A breakthrough in justice? Accountability for post-election violence in Kenya

Working paper


Sriram, Chandra Lekha and Brown, Stephen 2010. A breakthrough in justice? Accountability for post-election violence in Kenya. University of East London, Centre on Human Rights in Conflict.
AuthorsSriram, Chandra Lekha and Brown, Stephen
TypeWorking paper
Abstract

The International Criminal Court (ICC) provides
the most promising, and potentially only, venue
for accountability for those most responsible for
serious post-election violence in Kenya.
• International scrutiny, specifically the involvement
of Kofi Annan and diplomatic pressure, sought
to promote a resolution to violence and gave
weight to the recommendations of a domestic
commission of inquiry, but were unable to ensure
domestic or hybrid accountability proceedings.
• The ICC is expected by many in Kenya and
beyond to pursue positive complementarity—
that is, to have a significant impact on domestic
accountability and the fight against impunity in
the country.
• The approval of the investigation into the situation
in Kenya turned on a determination that crimes
likely to be tried were not being investigated or
tried in Kenya, and that they were of sufficient
gravity to merit ICC scrutiny.
• It will be difficult to ensure that ICC proceedings
are accessible to the population, but potential for
impact of the trials in Kenya depends on this.
• Both case selection and the approach to
timing and publicity of arrest warrants are
sensitive politically.
• Though the new Kenyan constitution, approved
in a referendum in August 2010, might help
prevent political violence in the future, serious and
sustained efforts will be required to avoid tragic
scenarios around the 2012 elections and beyond.

KeywordsInternational Criminal Court; Kenya; political violence; International scrutiny
Year2010
PublisherUniversity of East London, Centre on Human Rights in Conflict
Web address (URL)http://www.uel.ac.uk/chrc/publications/documents/TheICCandKenyaPolicyPaper2010 .pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/10552/1050
Publication dates
PrintAug 2010
Publication process dates
Deposited23 Nov 2010
Additional information

Citation:
Sriram, C.L. and Brown, S. (2010) ‘A breakthrough in justice? Accountability for post-election violence in Kenya’ Centre on Human Rights in Conflict, Policy Paper No.4, August 2010.

Series Centre on Human Rights in Conflict Policy Paper No.4
Publisher's version
License
CC BY-ND
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https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/86201

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