IJCentral: International Justice Central

A trial is under way at the International Criminal Court looking into a massacre that left hundreds of Hema and Lendu dead in Eastern Congo.

Officials from the International Criminal Court are in the country to get opinions and views of the victims of the post election violence to see whether the cases required the full investigations by the ICC or not. Last month, ICC Prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo formally requested the International Criminal Court judges to authorize investigations into the violence. As per the Rome statute, victims of the violence have been given 30 days to send their views to the judges, although this does not entail submission of evidence as the court is yet to give permission for the commencement of the investigations. Chris Wang’ombe reports.

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo spoke with CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk about war crimes, including the Court’s work in Darfur and whether war crimes have been committed in Afghanistan involving American soldiers.

The ball is now in the court of the judges of the pre trial chamber of the international criminal court at The Hague, as they go through a 42 page submission by Icc chief prosecutor, Louis Moreno Ocampo. The dossier goes into detail about the evidence that Ocampo has gathered so far, only stopping short of giving names of those suspected to bear the greatest responsibility for the post election violence.

Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court reverses the decision on the interim release of Jean-Pierre Bemba

Tuesday, November 24, 2009, The Hague, Netherlands. Excerpt of opening statement of ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo vs Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, Congolese warlords. 

The prosecutor of the international criminal court Luis Moreno Ocampo has formally petitioned the pre-trial chamber judges to authorize investigations into the Kenyan post election violence cases. If the judges agree, it will put in motion the process of collecting evidence from victims of the violence that could culminate in the arrest.

The 2009 Report on Outreach activities from the International Criminal Court.

The ICC Chief Prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo has formally issued a notice to the victims of the 2007/2008 post election violence in Kenya that they can now write to the Courts pre-trial chamber giving their views on whether the court should allow investigations into the Kenyan cases.. The ICC prosecutor is signaling his intention to proceed with haste in the Kenyan situation. While maintaining that there was reasonable basis to proceed with investigations into the cases of crimes against humanity that occurred in the post election period, Ocampo in a notice issued this evening from the Hague said the victims or their lawyers have 30 days starting 23rd November to write to the pre-trial chamber with their opinions on whether the investigations should go on or not.

The perpetrators of post election violence could be tried in Arusha if the ICC grants the prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo permission to open investigations. This according to U.S Ambassador at large for war crimes issues, Stephen Rapp, is as a result of the failure by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to put in place legislation to try them locally. Rapp, who met Raila earlier, claimed the U.S had fresh information that Felicien Kabuga, a businessman accused of bankrolling and participating in the Rwandan genocide, was hiding in Kenya.