Posted
Thursday, September 12
2013 at
08:19
In Summary
According to Mr Werema’s letter, allowing Ruto
to skip some portions of the trial would help enhance co-operation
between the court and state parties.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania has
written to the International Criminal Court (ICC), supporting Kenya
Deputy President William Ruto’s appeal to be tried in absentia.
Attorney General Frederick Werema filed the letter on Monday in an interesting development confirmed to The Citizen yesterday by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Bernard Membe.
In the letter, Mr Werema communicates the
government’s intention to act as a friend of the court with the purpose
of offering briefs regarding ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s appeal
against the decision to excuse Mr Ruto from attending all sessions of
his trial in The Hague. Mr Ruto has been allowed to skip some sessions
to allow him to execute his duties as Kenya’s deputy president.
According to Mr Werema’s letter, allowing Ruto to
skip some portions of the trial would help enhance co-operation between
the court and state parties. The AG is not satisfied that critical
issues were considered by the chamber regarding the right of trial in
the presence of the accused as provided for in the Rome Statute.
“The brief will observe that, in certain
circumstances, the rights of the accused, the rights of the victims and
the rights of other interested constituencies such as voters in
democratic states can all be accommodated in an effective and meaningful
fashion within the court’s framework and without any negative impact on
the court’s aims,” the letter reads in part.
Mr Werema says that as a friend of the court,
Tanzania can help the ICC adopt a broad and flexible interpretation of
Article 63 of the Rome Statutes on the presence of an accused person in
court.
“An interpretation which encourages state
cooperation in the widest possible set of circumstances and without
jeopardising the constitutional responsibilities of leaders,” he says.
The AG adds that the Tanzania government’s brief will consider the
balance to be struck between those subject to the court’s jurisdiction
but who also occupy high office.
A plenary of 14 judges rejected Mr Ruto’s earlier
request for trials to be moved to Kenya or Tanzania after it failed to
draw the support of at least ten judges after only nine voted in favour.
Mr Membe told The Citizen in a telephone
interview yesterday that Tanzania’s decision was in solidarity with
Kenya, which recently filed a petition with the ICC, requesting that
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Ruto be excused from attending their
cases in person to enable them to run the country. “Their constitution
says the President and his deputy must not be out of the country at the
same time. If the ICC adopts a contrary position, it could lead to a
constitutional crisis,” he said.
Mr Membe also revealed that Kenya had asked all 33
members of the African Union (AU) who were also signatories to the
Rome Statue to write to the ICC in favour of the petition.
The minister said following concerns that the ICC
was only targeting African leaders, AU leaders would next January
deliberate on whether member countries should withdraw from the ICC en
masse.
“Kenya, as we know, has already embarked on the
process and other countries will in due course discuss if it is tenable
to remain as members of the ICC in future,” Mr Membe said.
Mr Ruto and radio announcer Joshua Sang on Tuesday pleaded not
guilty to crimes against humanity following the 2007/8 post-election
violence in Kenya that left over 1,000 people dead and displaced 600,000
others.
President Kenyatta, Mr Ruto’s former rival and now his political ally, will be tried on similar charges in November
SOOURCE: THE CITIZEN
