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