Last year, in January of 2008, violence broke out in Kenya over the disputed presidential election between President Mwai Kibaki and his opponent, Raila Odinga. Nearly 1300 people were killed and over 300,000 displaced. Most media characterized this violence as an “ancient rivalry,” a “tribal clash,” or a “spontaneous outburst of anger” at what was generally viewed to be a fraudulent election. It was actually none of these. Most people well versed in this type of conflict understand that the violence was largely instigated by politicians for their own political gain.

President Kibaki is Kikuyu and Raila Odinga is Luo. Many have suggested that the Kikuyu were targeted because of their long-time dominance in Kenyan Politics, beginning with Kenya’s first President, Jomo Kenyatta. In fact, both Kibaki and Odinga have brought those responsible for ethnic cleansing into their coalitions thinking they could bring in votes or prevent people voting for their opponents.
The electoral standoff and violence were finally quieted by the creation of a coalition government brokered by Kofi Annan, former General Secretary of the United Nations. The Parliament failed to set up a special tribunal to investigate and try those responsible for the violence. If it does not do so by March 1, the case will be sent to The Hague to be pursued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). For more on this story, please read the Reuters Africa story below.

Kenya violence suspects may still be tried at home
Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:31am GMT
Reuters Africa http://af.reuters.com
By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Senior members of Kenya's coalition government say suspected perpetrators of last year's post-election violence could still be tried at home despite a parliament vote that made a Hague investigation more likely.

The issue of justice over the killings of at least 1,300 people and uprooting of more than 300,000 is straining the coalition government set up last year to end the worst blood-letting in Kenya since 1963 independence from Britain.

Unity government leaders President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga -- whose dispute over the presidential election touched off the crisis -- failed last week to push through parliament the creation of a special local tribunal.

That meant, under the terms of a government-accepted inquiry, mediator Kofi Annan should hand an envelope with the names of 10 top suspects to the Hague-based International Criminal Court when a March 1 deadline for a Kenyan court passes.

The list includes prominent politicians and businessmen, Kenyan political sources say.
While many in Kenya assume the nation has missed the chance to handle the matter locally, Odinga and other officials said at the weekend the government still had options.

"The Hague is like rain and nobody knows when it will fall," Odinga was quoted as saying by Kenyan media, referring to the length of time ICC processes take.

"Only a local tribunal can get to the root of the issue."

Justice Minister Martha Karua said: "All is not lost. The government will have to go back to the drawing board to see that perpetrators to post-election violence are brought to justice."

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka told Kenyan media the government was weighing its options, including a quick re-introduction of the bill or a direct creation of a Kenyan court by presidential order.

A rump of rank-and-file legislators have opposed the government's push to set up a local court, saying it would go the way of past inquiries and fail to prosecute anyone. Abstentions and votes against prevented the government winning a two-thirds vote at last week's parliamentary vote.

The chairman of Kenya's government-funded Kenya Human Rights Commission, Makau Mutua, said chief ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo was enthusiastic about taking on the case.

"I saw Mr Moreno-Ocampo last year in Washington DC, and I have never heard a more determined prosecutor. He said he would pursue the Kenyan case with vigour and persistence," he wrote in an editorial in Kenya's Sunday Nation.

"My understanding is that he already has evidence on the suspects. While it is true a trial would not be swift, the most important thing is the indictment and the arrest warrant. At that point, a suspect becomes an international pariah ... one's political life, as they knew it, would cease to exist."

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