KENYA: William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang plead innocent
Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto and his co-accused radio Journalist Joshua arap Sang have pleaded not guilty to charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.
The start of their trial has been rescheduled to Tuesday 17th September 2013 due to the delayed arrival of the prosecutor’s witnesses in a trial that has experienced unprecedented withdrawal of witnesses. Both the Senate and the National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya have approved the motion on Kenya’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute. Although such a withdrawal will not affect the current cases facing the president, his deputy and Mr. Sang, observers fear that it could trigger mass exodus by African member states of the Rome Statute. It is worth noting that all the current cases at the ICC emanate from Africa.
Ruto and Sang, each face three counts of murder, deportation and persecution after a wave of violence swept Kenya in 2007 - 2008, leaving at least 1,100 dead and more than 600,000 homeless.
On Monday, 9 September, 2013 Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji ruled that the case of Deputy President William Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta will stagger in a four-weeks alternating period arguing that running the cases simultaneously will not necessarily expedite them. This decision enables Kenyatta and Ruto to fulfill their political duties and to correspond with the Kenyan Constitution which does not anticipate a situation where the President and his deputy are out of the country for extended periods at the same time.
In the meantime, Tanzania government wants to be allowed to make submissions in the appeal challenging a decision to allow Deputy President William Ruto to skip part of his ICC trial. Tanzania's Attorney General Fredrick Mwita wrote to the ICC on Monday, 9th September 2013 stating that allowing Ruto to skip some portions of the trial would help enhance co-operation between the court and state parties.
According to Mwita, as a friend of the court, Tanzania could help the ICC adopt a broad and flexible interpretation of the Article 63 of the Rome Statutes on the presence of an accused person in court by promoting an interpretation which encourages state cooperation in the widest possible set of circumstances and without jeopardizing the constitutional responsibilities of leaders.
Ruto has been allowed to skip some of the sessions of his trial to help him balance his duties as Kenya's Deputy President but the decision has been suspended by the Court until an appeal brought against it by the Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is determined.
MALI: Tuareg rebels clash with Mali army
Three Malian soldiers were wounded in the first clashes with Tuareg rebels since the two sides signed a ceasefire deal in June 2013. The fighting took place near the western town of Lere and came just a week after President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was sworn in. This highlights the simmering tension in the country even as the newly elected president seeks to secure an end to cycle of uprisings by the northern rebels.
In June, the rebels signed an agreement mediated by the President of Burkina Faso, agreeing to a ceasefire in order to allow Mali's presidential election to go ahead on July 28. The rebels also agreed to garrison their fighters, but the insurgents were frequently spotted outside their assigned bases in the northern province of Kidal.
SOUTH SUDAN: Abyei residents urge AU to release plan on status vote
Abyei residents have asked the African Union to draft a timetable for the referendum proposed to be held in October 2013 to determine the status of the disputed region. Sudan had rejected the AU proposal, but according to Atem Simon Mabior, the Secretary General of the Abyei Referendum Committee, the Dinka Ngok, who are the original inhabitants of Abyei have threatened to unilaterally declare the region as part of South Sudan if Sudan impedes the referendum.
Abyei was administratively transferred from southern Sudan to Kordofan in northern Sudan in 1905. A vote that should have been conducted on January 9, 2011, concurrently with South Sudan independence plebiscite was eroded as both parties could not agree on who was an eligible voter.