By Peter Opiyo
Africas latest assault on International Criminal Court is under way at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa and the aim is to have the two Kenya cases deferred.
The Africa Union meeting in the Ethiopian capital seeks to expand jurisdiction of African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples Rights so that it can deal with international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, which are currently exclusively left to The Hague-based court.
In the agenda also are discussions on the African common position regarding ICC following the decision adopted by the 18th Ordinary Session of the Africa Union Summit in January.
At the summit, the AUssembly recognised the efforts of African members at the UN Security Council to lobby the deferral of Kenya and Sudans cases at ICC.
This appears to be reintroduction of the failed shuttle diplomacy President Kibaki assigned to Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka last year.
It also builds on the bid by Kenya to have the cases against its high-profile nationals deferred by the UN Security Council under grounds of peace and security.
Top African government legal experts on Monday began their meeting, which ends on May 11, at which the process to strengthen the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples Rights would be completed. It will be followed by the session of Justice ministers and Attorney Generals from May 14 to 15.
As the Court puts mainly Africans in the dock at The Hague on the crosshairs, AU dispatched its top-notch legal team to put more pressure on the UN Security Council to defer Kenyas post-election violence cases.
The meeting of Legal experts from the 54 AU member states is also set to discuss the deferral of the pending case against Sudans President Omar Al-Bashir, as was adopted by the AU Assembly in January.
Africas latest assault on International Criminal Court is under way at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa and the aim is to have the two Kenya cases deferred.
The Africa Union meeting in the Ethiopian capital seeks to expand jurisdiction of African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples Rights so that it can deal with international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, which are currently exclusively left to The Hague-based court.
In the agenda also are discussions on the African common position regarding ICC following the decision adopted by the 18th Ordinary Session of the Africa Union Summit in January.
At the summit, the AUssembly recognised the efforts of African members at the UN Security Council to lobby the deferral of Kenya and Sudans cases at ICC.
This appears to be reintroduction of the failed shuttle diplomacy President Kibaki assigned to Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka last year.
It also builds on the bid by Kenya to have the cases against its high-profile nationals deferred by the UN Security Council under grounds of peace and security.
Top African government legal experts on Monday began their meeting, which ends on May 11, at which the process to strengthen the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples Rights would be completed. It will be followed by the session of Justice ministers and Attorney Generals from May 14 to 15.
As the Court puts mainly Africans in the dock at The Hague on the crosshairs, AU dispatched its top-notch legal team to put more pressure on the UN Security Council to defer Kenyas post-election violence cases.
The meeting of Legal experts from the 54 AU member states is also set to discuss the deferral of the pending case against Sudans President Omar Al-Bashir, as was adopted by the AU Assembly in January.
