For Africans, the ICC is more about politics than justiceBy LEE MWITI | Monday, January 23  2012 at  15:01

The International Criminal Court at The Hague Monday confirmed charges against four of the top six Kenyans charged with crimes against humanity following the deadly early 2008 post-election violence in Kenya.

Deputy prime minister and minister of Finance Uhuru Kenyatta, former Higher Education minister William Ruto, Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, and Kass FM programmes chief Joshua Sang will have to defend themselves at the court while former police boss Maj Gen. Hussein Ali and former Industrialisation minister Henry Kosgey were let off the hook. (Read: ICC confirms charges against four top Kenyans)

One issue of discussion the hugely anticipated--at least in Kenya-- ICC decision throws up, is how its rulings have tended to change the political orientation of African countries. It is a question that will interest most Kenyans as their country comes in for some sustained focus from the world this week in the wake of the confirmation and rejection of charges against the suspects.

The ICC, with 120 states as parties to the Rome Statute that established it, has seven active investigations, all in Africa. (This has long been a criticism of the court, but it may be worth noting that it is also weighing up complaints from ten other countries, only two of which are African).

The court has indicted or formally charged 27 Africans under three groups of offences: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It is yet to convict any, but has now dismissed charges against four while terminating two other cases on accounts of death.

The countries with active court cases are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Central Africa Republic, Kenya, Sudan, Libya and Cote d’Ivoire.

Reactions in these countries towards confirmation of charges by the ICC have seemed to in part depend on how the process was initiated, and what was at stake.

Sparked protests

In Sudan, the confirmation of charges against President Omar al-Bashir—the court’s highest profile victim yet—sparked mass demonstrations after thousands took to the streets of the capital Khartoum in protest.

It was the first time that a sitting President had been formally charged, and matters were made more complicated by the issuance of an arrest warrant against Mr Bashir, who the court considers a fugitive.

Mr Bashir said the ICC could “eat” the warrant and that it was not “worth the ink it is written on”.

The court does not have a police force to enforce warrants, and backed by an African Union decision not to honour the warrant, Mr Bashir has been able to travel to ICC member countries such as Malawi, Chad, Djibouti and interestingly, Kenya.

Sudan as official policy does not co-operate with the court having opted out of the establishing Rome Statute, a situation that has seen another indictee, former Interior minister Ahmed Haroun, continue to freely play an active role in the political landscape.

Other suspects charged with crimes especially related to Darfur continue to roam free such as Janjaweed militia leader Ali Abdul Rahman, while cases against rebel leaders Abdalla Banda and Saleh Jerbo are at their pre-trial stage.

So thorny was the issue that the issuance of an arrest warrant by a Kenyan court in November for President Bashir sparked off a storm in bilateral relations between Khartoum and Nairobi.

In Uganda, the five indictees have been members of the murderous and feared Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group, leading to public opinion towards the court being largely favourable.

Murderous rebels

It also helped that the LRA case was referred to the court by President Yoweri Museveni, who had hoped to have a major political headache ended by having the rebels prosecuted internationally. It was the first time a state had asked the court to take up a case.

Concerns remain there over the ability of the court to effect its warrants, with three of the indictees on the run (one died, another's death has not been verified independently) as well as the effect that the criminal prosecutions have on peace initiatives in northern Uganda. 

In Cote d' Ivoire, the removal to The Hague of former President Laurent Gbagbo seems to have further polarised the inherent divisions in the country, as his supporters cried foul.

Incumbent President Alassane Ouattara’s supporters have been solidly been behind the ICC, an attitude seen as further attempts by the ruling party to consolidate their new-found power.

Analysts have written that Mr Gbagbo’s removal to The Hague could complicate reconciliation efforts in the deeply divided country.

In Libya, even the most die-hard supporters of Muammar Gaddafi have been noticeably silent on the crimes against humanity charges preferred against his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, given his notoriety when his father was in power.

Similar charges against Muammar Gaddafi were terminated in November following confirmation of his death, but reactions to Saif’s arrest warrant have been rather muted, given the country’s preoccupation with reconstruction after a damaging civil war.

While it is in the DRC that the ICC has been most active, local opinions have been lukewarm at best and seem to have excited international groups more.

Excited country

But the Hague indiction of former vice-president and rebel-leader Jean-Pierre Bemba momentarily had the country's attention given he came second in the 2006 presidential election won by incumbent Joseph Kabila.

Mr Bemba was arrested in Brussels in 2008 after the court issued a warrant for his arrest based crimes against humanity and war crimes charges based on his involvement in conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Close to 2,000 supporters took to the streets demanding he be freed but a Belgian court rejected his defence and he was transferred to The Hague, where he is in detention. His party, the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo, has claimed the case was meant to remove him from the Congolese political scene.

His supporters maintain an uneasy calm, as they await the result of the trial that began in November 2010.

Opposition supporters during last year’s presidential election sought his backing, and that of the leader of the Union of the Congolese People, Thomas Lubanga.

Mr Lubanga, a rebel leader linked to the notorious Ituri Conflict, has been charged with war crimes with soldiers under his command accused of massive human rights violations in the eastern DRC border area.

The conflict, a resource driven war fuelled by ethnic hostility, is often referred to as Africa’s First World War and led to the arrest warrants of three other Congolese suspects.

It is hoped by that the ICC process will provide a measure of justice for the millions killed in conflict in the vast country, but most citizens are more concerned with reconstructing their lives, while local initiatives to create a special court as in Sierra Leone have largely been held hostage by a slow-moving internal legislative process.

It remains to be seen how Kenyans react to the court's decision, given the huge stakes involved in what is an electioneering year.

TABLE: ICC AFRICAN INDICTEES