ICC Prosecutor Under Fire as African Union Backs Kenya

International Criminal Court Prosecutor¹ Luis Moreno-Ocampo is under fire as the African Union backs Kenya in its bid to stall trials aimed at the country's election violence.

Once viewed in Kenya as a hero, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is now under fire in Africa, as the country moves forward with plans to forgo² its own proceedings³ at the international court.

 

The prosecutor was, just months prior, seen as Kenya's only hope for justice. After naming surprise suspects in his two cases probing Kenya's violence, however, he has been accused of being "drunk with power" by Kenyan politicians.

The African Union is now jumping into the fire. Speaking at the A.U. Summit in Addis Ababa over the weekend, Chairman Jean Ping assured the Court of African support, but accused Moreno-Ocampo of bias⁴. Ping highlighted the lack of court action in Gaza, Iraq and Burma (Myanmar) as evidence of a double-standard against African states.

On Sunday, the Executive Council of the African Union endorsed⁵ Kenya's request for deferral⁷. The Summit will close Monday with a final session involving Africa's leaders. If the session produces support for Kenya, the continental⁸ body could then submit a formal request to the U.N. Security Council. Last week, the leader of the International Criminal Court's member states, President of the Assembly of States Parties Christian⁹ Wenaweser, warned against such a course of action.

"I have made it quite clear that from the perspective of the States Parties this would be a far more problematic course of action that has a number of legal and political pitfalls," said Wenaweser. "First of all, it would not be an expression of continued cooperation with the court by the Kenyan government. It would also implicitly¹⁰ be a statement that the situation here poses a threat to international peace and security."

In its bid to defer⁶ the Kenyan trial, leaders in Nairobi are arguing for a local mechanism¹¹ to deal with the violence.
Wenaweser expressed support for the local efforts, but urged Kenya to work with the court, rather than around it. The Liechtensteiner diplomat¹² told reporters the ICC judges also could grant Kenya a deferral if evidence of substantial efforts made towards a local mechanism were presented.

Kenya attempted to address the 2007-2008 post-election chaos¹³ through the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation¹⁴ Commission, established in 2009. Despite many hopes, an ethics¹⁵ scandal engulfed¹⁶ its chairman and the commission never began work.
Many politicians believe the judicial¹⁷ reforms envisioned in the new constitution will help address the violence.

1 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 forgo   

v.放弃，抛弃

参考例句：

• Time to prepare was a luxuary he would have to forgo.因为时间不够，他不得不放弃做准备工作。
• She would willingly forgo a birthday treat if only her warring parents would declare a truce.只要她的父母停止争吵，她愿意放弃生日宴请。

3 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

4 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

5 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

7 deferral   

n.延期，缓役

参考例句：

• It also calls for the deferral of a share of bonuses. 协议还要求一部分奖金延期发放。 来自互联网
• Even implementing the interest-deferral scheme for homeowners has proved inconveniently tricky. 甚至是对房主实行的推迟利息的方案，结果证明也是极不方便的。 来自互联网

8 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 implicitly   

adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地

参考例句：

• Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
• I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想，我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧？

11 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

12 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

13 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

14 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

15 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

16 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。