Today, the International Criminal Court’s began its “confirmation on charges” hearings for the Ocampo Six, and the conventional wisdom holds that the proceedings will be a major test for some of Kenya’s savviest politicians. However, the ICC hearings also present

Read the rest of The International Criminal Court and Kenya: ‘Ocampo’s Six’ an important hurdle for ICC – By Charlie Warren »

Kenya is, according to the writer Billy Kahora, a ‘half-made place,’ a country of ‘parallel universes, parallel economies, parallel lives, futures and realities.’[i] One does need to look hard these days to find the parallel universes and realities.  On one

Read the rest of The International Criminal Court and Kenya: ‘The Half Made Place’ – the ICC and elections, 2012 – By Dan Branch »

On 1st September the International Criminal Court will decided whether it opens trials against six Kenyan high ranking officials charged to be the most responsible for the 2007/8 post election violence. The suspects include Kenya’s deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta,

Read the rest of The International Criminal Court and Kenya: time for cooperation? – By Sabine Hoehn »

Ripples have recently been caused by the a section of the Kenyan government seeking a deferral of the process of the International Criminal Court (ICC) – that has cited 6 Kenyans for alleged crimes against humanity (dating from the 2007/08 post-election violence). Similarly, a statement attributed to President Al Bashir of Sudan to the effect that the ICC arrest warrant against him should be lifted following the referendum in Southern Sudan raises interesting questions. I will briefly consider the law and politics of the deferral process as well as possible outcomes of the process, including the implications for the ICC. Continue reading →

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African countries are critical actors for the International Criminal Court (ICC). While it is clear that Africa forms the largest bloc of ICC member states, and that this year’s review conference of the Rome Statute has taken place in Uganda, other facts are often overlooked. Continue reading →

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The necessity of transitional justice in Kenya and the merits of certain institutional mechanisms in particular have been vigorously debated in this forum, as well as within the country itself. In both of these contexts, the perspectives of victims of past violence have received only modest attention. Continue reading →

Read the rest of Addressing the Post-Election Violence: Micro-Level Perspectives on Transitional Justice in Kenya* »

As the ICC Review Conference nears, it is time to consider how best to create a form of international criminal justice that is culturally and socially appropriate in non-Western settings. Continue reading →

Read the rest of International Criminal Justice and Non-Western Cultures »

The long-running debate about whether seeking justice for grave international crimes interferes with prospects for peace has intensified as the possibility of national leaders being brought to trial for human rights violations becomes more likely. The International Criminal Court (ICC), which is mandated to investigate and prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, began operations in 2003 and has already issued its first arrest warrant for a sitting head of state—Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir. Continue reading →

Read the rest of Peace, Justice, and the International Criminal Court »

At a meeting with Africanist scholars in London in 2007, Luis Moreno-Ocampo faced tough questioning over why the ICC had decided to pursue only the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and ignore the Ugandan government’s alleged war crimes and crimes against

Read the rest of What the ICC Review Conference Can’t Fix »

On 18 February 2010, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber II issued a Decision Requesting Clarification and Additional Information in the Situation in the Republic of Kenya. Paragraph 12 states: “the Chamber notes that to meet the requirements of

Read the rest of A Note on State Policy and Crimes Against Humanity »