War crimes prosecutor suspects both parties guilty of stoking 2007 Kenyan election violence

Prosecutor has 20 suspects in 2007 Kenya violence

AMSTERDAM — An international prosecutor probing the deadly violence that rocked Kenya after the 2007 elections said Wednesday he believes top officials from both major parties were responsible for crimes against humanity, and he has a list of 20 suspects.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, said both parties organized, financed or spurred the violence against civilians because of their political or tribal allegiance.

More than 1,000 people were killed and 600,000 forced from their homes after President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner. The opposition, led by Raila Odinga claimed the vote was rigged, leading to three months of upheavals. Many protesters who clashed with police were killed, but the violence also erupted along tribal lines.

Odinga was later made prime minister in a coalition government.

Moreno Ocampo said senior leaders of both parties “utilized their personal, government, business and tribal networks to commit the crimes.” They exploited their influence with people in high government office, police, parliament and gangs of youngsters to carry out a violent bid for power, he said in a statement released by the court.

The prosecutor was responding to a request last month from the judges for more information before they decide whether to authorize the investigation to continue.

The court said Moreno Ocampo provided the judges with a list of the most serious incidents and the names of 20 suspects, but neither list was being released.

He said none of the suspects had faced justice in Kenya.

The names came from initial investigations by an independent commission and by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, he said.

Last year the commission said its suspects included powerful individuals who could interfere with further investigations if their names were made public, but it disclosed that several Cabinet ministers, businessmen and police offers were listed.

If judges allow Moreno Ocampo to open an investigation, it would be the fifth since the court started work in 2002 — all of them based in Africa.