Kenyan National Assembly majority leader threatens exit from ICC

Nov 25, 2015 Aden Duale, the majority leader of the Kenyan National Assembly, recently made bold Kenya’s intention to leave the International Criminal Court. This occurred after the majority leader accused the ICC of operating with double standards in the trial against the country’s deputy president, William Ruto.

Duale also expressed the displeasure of his country over the use of recanted evidence against its number two citizen, who has denied all charges of crimes against humanity following the 2007 election.

“We have twice passed a motion asking the Kenyan government to start the process of disengaging itself from the Rome Statute and the ICC. We did it in 2010, we did it in 2013, and now we are saying enough is enough. Our space, our seat, as Kenya, as the African Union, must be respected,”

Elsewhere, the South African government is pushing for clarifications on the obligation of ICC member states to arrest those indicted by the court, following its failure to detain Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in June.

However, member states, observers and the ICC prosecutor emphasized that the Assembly of States Parties was not the place to discuss these issues.

Speaking to this effect, Netsanet Belay from Amnesty International said:

“We respect state’s rights to present proposals, amendments, and issues before the Assembly of States Parties as a governing body to discuss their concerns. However, we strongly believe that the current items proposed by Kenya and South Africa, and the way they are proposed, potentially indirectly interferes with the independence of the court,”