The African Union, Kenya and the International Criminal Court

The African Union (AU) held an extraordinary summit on 11-12 October 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. At the summit, African heads of state and government discussed Africa’s relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC). They agreed that Kenya should send a letter to the UN Security Council requesting the deferral of the ICC’s ongoing proceedings against the President and Deputy President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, both of whom have been charged with crimes against humanity in the context of the post-election violence during 2007-08; further, the letter should be endorsed by all 34 African States Parties to the ICC.

Western governments face an acute dilemma. Until now, they have been strong supporters of the ICC’s work in Kenya. However, in recent years, Kenya has become an active regional player in combating Islamist terrorism. If the UN Security Council were to defer the proceedings, this would be the first time that this has happened since the Court’s inception. The procedure is intended to be used only in exceptional circumstances and the US (not a member of the ICC), UK and France would come in for heavy criticism from local and international human rights groups for harming the Court and the struggle against impunity. However, several unconfirmed press reports claim that the UK and France may currently be preparing the ground for a Security Council resolution to defer ICC proceedings against Kenyatta. It is unclear whether Ruto would also be covered by such a resolution.