The other side of Ocampo & Google Web Alerts for: ICC Sudan

FOR the record, here is a copy of an insightful article and an amusing photo published at The Standard. Pity the author's name is not cited. I'd be interested in reading more of the author's writings. My guess is that the author is not American. Whatever, thanks to The Standard for such great reporting.

The other side of Ocampo
Source: The Standard - www.standardmedia.co.ke
By Standard Reporter
Monday, 03 January 2011. Full copy:

The storm Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo stirred in Kenya over what critics perceive to be his abrasive, arrogant and rash style could just be what makes the strident Argentine lawyer.

Amid criticism locally that he defers to and plays to the American and European gallery and engages in ‘local politics’, at the international arena debate on Ocampo’s tactics and so-called blunders continues.

The criticisms are taking place as concern rises that if Kenya exits from the International Criminal Court (ICC) it could open a floodgate for the rest of African States to do so on the premise it served Western interests.

Ocampo’s outspokenness on his cases would continue to confound Kenyans ahead of March’s determination of his application for summonses against six prominent Kenyans.

This includes his vow to make Kenya an example to the World on impunity even before he commenced investigations and the naming of the six at an international news conference along with the charges he wants lined against them.

The thrust of arguments against Ocampo’s style hinge on what is perceived to be personalised approach, search for stardom through media, and breakneck speed. It is this style that has propped accusations that so far, he has failed to successfully indict those charged from crimes committed in Sudan, Congo and Uganda since the court was established in April 2003.



ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo

The World Affairs Journal, which is online, has a 6,000-word critical audit of Ocampo’s style, performance and conduct in office. The hard-hitting piece was posted in Spring 2009. The appraisal by renowned writers, authors and researchers Julie Flint and Alex de Waal, came as Kenyan leaders continued to criticise Ocampo amidst mounting pressure on the country to pull out of Rome Statute.

Information Minister Samuel Poghisio warned that Ocampo had become a "political persecutor" who has "thrown all caution to the wind in pursuit of some individuals."

Justice Assistant Minister William Cheptumo argued Ocampo neither bothered to carry out fresh investigations on post-election violence nor had capacity to do so.

The piece by Flint and de Waal raised serious credibility issues on Ocampo as a Prosecutor at the ICC.

"The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations didn’t want its overstretched and vulnerable peacekeepers conscripted as ICC enforcers. It also had Luis Moreno-Ocampo as its lead prosecutor," they wrote.

"But three years into his tenure, many in the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) were questioning his ability to do the job. A further three years on, and the Court is in trouble — a trickle of resignations has turned into a haemorrhage, and cases under prosecution and investigation are at risk of going calamitously wrong," the World Affairs Journal wrote.

It further reported that though several high ranking investigators and those serving in the OTP are among the best legal brains, many had quit over the years because they did not approve how cases were being investigated.

The authors also raised a sex scandal in which a South African journalist reportedly accused Ocampo of forcing himself on her, including confiscating her keys and confining her.

When the then ICC Public Information Adviser, Christian Palm, filed a "gross misconduct" complaint against Ocampo, the Prosecutor fired Palm.

Other critics like Ugandan Dr David Nyekorach-Matsanga, who used to be the spokesman of Uganda’s fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony, have written to the court and the United Nations Security Council asking for the Kenya case to be stopped.

"We have given the judges our views on the situation in Kenya because we believe Ocampo has not done any sufficient investigations in the country apart from holding hotel meetings in Nairobi," argued Matsanga who asked for ‘neutral investigation into the Kenyan case".

So far Ocampo has only managed to conclude the Lubanga trial on atrocities committed in Congo, which ended in an acquittal while an arrest warrant for Sudan President Omar al-Bashir is still pending.

On the Darfur genocide case, Flint and de Waal faulted Ocampo’s performance concluding: "The OTP got no further than the Hilton Hotel."

The journal said by the end of 2008, the Court had granted victim participation rights to just eleven Sudanese, as opposed to 171 Congolese and 57 Ugandans, and not a single case for witness protection on behalf of Darfurians had been presented before the judges.

The Prosecutor is said to have issued summons for two Sudanese whom he alleged were responsible for massacres and on February 27, 2007, demanded that Ahmed Harun, Minister of State for the Interior and Head of the "Darfur desk" that co-ordinated military and security operations in the region, and Ali Kushayb, a militia commander, to present themselves before The Hague.

Unlike in a domestic court, the ICC has a "Pre-Trial Chamber" of three judges who decide whether cases meet a relatively low threshold of reasonable grounds to conclude that a crime has been committed within the Court’s jurisdiction.

They argued Ocampo’s greatest asset was an exemplary cadre of professional staff for whom working at the ICC was more than a career — it was a vocation.

"I loved this job," an early recruit to the OTP told us. "It was my life."

The publication also reported, "the Prosecutor had opportunity to draw upon the accumulated expertise of existing international tribunals and some of the world’s finest lawyers and investigators but the asset was rapidly squandered."

It said increasingly "Moreno-Ocampo’s staff found it difficult to agree with their own Prosecutor, whose penchant for publicity and extravagant claims rather than fine detail was the polar opposite of their own work ethic."

"As the pressures on him mounted, Moreno Ocampo, in the opinion of many of his colleagues, began to "cut corners," wrote the paper.

The writers further pointed out that Ocampo announced publicly that he planned to intercept a plane on which Harun, the Sudanese suspect was scheduled to fly to Saudi Arabia for the Haj."

"If he really sought to arrest Harun, why advertise his own plan?" asked the writers.

The online publication said, "as internal criticism grew louder, Moreno-Ocampo listened less and took closer personal charge than ever…A senior team member said the Prosecutor was the most complicated and difficult manager he had ever worked for, emotionally volatile and obsessed with micromanaging."

"A key member of the OTP is said to have left, "saying privately that he was fearful of having to defend an indefensible position a few years down the line," they reported.

Mosop MP David Koech claimed the African Union no longer had faith in the Rome Statute and several member countries would soon initiate a process to be excluded from it.

"The ICC Prosecutor has performed way below expected international standards in the Kenyan case and has proved to all that he is a political activist and not a professional prosecutor," Koech said.

Ocampo’s former boss in the Argentine military ‘Junta’ trials, the journal reported, "disliked his love of the media spotlight".

It added, "many prosecution witnesses, victims of some of the worst human rights abuses on the continent, shied away from him."

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Further Reading

The Ocampo Six are Kenyans, but Rwanda, Uganda need to worry
Source: The East African - www.theeastafrican.co.ke
By Joint Report - Monday, 20 December 2010
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Case Closed: A Prosecutor Without Borders
Source: The World Affairs Journal - www.worldaffairsjournal.org
By Julie Flint and Alex de Waal - Spring 2009

Click here to read comments in response to the article at www.worldaffairsjournal.org. Incase the page disappears here is a copy of the comments:

I have very carefully and slowly read this article. If it was Christmas, this would be the Authors' Christmas gift to me. I wish there was a way in which this article could be made more accessoible to as many people as possible - especially to those of us who had been recently described by Professor Mahmoud mamdani as Human Rights Fundamentalists. Ther is everything wrong with individual who abuse their power but this pales in comparison to those who make every efforts to subvert entire systems for personal agrandisement.

Posted by Abdulrahman Wandati | April 8, 2009 11:31:34 AM EDT
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The anomalies exposed by the authors of this article regarding the ICC's decision to issue the arrest warrant of Al-Bashir , president of Sudan glaringly show the contradictions/ paradoxes The Hague based court of International Criminal Court seems to have suffered from, thereby undermining the dignity, neutrality and impartiality that is expected from and imputed with that court in terms of maintaining justice/ judicious perception both in form and substance.

Posted by Syed Qamar Afzal Rizvi | April 19, 2009 08:38:34 AM EDT
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Most of the controversy over the Bashir case has focused on the prudence of indicting a head of state in a fragile country prone to conflict. Those 300,000 died are human beings. Why iis Alex de Waal alway and unconditionally defending criminal al-Bashir?

Posted by Darfur Daily News | May 8, 2009 3:11:51 PM EDT
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I can't see how any interpretation of this article could be read as a defense of al-Bashir. The focus is on Ocampo's failure to meticulously, or otherwise, gather probative evidence to support the charges, rather he seems to be pursuing a maxim of "fiat justitia ruat caelum" (let justice be done though the heavens may fall) in a conflict region where it seems quite likely that the heavens might do just that.

Posted by Rachel Flynn | June 25, 2009 7:11:35 PM EDT
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Dear Sir: Alex de Waal advance against Luis Moreno Ocampo (“Case Closed,” Spring 2009), it helps to know that the authors’ real grievance is that leveling international charges against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is a mistake. The authors put forward Moreno Ocampo as the alleged incompetent, but their true disagreement is with a host of actors: the ICC Judges, who issued the warrant naming Bashir; the governments of the U.S., U.K., and France, who have firmly resisted calls to defer Bashir’s prosecution; the UN Security Council, which referred the Darfur case to the ICC back in 2005; and Darfuris themselves, who favor the view that peace in Darfur will not be attained absent justice. I can state that their portrayal of Moreno Ocampo’s ICC tenure rests on a base of misstated facts and material omissions. The authors also fail to disclose the interests and biases of their (unnamed) sources. The authors also fall well short of proving that Moreno Ocampo’s tenure has been incompetent or that he has acted “without borders.” Moreno Ocampo’s decision that his criminal investigators could not safely operate in Darfur was cautious and, in the end, correct. The Sudanese government indeed detained and tortured persons believed to be cooperating with the ICC and recently expelled aid groups based on the same pretext. Most have judged that this Prosecutor’s tenure has been characterized by extreme conservatism in executing the prosecutorial mandate: four investigations opened in the world’s worst conflicts and in each case following either self-referral by an involved State or referral by the Security Council. The Prosecutor’s strict observance of boundaries is what accounts, in no small part, for the Bush administration’s abandonment, over time, of its categorical opposition to support for the court’s work. The issue is not the man or the woman: it’s the mandate and, now, the institution. The view of Flint and de Waal—to propose no solution other than to let even the world’s worst atrocities continue—is becoming obsolete. Discussing policy might be more productive than engaging in character assassination.

Christine Chung
Former ICC Senior Trial
Attorney (2004–2007)

Posted by Christine Chung | May 15, 2009 11:16 AM EDT
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Christine Chung’s fuming response to Alex de Waal’s and Julie Flint’s carefully researched and rather moderate review of the confused years of Luis Moreno Ocampo’s years as ICC Prosecutor needs some background to be fully understood. In the Prosecution Division of the ICC OTP (Office of the Prosecutor) Chung played the role of Moreno Ocampo’s special confidante and hit man. It was a well known fact in the OTP that Chung and Moreno Ocampo had a special and personal relationship. She had the right to bypass her own superior in the Prosecution Division, Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, and go directly to Moreno Ocampo, very often providing critical information regarding her colleagues or even her supervisor, the Deputy Prosecutor. Indeed, on one occasion, in 2006, Chung despatched a 500 word e-mail to Moreno Ocampo with accusations against Bensouda for being incompetent. The wording in this e-mail (which I have read, courtesy of Moreno Ocampo’s personal assistant Sofia Velasco), was such that in any normal organisation an employee who, while bypassing her own superior had sent a similar letter to a principal, would have been the subject of disciplinary proceedings, or even immediate dismissal. The problem of Chung’s short cut to Moreno Ocampo was widely discussed in the office and one (brave) colleague of Chung in the PD (Prosecution Division) even had the audacity to bring it up in a conference with all OTP managers present. Chung was also known for aggresively hunting Moreno Ocampo dissenters in the office, often with e-mails that were copied to many staff members. These e-mails routinely were laced with highly abusive personal remarks. The Investigation Divison even had compiled a special file of these abusive e-mails. One staff member in the end found it necessary to invoke the internal rules against “sexual and other forms of harassment” in order to bring a halt to Chung’s abusive campaign. Chung’s comments to World Affairs should hence not be seen as independent of Moreno Ocampo, but rather as a proxie or client acting on orders from Moreno Ocampo. Christian Palme former Public Information Adviser to the ICC prosecutor.

Posted by Christian Palme | September 8, 2009 09:17:52 AM EDT
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ICC Vs. SUDAN: Calculating the cost
Source: Sudan Tribune - www.sudantribune.com
By Kwathi Ajawin - November 26, 2008*
The author is a Sudanese church and community leader based in Washington, DC., and can be reached at Akolkwathi@yahoo.com

*Note from Kenya Watch editor: The article at Sudan Tribune came to my attention via a Google Web Alert emailed to me by google.com, today, Sunday, 02 January 2011 at 21:49 PM GMT UK. Here is a copy of the email:

From: googlealerts-noreply@google.com
Subject: Google Alert - ICC Sudan
Date: 2 January 2011 21:49:16 GMT

=== Google Web Alert for: ICC Sudan ===

ICC Vs SUDAN Calculating the cost Sudan Tribune Plural news and ...
By Kwathi Ajawin November 26, 2008 — What makes it difficult for some to
join the debate on our Sudanese forums on the issue of the ICC is the (...)
http://www.sudantribune.com/ICC-Vs-SUDAN-Calculating-the-cost,29388>

This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google.

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UPDATE: Here is a copy of a "Google Blogs Alert for: ICC Sudan" emailed to me by google.com on Monday, 03 January 2011 at 00:48 AM GMT UK. The Alert features the blog post above. Note that Google's excerpt makes no mention of the current articles featured in the post above. Weird.

=== Google Blogs Alert for: ICC Sudan ===

The other side of Ocampo & Google Web Alerts for: ICC Sudan
By Editor
Google Web Alert for: ICC Sudan === ICC Vs SUDAN Calculating the cost Sudan
Tribune Plural news and ... By Kwathi Ajawin November 26, 2008 — What

makes it difficult for some to join the debate on our Sudanese forums on

the issue of the ...
http://kenyawatch.blogspot.com/2011/01/other-side-of-ocampo-google-web-alerts.html>
KENYA WATCH
http://kenyawatch.blogspot.com/>

This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google.

Why the ICC is wrong in Kenya and Sudan

Moreno-Ocampo and with equal measure, Washington, unquestionably are causing a political fallout that can split the cabinets of both, within Sudan and Kenya, at the very time day-to-day management is required by the African Union to keep the peace.

This blog author and the following writer believe ICC actions do more harm than good to Kenya and Sudan.

Why The ICC Is Wrong In Kenya And The Sudan
Source: Black Star News - www.blackstarnews.com
Author: Bob Astles
Date: Monday, 20 December 2010

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor who has little if any real knowledge of Africa and its mass of mini-nations, seemingly has the one ambition of bringing the Sudan to disaster as the result of his personal quest for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

He is not thinking of the consequences that would occur during this period when the Sudan is organizing itself into a new destiny of nationhood. Here we have a person brought up in South America where crime, disaster, corruption and lack of democracy are endemic.

He seems unaware that Africa has had, and is doing its best to shake off, the yoke of colonialism and the White man’s re-drawing of borders that have left mini-nations divided in two or three different colonial countries which now makes it extremely hard toil for elected leaders to create "one nation, one people."

This is especially so when foreigners, with complete indifference to the needs of Africans, swoop in and corrupt different ethnic groups to gain the wealth of oil and minerals and in doing so bring ethnic violence that is then supplied with imported modern weaponry.

The Sudan is one such case but Kenya, right on the Sudan's border, now is also under the “iron fist” of Moreno-Ocampo.

Certainly we have seen atrocities committed during Kenya’s elections and certainly the super powers were saying and aware there would be killings, rape and human atrocities at such a time.

Yet this Western version of democracy is what the USA demanded. They shrugged their shoulders at more seasoned advice to let Africa find its own destiny and not let those like Moreno-Ocampo crack the whip upon young African nations where even basic schooling has not reached the hungry masses.

So now in Kenya we have President Mwai Kibaki and his Prime Minister Raila Odinga bashing heads together and thoroughly alarmed by the release of Moreno-Ocampo’s list of the Kenyans he wishes to put on public trial in a European court; especially as those named are key personalities of the mini-nations making up the newly formed coalition government.

Moreno-Ocampo and with equal measure, Washington, unquestionably are causing a political fallout that can split the cabinets of both, within Sudan and Kenya, at the very time day-to-day management is required by the African Union to keep the peace.

If the future welfare of these two large and important African nations were truly a matter of benevolent concern it would be clear that at such a critical transitional period both nations need a breathing space from constant hostile western press attacks and the ICC spotlight that are shifting daily the ground under the leaders’ feet.

Bob Astles lived for many years in Africa and was an advisor to Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

"Speaking Truth To Empower."

Re post-election violence in Kenya: ICC Ocampo to prosecute six suspects

THE 2007/08 post-election violence in Kenya left more than 1,000 people dead and thousands others displaced from their homes.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said that he will present two separate cases to judges before the end of the year charging between four and six people he believes "bear the greatest responsibility for the most serious crimes."

In April, Moreno Ocampo said he had a list of 20 possible suspects that included PNU and ODM leaders.

Full story below.

Ocampo to prosecute six post-election suspects
From The Standard (www.standardmedia.co.ke)
Wednesday, 22 September 2010:

The International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo reiterates that he will present two cases against four to six individuals suspected of instigating post-election violence in Kenya.

The 2007/08 post-election violence left more than 1,000 people dead and thousands others displaced from their homes.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Ocampo said that he will present two separate cases to judges before the end of the year charging between four and six people he believes "bear the greatest responsibility for the most serious crimes."

The statement did not mention the names of potential suspects or give more detail on when Ocampo would file the cases to judges at the court, who would have to authorise any arrest warrants.

In April, Moreno Ocampo said he had a list of 20 possible suspects that included PNU and ODM leaders.

Kenya’s commitment to cooperate with ICC was called into question last month when it invited Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir during a visit. Al-Bashir has been indicted for genocide for allegedly masterminding atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region.

Moreno Ocampo underscored in his statement that both Kibaki and Odinga — political rivals in the disputed election that led to the violence — had publicly expressed support for his investigation.

He also said he hopes "the Kenyan justice system will ultimately deal with the many perpetrators that the ICC will not prosecute."

The international tribunal is a court of last resort that takes on cases only when a country is unwilling or unable to bring to justice perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Judges at the court publicly rebuked Kenya in August for failing to arrest al-Bashir, saying the country had "a clear obligation to cooperate" in enforcing arrest warrants.

Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula defended inviting al-Bashir to celebrate Kenya's new constitution, saying the Sudanese president is the "head of state of a friendly neighbour state."

New plot to block ICC's Ocampo

New plot to block ICC's Ocampo to "give Kenya breathing space"

New plot to block Ocampo
From The Standard (Kenya)
By Juma Kwayera
Saturday, 08 May 2010

As International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo arrives in Kenya, a group of African States plans to petition the United Nations Security Council to defer the investigations until after the next General Election.

The 60 African lobbyists — who include academics, politicians and lawyers — plan a parallel meeting to an ICC Review Meeting scheduled for May 31 to June 11 in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

The push to stop Moreno-Ocampo from pursuing post-election violence suspects has been met with stinging criticism from local human rights groups, who read desperate attempts by forces culpable in the violence that consumed the country in the aftermath of the highly disputed 2007 presidential elections.

African Union that has in the past two years been critical of Moreno-Ocampo since he slapped a warrant of arrest on Sudanese President Omar Hassan el Bashir, are pushing for a revision of Article 15 of the Rome Statute that bestows unlimited powers on the chief prosecutor to pursue leaders accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The anti-Moreno Ocampo campaign is being spearheaded by Sudan, which has rallied support from among others Kenya, Libya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Uganda, South Africa, DR Congo, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Liberia Mozambique and Chad.

In Europe, former USSR and Czechoslovakia satellite states are rallying behind the lobby group.

Apart from the African World Media (AWM), a leading British lobby group, and American-based Witness Africa, are some of the organisations lining up to tell Ocampo to "give Kenya breathing space".

Further, the group has drafted a petition it hopes to present to the UN Security Council on Wednesday to press for the deferment of the ICC investigations pending the conclusion of Agenda Item IV of the National Peace Accord signed under international pressure by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga that ended post-election chaos in 2008.

Moreno-Ocampo arrives at a time when the referendum debate has elicited strong reactions from the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ camps, stoking fears of ethnic and political polarisation reminiscent of post-2007 General Election.

The leader of the group that convenes under the aegis AWM, Dr David Nyekorach-Matsanga, says ICC investigations of crimes against humanity carries with it a disruptive effect and has the potential to polarise the country further.

"We are wary of deadline politics in Africa. Crimes were committed in Kenya but this is not the time to engage in investigations that can rekindle the ethnic hostilities the resulted in post-election chaos. It is also important that the investigations be deferred pending the conclusion of constitutional, judicial, police and civil service reforms, which are on course," Dr Matsanga told The Standard on Saturday.

However, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Vice-Chairman Hassan Omar says the push to scuttle the ICC activities in Kenya would be resisted.

"There is obviously panic in Government because it is dominated by key suspects. ICC operations will move in any direction, including the Executive. The attempt to criticise the ICC or reduce the mandate of chief prosecutor is myopic as it cannot deflate the wheels of justice as they are catching up with people who planned and committed the crimes," Omar, who will participate in ICC General Assembly meeting in Uganda, says.

This is not the first time that Matsanga wants Moreno-Ocampo tamed in the hunt for post-election suspects.

Perceived impunity

In February, a 12-page application was filed at the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II seeking the nullification of the international court’s effort to rein in perceived impunity in Kenya.

More significantly, the application filed soon after that of two Americans — Prof Max Hilaire and William A Cohn — failed to convince the international court to scupper investigations.

In the application, Matsanga argued: "Flawed application of Article 15 of the Rome Statute of 1998 is likely to lead to flawed justice for both the victims and the alleged key perpetrators of the post-election violence of 2007-2008 as well as lead to a cataclysmic politico-socio falling out across the country, with a dire consequences for Kenya."

Moreno-Ocampo’s five-day visit to Kenya has apparently rekindled fears that the hunt for bearers of the greatest responsibility for alleged crimes against humanity would rope in the Executive, which a local commission of inquiry has blamed for occasioning post-election violence.

International Centre for Transitional Justice senior researcher and lawyer, Njonjo Mue, agrees the search for justice for post-election violence faces threats of being messed by politics.

But he says: "The victims of post-election violence have waited too long. The rules of procedure are such that the process cannot stall until the investigations are through. Ocampo is aware of this. The indictments can be open or sealed, so there should be no fear that investigations will affect constitutional reforms as ICC is not a political court," says Mue.

University of Nairobi political science lecturer, Adams Oloo, shares the sentiments. But he cautioned: "Although the timelines of the referendum and ICC investigations are far apart, key suspects could use them as an excuse to mess up the democratic process. Ideally Moreno-Ocampo’s investigations could influence the 2012 elections."

An ICC statement early in the week that Moreno-Ocampo’s investigations would, when necessary, be taken to the highest office on the land has intensified panic that had been on a lull since his departure in November.

The planned meeting is part of the pressure that is piling again from within and outside Kenya against ICC to frustrate the investigations pending the determination of Africa’s demand for the reduction of the chief prosecutor’s powers.

Agenda IV, an outcome of national reconciliation and peace talks, envisages constitutional, electoral and judicial reforms whose deadlines are defined by the timeframe provided in the National Accord.

Moreno-Ocampo touched off panic in the high echelons of the Government when he declared early in the week that his imminent investigations would not spare anybody irrespective of position in the Government.

INTERVIEW: ICC's Ocampo prepares for Kenya trip

Ocampo prepares for Kenya trip
From Capital News by Judie Kaberia, Thursday 29 April 2010:

THE HAGUE, Apr 29 - “Those who caused violence in 2007/2008 were aiming to have a seat in the Cabinet, but they have to understand if you commit violence you have a seat in jail! says International Criminal Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

In this exclusive interview with Capital News, Mr Ocampo affirms his commitment to pursue the perpetrators and also shares his thoughts about international justice and the importance of cooperation by member States.

“The weakest people are the victims, the women and the children,” said the prosecutor.

The man, widely perceived in Kenya as the deliverer of justice explains what motivates his stressful and risky job which entails dealing with powerful individuals.

Q. Tell us about Luis Moreno-Ocampo

A. I am the Prosecutor of the ICC. My work is to investigate massive crimes when the nationals are not doing that. Particularly people in the slums… sometimes they are ignored and I would like to listen to them and they have to listen to me too because I have to represent them in court. Sometimes they are victims of this type of crimes. Even as a global prosecutor I would like to work for them.

When someone is protected by someone else, I should not interfere. In Colombia there are national prosecutors doing the job so I don’t need to intervene, so I intervene when the people are not presented, (when) no one is taking care of their interests. That is why I like this job. I have to go normally to people who are ignored, very poor, marginalised and then. Yes! We go and work for them.

Q. Is it that Kenya doesn’t have a strong judicial system to prosecute the crimes you are handling?

A. No, we are not making any judgment on the Kenyan judicial system. In fact one of the judges at the ICC is Kenyan. The problem is, there are no national proceedings in Kenya about the post election violence, and that is the issue. When there are no cases, we do a case.

Normally the States organise themselves to have their own police, their own Judiciary. But with these massive crimes they agreed to have this International Criminal Court, so when a country like Kenya joined the court, we are part of the Kenyan justice system. We are the independent part of Kenyan judicial system supported by Kenya, supported by other 110 member States. Then our job is to end impunity for the most serious crimes and that is what we are doing. What we expect from the state parties such as Kenya, is respect for the law and support.

Q. How will the ICC deal with powerful individuals who are suspects?

A. We will be looking at the crimes. I will prosecute the most responsible because really we are a court where we focus on the most responsible. We cannot investigate many people here.

At the same time we respect the accused rights. In Kenya some people are suspects but we will see if they are guilty or not, so as a prosecutor I have to be impartial.

It is my duty to investigate - incriminating but also exonerating to seek for justice. We are willing to meet and receive those considered to be suspects and listen to them and what they have to say.

Q. Is the ICC also concerned with the process of Truth Justice and Reconciliation in countries under its investigation?

A. Yes! We would like to work with others like truth and justice commissions and local leaders among others. This is important as the common goal is to be sure that the next election in 2012 is peaceful.

We are more than happy to work with whoever is working with this goal and in fact I m going to Kenya in May and I would like to meet the local leaders, people in the slums, discussing how we can help them. I came from Argentina when there were serious crimes. The way to reconcile is to establish the law because if someone raped my daughter no one can force me to reconcile with this person, in this case the rapist. However, according to a legal system, I cannot kill the rapist, so that is why the justice effort could help to reconcile the people.

Q. You seem to believe that reconciliation processes are important. Explain this further.

A. We need to organise a system to live together not just in Kenya but in the world. The issue is to live together. I remember I met with President Museveni in Uganda because he invited President Bashir and he explained to me that Bashir is his tribe, you cannot understand and I said, I love the tribal idea. In fact you and I are in the same tribe, we are the ICC tribe, a bigger tribe.

Because you are the Bashir tribe, invite him to Uganda, then arrest him. For me whatever we are building is a global tribe. The basic idea is no more massive killing… we are united for this but this is a very important tribe.

Q. Sudan’s President Omar al Bashir has been indicted, yet he hasn’t been arrested. Do you think Kenyan suspects will be arrested?

A. The problem is al Bashir is using the army and the police and the State operatives to commit crime. Here in Kenya, the government is not committing crime; the government is trying to control crime.

So I think the Kenya State will help to arrest the people. But there is always a chance and we are evaluating every moment that the accused appear voluntarily and we don’t have to arrest them.

In each country we request territorial States to arrest individuals. That is what we are requesting Sudan to arrest Al Bashir and he has a responsibility to appear voluntarily in court.

Q. When you last visited Kenya in November 2009, PEV victims were not happy that you didn’t meet with them. Why did you choose not to?

A. I had my limits because I could not meet with the victims before the judges authorised my investigations. That is why I said I will come to Kenya as soon as the judges authorise my investigations to meet the victims.

The President and the Prime Minister are in charge of Kenya, so I had to inform them what I had come to do. I had to inform them that I would open investigations requesting the judges’ authorisation. Now it is my time to meet the victims. It will be the beginning. I will see how many places I can visit, but I will try to come back in September or October to be there again and meet more victims.

Q. What is your itinerary when you come to Kenya in May?

A. I will come to Kenya to listen to victims. I will ask what happened to you, how were you affected? I don’t want people thinking I’m coming to put you in jail. They have to understand my mandate, what I can do and what I cannot do. I will fulfill my role. I will do what I am promising to do. I would like to tell the Kenyan people to keep reporting justice and justice will come to them.

Q. Israel and the US are not signatories to the ICC Treaty. Why should Kenya be a member and what do you mean that Kenya will be an example to the world, is it a threat?

A. Kenya accepted the idea as many as 29 other African countries, as Europe, as South America. We suffered crime during the pre-colonial time, we suffered crimes during the cold war, and that is why we learn the law is important to protect us. It is showing the sophistication of Kenya to accept and join the treaty and the others will learn.

They feel they can be protected by armies, and we are thinking no! We can be protected by law. That is why we are saying Kenya will be an example to show that. It will be an example of how we can use the law to do justice for the victims and to prevent violence in the future, it is the example we are giving together; the Kenyan people, the Kenyan authorities and the court working together.

Q. Kenyans have a high level of trust and expectations in you. Should they?

A. Oh, I (hope) they continue to trust me. I would like to see them, to be connected to them who are the poorest. I will do a couple of cases. It will not be the end of the story but the beginning of the story. I believe this will help a lot to understand that there will be no more violence.

Read more: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/Ocampo-prepares-for-Kenya-trip-8269.html#ixzz0mTagp95U
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ICC Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo wants to launch a formal investigation into post-election in Kenya

Photo (Associated Press): The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands

Where Is Amsterdam Located?

Where is Amsterdam, you might be wondering? Amsterdam is the capital city of the Netherlands, and this country is located in North-West Europe between Germany in the east, Belgium in the south, and the North Sea in the north and west.

Amsterdam is located in the province of North-Holland. The provincial capital of North-Holland is not Amsterdam, though, but Haarlem. (Harlem in New York is named after Haarlem, because of the Dutch founders of New York.)

Sometimes foreigners mistakenly think that The Hague is the capital of the Netherlands, because the Dutch government is located there. Amsterdam is clearly the cultural capital of the Netherlands, though: it has the biggest museums, the leading orchestras, two universities, most national newspapers and a thriving art scene. It's a popular tourist destination: 4 million tourists annually come to see the old city center's architecture and canals, visit the museums and experience the liberal, international culture.

The Netherlands are sometimes popularly called 'Holland', but actually Holland refers to the western provinces of North-Holland and South-Holland within the Netherlands. The inhabitants of the Netherlands are called the Dutch.

Distances To Amsterdam From Abroad

How far is Amsterdam from some major world capitals?

Click here to read full story at www.amsterdam-advisor.com. The flying times refer commercial airliners and are averages.
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Report from:   Aljazeera.net
Date:  Thursday, November 26, 2009
16:33 MECCA Time, 13:33 GMT

Title:  Prosecutor requests Kenya inquiry

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has asked judges to allow him to launch a formal investigation into post-election in Kenya.

The ICC said on November 6 it would consider a prosecution request to investigate suspected crimes against humanity committed during the clashes, which left at least 1,300 people dead.

"There is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the court were committed," Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in The Hague, Netherlands, on Thursday.

"In particular, crimes of murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, deportation or forcible transfer of population and other inhuman acts."

The violence broke out after Raila Odinga, now prime minister in a power-sharing government, accused his rival for the presidency, Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent president, of winning the December 27, 2007 poll through widespread fraud.

Hundreds of thousands of people were forced from their homes as the violence raged.

Investigation

Moreno-Ocampo has been conducting a preliminary investigation into the clashes since February last year and said during a visit to Kenya last month that he wished to pursue "those responsible".

This is the first time that the ICC prosecutor has sought to open an official investigation on his own initiative, one of three ways in which a case can come before the international court.

Other cases before the court had either been referred by countries that have signed up to the court's founding Rome Statute or by the UN Security Council, as in the case of the conflict in Darfur, Sudan.

Elizabeth Evenson, counsel in the international justice programme of Human Rights Watch, said: "The ICC is a court of last resort, and when national authorities are unwilling to act, it is supposed to step in.

"Today's announcement shows that the ICC prosecutor can and will act on his own in situations of serious crimes."

The Kenyan government has yet to act on the recommendation of its own inquiry that a special tribunal be set up to investigate the violence.

Moses Wetangula, the Kenyan foreign minister, said earlier this month that Nairobi would assist any ICC to investigation, but was committed to a "local solution".

In July, Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general who helped broker the power-sharing deal between Kenya's leaders, sent the ICC a list of names of key suspects that is believed to include senior government officials.

Click here for photo - Moreno-Ocampo, left, has been carrying out his own investigation since February last year [AFP] - with thanks to Aljazeera.net
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Books by Dr. Luis Moreno Ocampo & Bio

Here is a copy of a bio from http://www.loc.gov/bicentennial/bios/democracy/...

Luis Moreno Ocampo, a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires Law School, is currently in private practice in Buenos Aires, where he specializes in corruption control programs for large organizations. He also serves as an adjunct professor of Penal Law at his alma mater.

Mr. Moreno Ocampo played a key role in the trials related to Argentina's democratic transition.

He was the assistant prosecutor in the trials against the military junta (1985), and in the trials against the chief of the Buenos Aires Police (1986).

When he served as District Attorney for the Federal Circuit of the City of Buenos Aires from 1987 to 1992, he was in charge of the trials against the military responsible for the Falklands [Malvinas] war (1988), those who headed the military rebellions in 1988, and prosecuted many large public corruption cases.

He has worked with both the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations, aiding governments to establish systems to control corruption.

He was the co-founder of Poder Ciudadano, a non-governmental organization which promotes citizen responsibility and participation.

Mr. Moreno Ocampo is a member of the Advisory Committee of Transparency International, a world-wide organization that reduces corruption in international business transactions; in addition he serves as its President for Latin America and the Caribbean.

His publications include In Self Defense, How to Avoid Corruption (1993) and When Power Lost the Trial: How to Explain the Dictatorship to Our Children (1996). He has developed methods to teach law and conflict resolution through a daily television show called Forum.

Click here to see Dr. Moreno Ocampo's books listed on Amazon.co.uk

Here is a snapshot of my search today on Amazon.co.uk

Books › "Luis Moreno Ocampo"
Showing 4 Results

1. En Defensa Propia - Como Salir de la Corrupcion by Luis Moreno Ocampo (Paperback - Dec 1993)
2 Used & new from £29.95

2. La Hora De La Transparencia En America Latina: El Manual De Anticorrupcion En La Funcion Publica (Etica y Transparencia) by Valeria Merino, Juan Lozano, and Luis Moreno Ocampo (Paperback - 1 Mar 1998)
Buy new: £12.00
18 Used & new from £5.85
Usually dispatched within 3 to 5 weeks
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery.

3. Brida by Paulo Coelho and Luis Gabriel Moreno Ocampo (Paperback - Jun 1998)
3 Used & new from £43.80

4. Cuando El Poder Perdio El Juicio by Luis Moreno Ocampo (Paperback - Jun 1996)
1 Used & new from £27.59

Front cover of Dr. Moreno Ocampo's book.
Source:  Amazon.co.uk website, with thanks.
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Photo: The Chief Prosecutor Mr. Luis Moreno Ocampo, sworn in on the 16th of June 2003. (Source:  ICC / Sudan Watch archives February 27, 2007)



Photo:  ICC to name first Darfur suspects - ST/Reuters (Source: Sudan Watch archives February 27, 2007)

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YouTube:  ICC's Moreno Ocampo on arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir



Posted to YouTube by EUXTV, March 04, 2009 with the following caption and tags under the category of News & Politics:

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, reacts to the court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan. Al-Bashir is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Category: News & Politics

Tags: Luis Moreno Ocampo war crimes Sudan Darfur Omar al Bashir president Africa Chad EUFOR MINURCAT genocides tubemogul eux eux.tv the hague icc international criminal court tsjaad soedan khartoum al-Bashir goz beida EUX.TV European elections 2009 European Union European Parliament EuropeanUnion EuropeanParliament EUX EUXTV