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Home / UNSC divided on AU request for ICC trial postponement
UNSC divided on AU request for ICC trial postponement
2013-11-18Mathias Haufiku RUNDU – The United Nations Security Council emerged divided on whether or not to postpone the trial of the Kenyan president and deputy president at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, with only seven of the 15 UNSC members voting in favour of the postponement and eight members abstaining from voting. The UNSC voting policy states that for the council resolutions to be approved there should be nine votes in favour and with no veto from any of the five permanent members – China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States. Last month the African Union formally requested the United Security Council to postpone the cases against Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and deputy president William Ruto, who are accused of crimes against humanity and other offences allegedly committed following Kenya’s national elections in 2007. However, the vote of last week Friday seems to have dashed the hopes of the African Union, with Russia and China being the only two UNSC permanent members who voted in favour of the resolution, according to the latest information from the United Nations News Centre. The Kenyan violence following the 2007 election is said to have left about 1 100 people dead, 3 500 injured and up to 600 000 people displaced. The United States of America, the United Kingdom and France shunned the African continent by voting against the draft resolution. Last month during the extra ordinary session of the assembly of the African Union, which met in Addis Ababa, within the framework of the theme ”Africa’s relationship with the International Criminal Court, the AU blasted the International Criminal Court for unfairly targeting African leaders and recommended that no sitting president should be put on trial at the ICC and also called for the deferment of the trial of the Kenyan politicians. By Mathias Haufiku 2013-11-18Mathias Haufiku
