World court gives green light for Kenya probe

The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Wednesday it has given the green light for a full-scale probe by its prosecutor of the deadly violence that followed Kenya’s 2007 presidential election.

“The chamber, by majority, hereby authorises the commencement of an investigation into the situation in the Republic of Kenya in relation to crimes against humanity,” the court said in a written decision.

“The information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed on Kenyan territory,” added a court statement.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the judges last November to allow him to probe the violence that claimed about 1 500 lives, injured thousands and left about 300 000 internally displaced following elections on December 27 2007.

The prosecutor contended these amounted to crimes against humanity.

Earlier this month, Moreno-Ocampo gave judges 20 names of “senior political and business leaders” he said “organised, enticed and/or financed attacks against the civilian population on account of their perceived ethnic and/or political affiliation”.—AFP