This week, the judges of the International Criminal Court authorized the court’s Prosecutor to open a formal investigation of Kenya’s post-election violence, raising the prospect that political leaders from the East African nation might face trial at the court. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked judges last November to approve an investigation into the 2007-08 violence and whether Kenyan political leaders organized and financed attacks against civilians.

In this 5-minute mini-documentary, leading figures in the field of international justice discuss the possibility of an ICC case in Kenya in light of the controversy over the fact that all  of the ICC’s current cases are also in Africa.  ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo explains why he will not let this controversy influence his decisions.  The former chair of the National Human Rights Commission of Kenya, Maina Kiai, predicts that without a meaningful process of justice, Kenya will be in for more violence in the next election cycle, and insists that the relevant institutions within Kenya have “collapsed entirely.”  In  response, Kenya’s Ambassador to the UN, Zachary Muburi-Muita, defends Kenya’s vibrant society but agrees that Africa as a whole suffers from “a lack of institutions.”  This mini-documentary on Kenya and the ICC succinctly provides unique background to this latest case coming before the ICC.

Featured in this video: Oby Nwankwo, Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre Nigeria; Murtaza Jaffer, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch; Luis Moreno-Ocampo, International Criminal Court; Maina Kiai, former Chairman of the Kenya National Human Rights Commission,  Zachary Muburi-Muita, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the United Nations

Follow this Series of Mini-Documentaries on the System of International Criminal Justice

This mini-documentary is one of a series created by Skylight Pictures from the proceedings of the Consultative Conference on International Criminal Justice, held at UN Headquarters in New York in September 2009. Each of these videos, 5-to-7 minutes long, highlights a contemporary issue facing the system of international criminal justice.

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Link to Conference and Series Information: http://www.internationalcriminaljustice.net

Future Titles in this Series:

• Humanitarian NGOs and the International Criminal Court;
• Domestic and Regional Complementarity;
• The Role of Preliminary Examinations;
• Colombia and the International Criminal Court;
• Victim Participation and Fair Trials at the International Criminal Court;
• The Emerging System of International Criminal Justice;
• The International Criminal Court and International Relations;

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