The decision by the Pre Trial Chamber II Judges to commit four Kenyan suspects of the post election violence to trial has received both it shares of praises and critics from Kenyans.
Most Kenyans, as recently depicted by a study conducted by South Consulting, welcomed the ruling and were now optimistic that finally justice will be delivered to the victims of the post election violence.
On the other hand, the political elites disagreed with the ruling arguing that it was politically motivated and that finally the suspects will be vindicated.
However, shifting gears from the four suspects committed to trial by the International Criminal Court {ICC}, there are other perpetrators in the country who didn’t reach the ICC prosecution threshold.
According to the findings of the Waki report into the post election violence, perpetrators of sexual violence were not just ordinary citizens, neighbors, and gang members, but also significant numbers of security forces.
“Many victims let members of the security forces into their houses assuming they would help them. Instead, they found themselves being attacked by those they thought would help them. This entailed a gross betrayal of trust,” said the report.
From the findings of the commission, it’s evident that there are other perpetrators who have been integrated in the community freely despite them being responsible for brutally killing and inhumanly sexually violating women and young girls.
In this regard there is an urgent need for the state to put in place mechanisms to try the middle and low level perpetrators in order to enable the victim’s whose lives were destroyed receive justice and accountability.
The formation of a credible local tribunal is the only way that the state will revive the Kenyans spirit and hopes in the country’s criminal and judicial system which over the years has been accused of not respecting the rule of law.
According to Centre for Rights Education and Awareness {CREAW} Deputy Executive Director Michael Wachira the country needs to urgently rededicate its energy and effort towards ensuring the victims and survivors benefit from the ICC process and any other local accountability mechanism put in place.
“The ICC is trying the highest level of perpetrators, while a local tribunal will compliment that process by putting in place measures to hold into account middle and low class perpetrators,” Wachira elaborated.
He urged Kenyans to revisit the issue of a special tribunal and how it’s going to be set up arguing that it’s the only way victims will receive accountability with the local judicial structures.
