By Robert Kituyi
April five, 2016 saw curtains on the nearly eight years of protracted court battle between Kenya’s deputy president William Ruto and his co-defender Joshua Sang come down. For the two suspects, it was the best day of their entire adult life to break off from the chains of the most serious crimes against humanity stemming from a political strife that almost brought Kenya to its knees. Mr. Ruto and Sang were freed after the ICC chamber declared their case a ‘mistrial’ and concluded that their charges are vacated and the two are relieved from criminal accusation.
It had been a grueling journey holding uncertainty for Ruto and Sang but now a victory perhaps not just for the two but for their supporters and well-wishers. The ruling was expected; otherwise it would have been a huge disaster and embarrassment not just for the individuals but for the government and friends of the two considering the colossal resources which had been put at stake. The government’s effort to defeat justice has paid off and therefore calls for a victory celebration. April 16 has been cherry picked and set aside to throw a big party at Afraha Stadium in Nakuru next Suterday.
The president was short of saying April 16 will be a public holiday to celebrate their sweet victory for justice over what was initially his “personal challenge” and by extension his deputy’s.
But on the flip side the silent victims who suffered the consequences of a worst violence in Kenya’s post independence political history and whose only hope for justice had been pegged at the Hague based court received the news with bewilderment and disbelieve.
On April 16 they will have absolutely nothing to celebrate for. Their hopes for justice became more distant than ever.
The shameless dance, the shouts and verbal mockery of the justice process by those who demonized ICC over the suffering of the poor victims on Tuesday evening after the news trickled in exposed poor and ignorant Kenyans to the world as people who celebrate evil and condemn righteousness.
The collapse of ICC intervention in Kenya in itself is not only to agree that violence is our way of life but also a denial that no one was killed during PEV. Such pretence only emboldens the perpetrators of PEV for more vicious attacks in future so long as they will have their godfathers in high places.
The collapse of ICC Kenyan process is a huge missed opportunity to end the cycle of impunity in this great nation. Victims of PEV some whom have been forced to buy a forged reconciliation pill to sedate their painful memory will forever be tormented by the knowledge that the killers of their loved ones are still roaming the streets and every hamlets. And that they are more human than other Kenyans.
These victims this week were again forced to join the celebration with feigned smiles on their faces not because they want to but because it is the only way to appease the powers that be and also to avoid being labeled as saboteurs of their own motherland.
Victims hopes were thrashed by what ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda termed unprecedented challenges with the government of Kenya. Bensouda repeatedly complained of non-cooperation from the Kenyan government as well as cited troubling witness interference.
In fact while declaring Ruto and Sang’s case on Tuesday a “mistrial” ICC judges noted: “the proceedings are declared a mistrial due to a troubling incidence of witness interference and intolerable political meddling.”
Its worth to note also that ICC’s prosecutorial arm had its own fair share of misgivings but that notwithstanding it’s the Kenyan government that had the sole role of ensuring justice for its people and not the Hague based court.
But as one of the victims lawyers pointed out ‘no cases have been as affected by simultaneous, well-organised, well resourced and ultimately successful efforts to bribe and to intimidate witnesses’ this was in reference to Kenyan cases where the government left virtually to nothing to chance to ensure the ICC Kenyan process aborts.
Victims’ lawyer, Fergal Gaynor, in the case of President Kenyatta who was also discharged from his accusation in December 2014, said: “No cases in the ICC’s short history have been so affected by efforts by ICC State Party (Kenya) efforts to obstruct the justice process and to vilify and discredit the court, accompanied by total non-prosecution at the domestic level.
Like President Uhuru Kenyatta’s acquittal, Ruto and Sang’s relief from accusation may not be far from over if the three other Kenyans wanted by ICC for witness tampering is anything to go by. But that is another battle front that Kenyans will be waiting to see how it shapes up in the coming months and certainly years.
But certainly it is the reason why in their ruling on Tuesday judges said Ruto and Sang were discharged but “without prejudice” – meaning the prosecutor can bring back charges in future. It also means therefore that the two were discharged not for lack of evidence but because the trial could not continue under the prevailing circumstances of suffocating political noise and witness intimidation.
And in the event that these cases are never re-opened forever one thing certainly worth mentioning is the fact that on January 1, 2008 more than 35 people were killed in a church where they had sought refuge following the violence. This number was what formed the 1,100 deaths and more 650,000 who were left homeless during the political strife following a disputed presidential result December 2007.
Our conscience and that of the perpetrators of these heinous atrocities against their fellow countrymen and women will never give us peace. This week as a country there are those tossing whisky and making merry to celebrate victory for justice but the poor and powerless who hoped for justice have given up that very last hope. It can only be asked whether it‘s a victory for justice or a victory for the obstruction of justice?
