the attorney general.  They report to the office of the president through the ministry of internal security.”

Moreno-Ocampo is investigating alleged crimes against humanity that took place in the wake of Kenya’s December 2007 presidential elections. Then-rivals President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga accused one another of vote rigging, which set off ethnic violence countrywide.  More than 1,000 people were killed and 300,000 displaced in the two months that followed.

Moreno-Ocampo says his investigation is focused on those who plotted and executed the violence.  The prosecutor plans to bring two cases against three suspects each when he presents his evidence to The Hague in December.

source: Voice of America

The PNU coalition on Friday cast aspersions on the International Criminal Court investigations into the country’s post-election violence, saying they are targeting the Kikuyu community.

Its MPs further vowed to debate the ICC work in Parliament and lobby Kenyans to reject it for allegedly involving itself in partisan politics instead of ensuring justice.

An MP tabled a document during the PNU coalition meeting allegedly from the United Nations to the ICC on the situation in Kenya during the two months of the violence, which accused the outlawed Mungiki sect of having participated in the chaos.

The meeting was held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi on Friday.

But in a quick rejoinder, an ICC official, Ms Patricia O’Brien, who spoke from Uganda, dismissed the report, saying all of the court’s documents are posted on its website.

Central Kenya Parliamentary Group chairman Ephraim Maina and MPs Jamleck Kamau, Simon Mbugua, Kareke Mbiuki and Ferdinand Waititu said the report was being used by the ICC in its investigations and that it targets the country’s most populous community.

Nail some people

“The ICC is being used for political reasons and Kenyans should not expect any justice from it,” Mr Maina said. Mr Kamau said that the court was also being used to “nail some people before the 2012 elections”.

The MPs were mainly angered by a section of the report that says much of the 2007 chaos was initiated by ethnically-centred gangs such as the Mungiki, drawn from the Kikuyu and paid by politicians or business people for attacks, intimidation or self-defence.

The report, dated September 8, reads: “Youth gangs, as tools of violence, must be dismantled, and their provincial and national sponsors held accountable, with particular attention given to the risk of violent actions by the Mungiki to pre-empt loss of Kikuyu influence,” it said.

It says Kikuyu-based gangs killed at least 34 people thought to be Luo and other non-Kikuyus in Naivasha and forcibly displaced thousands of people.

Other gangs named in the report are the Taliban and Baghdad Boys associated with the Luo, the Sabaot Land Defence Force and the Chikororo (Kisii).

The ICC is seeking government security documents to authenticate intelligence reports received by the Waki Commission that investigated the violence.

The reports, according to the commission, showed that the violence was planned and financed by politicians and business leaders.

The government has refused to disclose the information in total, generating concerns that it may edit them to make them contradict what the ICC is holding.

The MPs were also unhappy with the report for stating that police violence was ethnically-based “because it was typically targeted at supporters of the opposition, who largely comprise non-Kikuyu”.

The report said State authorities transferred non-Kikuyu police officers and other security personnel from their posts and replaced them with Kikuyus so that they could implement government instructions “intended to protect certain ethnic groups above others”.

The report further said there were widespread perceptions that Kikuyu-led governments have unfairly enriched the community at the expense of other Kenyans.

PNU chairman George Saitoti said an MP raised the ICC issue at the meeting at the KICC and that it was decided that he should verify whether the document is authentic.

“I have been mandated to have the document scrutinised to determine its authenticity,” Prof Saitoti said.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka said there were concerns about the ICC investigations.

“There is also concern at what stage does the matter of national sovereignty stand?” he said, adding that provincial administrators who are to appear before the court officials require legal representation.

He said Chief Justice is also required to appoint two judges to oversee the ICC investigations.

source: The Daily Nation