Kenya: Update on ICC trial against Ruto and Sang
On Monday 23 September, 2013 the ICC trial against Deputy President William Ruto and Radio Journalist Joshua Arap Sang resumed. The ICC judges addressed the urgent application of Mr Ruto and excused him from the trial proceedings for one week in the light of the terrorists attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi.. The ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda filed an appeal to the ruling allowing Ruto to skip the proceedings to attend the terrorist attack in Kenya.
Further, Ms. Bensouda indicated that the attack at the Westgate mall may constitute a crime under international law according to the Rome Statute. She declared that she is ready to work with the international community and the Kenyan government to bring to justice those responsible.
In the meantime, the African Union (AU) has called for an extraordinary summit on the 13 October, 2013 in Addis Ababa to discuss a mass withdrawal from the Rome Statute by the African states in protest of the ICC trial against Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto. The AU has in the past accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of “hunting” African leaders and ignoring atrocities on the other continents.
Ivory Coast: Ministers dismissed ICC warrant for ex first lady Simone Gbagbo
On Friday, 20 September, 2013 Ivory Coast ministers declared that they plan to try the wife of former President Laurent Gbagbo, Simone Gbagbo, in Ivorian courts instead of submitting the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Ivory Coast lawmakers decided to file a “motion to dismiss” the ICC’s warrant issued in February 2012. The ICC will respond to the request once it has investigated whether Mrs Gbagbo will receive a fair trial in Ivory Coast.
Simone Gbagbo is being prosecuted for alleged crimes against humanity including murder, rape and torture following disputed presidential polls in 2010. After her husband Mr Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in a run-off vote about 3,000 people died in the ensuing violence. The former President Laurent Gbagbo is already awaiting trial at the ICC for charges of crimes against humanity.
Guinea: ECOWAS expressed its anger over delayed parliamentary elections
The chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Kadré Ouédraogo expressed dissatisfaction over the continued failure to hold legislative elections in Guinea and asked the authorities to urgently address the matter. He indicated that the delay attest to the lack of political will and urged President Alpha Condé and the political stakeholders to quickly remove the obstacles delaying the polls.
The elections were first scheduled for May 2011 but were postponed. They were supposed to be held on Tuesday 24 September, 2013 but have now been re-scheduled for Saturday 28 September, 2013 after negotiations between the government and the opposition.
The opposition have alleged that many of theirs supporters are not appearing on the voters list while other citizens have been registered several times. Further, they complained that polling stations in opposition’s strongholds have been scattered far apart which they fear would hinder voter turnout in those areas.