The International Criminal Court's cases in Kenya: Origin and impact

This paper examines the origins of the ICC’s work in Kenya and the impact thereof to date.

This paper examines the origins of the ICC’s work in Kenya and the impact thereof to date as Kenya awaits the April 2013 trial of four Kenyans in the two cases before the ICC. The paper re-traces the background to the post-elections violence and situates the ICC within the mediation agreements of the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation (KNDR). It describes how Kenya became an ICC situation and covers the engagement of the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor, Victims’ Participation and Reparations Service, and Witness and Victims’ Protection Unit in Kenya. The paper considers whether the  ICC’s work in Kenya has contributed to other legal, policy and  institutional reforms arising from or inspired by the KNDR. It also explores whether the intended impact of the ICC – complementarity and deterrence – has yet been realised in Kenya.  

About the author

L. Muthoni Wanyeki is currently doing her graduate studies at L’Institut d’etudes politiques (Sciences Po) in Paris, France. She was previously the Executive Director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, at which time she was active in the coalition Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice during and after the post-elections violence. Wanyeki is also a former Executive Director of the African Women’s Development and Communication Network. She serves as an advisor and board member to several Kenyan and other organisations and also writes the Kenyan column for the East African.