Ocampo in Town

Many people heard about Kenya’s 2007 election violence. But, what happened after? Who was held accountable? Nobody.

Accountability—a simple word, fraught with complexities. The lack thereof is one of the greatest problems here.

This morning Louis Ocampo, a chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, arrived in Nairobi. After the election, the cue, the violence and the peace agreement that was brilliantly negotiated by Kofi Annan, a Commission was formed to investigate the violence. Following the “Waki” (name for Mr. Justice Philip Waki) Commission report, little was done. A local tribunal was to be formed, a truth and justice commission was to be initiated, but no true progress was made.

In addition to the report, the Commission gave Kofi Annan a sealed envelope containing names of potential suspects and evidence implicating them—members of parliament, business men etc... Annan brilliantly said to Kenyan leaders “do nothing and I will hand the envelope over to the ICC.” Well, after months of excuses by Kenyan politicians, Annan did just that. After presenting initial briefs, the ICC gave authority to Ocampo to pursue the case of crimes against humanity in Kenya.

Ocampo is most known for the work his did in his native Argentina in prosecuting those responsible for the “Dirty War” of the 70’s where thousands of people “disappeared” and were killed. More recently he led the conviction against Omar Al-Bashir, the President of Sudan, for crimes in Darfur.

Ocampo will be here for five days. He is gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses and visiting post-election violence sites. He suspects to have those responsible arrested within six months.
We watch anxiously, secretly cheering Ocampo on his quest for justice, hoping for some accountability. The people whose homes were burned, family members killed, farms abandoned—they deserve nothing less.