Tanzania yajitosa kumsaidia Ruto

 Makamu wa Rais wa Kenya Mhe. William Ruto akiwa katika mahakama a ICC The Heague nchini Uholanzi.

Serikali ya Tanzania, imeiomba Mahakama ya Kimataifa ya Uhalifu (ICC) kuruhusu Makamu wa Rais wa Kenya, William Ruto kutohudhuria baadhi ya mashauri ya kesi yake ili kuweza kutimiza majukumu mengine ya kiserikali.

Mwanasheria Mkuu wa Tanzania, Jaji Fredrick Mwita aliandika barua kwenda ICC Jumatatu wiki hii akitetea hoja ya Ruto kutaka asihudhurie baadhi ya vikao vya kesi hiyo.

Katika barua yake, Jaji Werema alisema kuruhusu Ruto kutohudhuria baadhi ya vikao vya kesi kutaimarisha ushirikiano baina ya ICC na washirika.

Hata hivyo, maombi hayo yanayotaka Ruto kuruhusiwa kutohudhuria kesi hiyo binafsi yamesimamishwa baada ya mwendesha mashtaka wa ICC, Fatou Bensouda kuyawekea pingamizi na sasa yanasubiri uamuzi wa majaji.

Hii ni mara ya pili kwa Tanzania, kuwasiliana na ICC kwani iliwahi kuwasilisha ombi la kutaka kesi hiyo ya kina Ruto isikilizwe Tanzania au Kenya.

Hata hivyo, mpango huo ulikwama baada ya majaji kuupinga kwa kura za hapana.

Mwandishi Sang ajitetea

Mwandishi wa habari wa kituo cha KASS FM Joshua Arap Sang, amekamilisha ungwe ya kwanza ya utetezi wake kwenye Mahakama ya Kimataifa ya Uhalifu (ICC) na kueleza kuwa hakuhusika kwa namna yoyote kuchochea machafuko yaliyojiri baada ya uchaguzi nchini Kenya.

Sang aliwasilisha utetezi wake katika hali ya kujiamini huku akionyesha sura yenye matumaini na kuiambia mahakama kuwa, kesi inayomkabili imetengenezwa ili kukatiza ndoto yake ya kuwa mtangazaji bora duniani .

Mwandishi huyo ambaye anatetewa na mawakili wanaoongozwa na Wakili Katwa Kigen, alipangua hoja zilizowasilisha na upande wa mashtaka kwa kutumia historia ya maisha yake aliyoyaelezea kuwa ni ya kumcha Mungu na uadilifu.

Kama ilivyo kwa washtakiwa wengine, Rais Uhuru Kenyatta na Naibu wake William Ruto, Sang anadaiwa kuratibu na kupanga mashambulizi na kusababisha zaidi ya watu elfu moja kupoteza maisha.

Pia anadaiwa kuendesha kampeni ya uchochezi kupitia vipindi mbalimbali vya redio baada ya matokeo ya uchaguzi mkuu wa 2007.

News

Syria conflict: US issues warning on chemicals plan

 

The UN says the 30-month Syrian conflict has claimed some 100,000 lives

Syria conflict

• Feasible proposal?
• Mardell: Dramatic switch
• Anxious wait
• US hurdles

The US has said it will wait for details of a Russian proposal on Syrian chemical weapons but warned it would not permit "delays and avoidance".

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the plan must be "swift and verifiable" and warned its implementation would be "exceedingly difficult".
Syria has said it accepts the Russian plan to put the chemical weapons under international control.
The US, UK and France will table a UN Security Council resolution later.
The resolution will call on Syria to publicly declare that it has a chemical weapons programme, place it under international control and dismantle it.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the motion was designed to ensure that Russia's offer was "not a ruse".

Chapter 7 of UN Charter

• Action in response to threats to peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression
• Article 41 enables Security Council to decide measures not involving armed force
• Can suspend economic and diplomatic relations as well as rail, sea and other communications
• If Article 41 measures are inadequate, Article 42 enables Security Council to take action by air, sea or land forces for international peace and security

Source: UN

"We need a proper timetable, process and consequences if it's not done," he said.

Mr Kerry said that if the UN were used as the vehicle for pursuing the Russian plan, it must not become a debating society.
The resolution would be tabled under Chapter 7 of the UN charter covering possible military and non-military action to restore peace.
The US alleges that Syrian government forces carried out a chemical weapons attack in Damascus on 21 August, killing 1,429 people.
The Syrian government blames the attack on rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, in a conflict that the UN says has claimed some 100,000 lives.
'Hard look' Mr Kerry told a hearing of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee the US was waiting for details of the Russian proposal, "but we're not waiting for long".

Chemical weapons plan timeline

5-6 Sept Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama discuss idea of placing Syria's chemical weapons under international control on sidelines of G20 summit, Putin spokesman says
Monday 9 Sept
07:30 GMT At press conference with Russia's Sergei Lavrov, Syria's Walid Muallem hints at chemical weapons plan
09:12 In UK, John Kerry says Mr Assad could avert an attack if he "turn[s] over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community"
14:00 In second press conference, Mr Lavrov says he has urged Mr Muallem to "not only agree on placing chemical weapons storage sites under international control, but also on their subsequent destruction". Mr Muallem welcomes proposal, and it is prominently reported on Syrian state TV, suggesting Damascus is behind plan. Mr Obama says a military strike is "absolutely" on pause if Syria yields control of its chemical weapons

• Syria chemical attacks: What we know
• Syria's chemical weapons stockpile

He said: "President Obama will take a hard look at it. But it has to be swift, it has to be real, it has to be verifiable.

"We have to show Syria, Russia and the world we are not going to fall for stalling tactics."
Mr Kerry urged Congress to stand by Mr Obama, saying the president was not asking for a declaration of war, simply for the power to show that the US "means what we say".
There have been few details so far of Russia's plan, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier in Moscow that it was "preparing a concrete proposal which will be presented to all interested sides, including the US... a workable, specific, concrete plan".
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, who is in Moscow, was quoted by Russian news agency Interfax as saying: "We held a very fruitful round of talks with [Mr Lavrov] yesterday and he proposed an initiative relating to chemical weapons. And in the evening, we agreed to the Russian initiative."
This would "remove the grounds for American aggression", he said.
Mr Muallem added: "We are convinced that the position of those striving for peace is much stronger than that of those trying to fuel war."
The US Senate had been expected to vote this week on a resolution authorising military force, but the Russian plan has led to a postponement.
Mr Kerry said that "nothing has changed with respect to our request for the Congress to take action" but that Mr Obama might want to discuss the timing of a vote with congressional leaders.

Continue reading the main story

Syria's chemical weapons

• CIA believes Syria's chemical weapons can be "delivered by aircraft, ballistic missile, and artillery rockets"
• Syria believed to possess mustard gas and sarin, and also tried to develop more toxic nerve agents such as VX gas
• Syria has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) or ratified the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)

Sources: CSIS, RUSI

• Press review: 'A way out for Obama'
• Western military options

Mr Lavrov said the Russian initiative was "not a purely Russian initiative... it grew out of contacts we've had with the Americans".

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Obama discussed the idea on the sidelines of a G20 summit last week, Mr Putin's spokesman said on Tuesday.
Mr Obama's prime-time television address to the nation is still scheduled to go ahead on Tuesday evening, and the White House said he still planned to use it to argue that Congress should authorise the use of force if required.
Republican Senator John McCain, who has been an advocate of military action, said on Tuesday that a bipartisan group of senators was now working on a new resolution that would set Syria a specific period of time to turn over its chemical weapons.
Senator McCain told CBS he was "extremely sceptical" about the Russian proposal but that "to not pursue this option would be a mistake".
Opinion polls suggest that a majority of voters are opposed to Mr Obama's calls for intervention in Syria.
According to a survey by the Associated Press news agency, 61% of Americans want Congress to vote against authorisation for military strikes.

News

Bashar al-Assad: A ruler shaped by violence, indecision, say former insiders

Inside the mind of Bashar al-Assad

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Bashar al-Assad has been president of Syria since 2000
• He has faced calls from many inside and outside Syria to resign
• "I was made in Syria and to live and die in Syria," he said last year
• Al-Assad is a "master of deception" says one analyst

For 13 years, President Bashar al-Assad has governed Syria. For 2½ of those years he's faced repeated calls from many inside and outside the country for his resignation.

Now, al-Assad's regime is thought by many Western governments to have used chemical weapons against its own people, prompting talk of international military intervention.

But Syria's president shows no sign of stepping back from the brink of confrontation. So who is al-Assad and what might he do next?

When Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father Hafez Assad in 2000, there was the promise of a modern and more democratic Syria.

 

The woman behind al-Assad's regime

 

Obama: Blames chemical attack on Assad

 

Amanpour on chemical attacks 

 

What a U.S. strike on Syria might entail

 

Expert: Bashar al-Assad out of options

In his inauguration speech, al-Assad indicated he would be a very different kind of leader to his father. "I shall try my very best to lead our country towards a future that fulfills the hopes and legitimate ambitions of our people," he said.

And for a while that promise was kept. His official website says he has built free-trade zones, licensed more private newspapers and private universities, and fought government waste and corruption. He has also worked on social and economic reform.

Low profile for Syria's first lady

But many say al-Assad's promises have largely not been delivered. Human Rights Watch called his first 10 years as president "the wasted decade," with a media that remained controlled by the state, a monitored and censored Internet and prisons still filled with dissidents.

Back in 2011, al-Assad drew criticism from around the globe as he met popular protests and unrest with force. Since then, the conflict has escalated into a brutal civil war and the rebels have at times threatened government strongholds in Damascus.

Through it all, al-Assad and his government have consistently said that its forces are targeting armed terrorists funded by outside agitators. And the president has shown no sign that he will accede to demands that he stand down and quit the country.

In November last year, he told Russia Today TV: "I am Syrian. I was made in Syria and to live and die in Syria."

Over time, his public appearances have become rare events. But an Instagram account set up on July 24 offers an alternative vision of the president's life -- one that is all about feeding the hungry, science Olympiads and widespread support for al-Assad and his wife, Asma. The closest it comes to reflecting the ongoing war are pictures of the president meeting "with the armed forces who are fighting the terrorist groups."

Andrew Tabler, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, describes al-Assad as "a master of deception" -- and his manipulation of the media is one part of that.

"I think that the regime -- the package of Bashar and his wife Asma, it's very seductive. And it draws you -- how could someone who seems so reasonable command such a horrific regime?" said Tabler.

And if the threat of Western military intervention in Syria is borne out, al-Assad's response may not be an obvious one, he said.

"He's going to think about, 'How am I going to react to these strikes?' Now what we can see from past strikes by the Israelis is that actually Bashar does very, very little in terms of a direct response. But over time, he might carry out other kinds of attacks on American assets."

A brutal war? Not to hear al-Assad's Instagram tell it

'Victim of cruelty'

Two former regime insiders -- now its opponents -- told CNN of their time with the younger al-Assad. Former Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam said Bashar was often the victim of his elder brother's cruelty. "His brother Basil bullied him as a child. His father never gave him as much attention as Basil," Khaddam said.

Al-Assad's uncle Rifaat, who left Syria in 1984 after being involved in a failed coup, also recalled the future president.

"He is very different than his father. Hafez was a leader, the head of the entire regime, while Bashar was never that close to being one and never fell within that framework. He is being perceived as the leader but he follows what the regime decides on his behalf."

Al-Assad himself said reform faltered because of unrest in neighboring states -- Lebanon and Iraq.

But Khaddam, who was vice president under both Bashar and his father, says the younger al-Assad is both brutal and indecisive.

"Bashar's problem is that he listens to everything but denies and forgets quickly. You discuss an issue with him in the morning and another person comes along and changes his mind.

"Politically, Bashar does not have a consistent ideology; he changes his opinion according to his interests and that of the regime."

And the regime is a family affair. Al-Assad's younger brother Maher commands an elite division of the army, and is accused of widespread human rights abuses. His cousin Rami Makhlouf is the richest man in Syria.

The Assads belong to Syria's Alawite minority, who according to the president's uncle Rifaat, are driven by fears they could be overwhelmed. "There is no doubt that the Alawites are a minority who are in fear of the outcome and they are driven by that fear factor," he said.

'Not my forces'

Despite the brutal crackdown in Syria, al-Assad has maintained that he is not in charge of Syria's military. He told ABC's Barbara Walters in 2011: "They are not my forces. They are forces for the government. I don't own them. I'm president. I don't own the country. So they are not my forces."

Wouldn't al-Assad, the commander in chief, have had to give the order for any military actions? "No, no no," he said.

Not by your command? "No," he said, "on no one's command. There was no command to kill or to be brutal."

Al-Assad said those members of the armed forces who "went too far" had been disciplined.

But Khaddam, the former vice president, expressed no doubts about who does give the orders to kill: "Bashar Al-Assad and no one else. He gives out orders to use all means of force to crush the revolution. He is surrounded by close aides and a security apparatus that advise him, but he decides."

It wasn't expected that Bashar would carry on the family's political dynasty. He didn't seem to have the personality for the job; he wasn't deeply involved in military or government matters, according to "Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial by Fire," a biography by Flynt Leverett, who worked as an expert on Syria for the CIA in the 1990s and was the senior director for Middle East affairs at the National Security Council in the early 2000s.

Because his older brother Basil was expected to succeed his father, Bashar al-Assad went to London in the 1990s and studied ophthalmology, and headed the Syrian Computer Society. "Dr. Bashar," as he was widely known, liked to windsurf and play volleyball. He is believed to have started dating British-born Asma al-Akhras during this time.

But Bashar was called back to Syria in 1994 when Basil died in a car wreck. This turn of events made him first in line to rule Syria, and he was appointed president by Syria's rubber-stamp Parliament in 2000 after his father died.

Before 2000 ended, he and Asma were married. They have three children.

Steps toward change?

Shortly after the Arab Spring started in early 2011, al-Assad made apparent moves toward change in Syria. Initially, protesters wanted basic reforms, more freedoms, a multiparty political system and an end to emergency law. Some of these measures were, on paper, implemented by al-Assad, but they were far too little and, by the time they came about, too late.

In a speech in January 2013, al-Assad laid out his latest solution to the ongoing crisis in Syria.

He said he wanted to foster national dialogue and proposed a new constitution that would be put up for a public referendum. He also said he would not negotiate with terrorists and asked regional governments to stop supporting them.

Months later, though, any chance of finding a political solution seems as remote as ever. A date has yet to be agreed for a second international meeting on Syria in Geneva, Switzerland, initially proposed for June.

After more than two years of violence and more than 100,000 deaths, many opposition supporters have lost any faith they ever had in al-Assad's ability to deliver reform, and simply want an end to his rule and true democratic elections.

But the president's days at the helm may be far from over.

News

Possible Syria strike: 5 things to pay attention to today

What should President Obama say about Syria?

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The president will still make the case that Congress must authorize military force
• The White House doesn't think Russia's diplomacy has made a strike impossible
• More "no" votes have popped up, but a lot of House and Senate members are undecided
• Obama's approval rating on foreign policy is down, and a poll shows U.S. war weariness

President Barack Obama's war drums continue to beat, but an offhand comment from Secretary of State John Kerry has set in motion a diplomatic effort by Russia -- seized on at the United Nations -- to ward off a U.S. strike on Syria in favor of mediation.

What Kerry said,was that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could prevent a strike if he "could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week." Kerry added that Syria would not be willing to do this.

Russia has latched on to the proposal, and Syria says it is taking the idea seriously.

The view is that Kerry's comment is either an accidental out for a president hemmed in by his own red line, or a momentum-sucking goof that may have erased any chance Obama had to engage in a military strike without broader international approval.

 

Delays and diplomatic doubts on Syria

 

 

The impact of evidence

 

Rep. Sanchez: I'm not there yet on Syria strike

 

Bashar al-Assad: Everybody's a terrorist

 

Will Russia's proposal delay an Obama strike? And how can Obama sway Americans to support military action? With his approval ratings on all fronts tanking, his prime-time televised address Tuesday night will be crucial. It'll be the administration's closing argument after a week of courting lawmakers.

Here are five things to look for today.

1. What Obama says in his speech

The president will still make the case that Congress must authorize military force in Syria, a senior administration official told CNN. This, despite the fact that Obama believes Kerry's offhand offer for Syria to turn over its chemical weapons could bear fruit now that Russia and the United Nations have jumped aboard.

The link between the two? The administration argues that the offer to turn over chemical weapons wouldn't be on the table if not for the threat of force.

A senior administration official told CNN that Kerry's not in trouble with the president for the comment, but does admit that it was off the cuff while restating administration policy. Bottom line: It wasn't inconsistent with what was happening behind the scenes, according to the official.

To make his case for a military strike, the president will lay out what happened in the chemical weapons attack in Syria on August 21, and why it's in America's interest to act. He'll argue that the United States can't let this kind of attack go unanswered, and he'll tell us how he sees it affecting the safety of U.S. troops.

And perhaps the toughest one of all, he'll tell a national weary from more than a decade of war why Syria isn't Iraq or Afghanistan.

2. Whether Russia's diplomatic volley has knocked the steam out of a strike

The White House isn't acting like it has. If anything, the Lobbing on Capitol Hill is intensifying a head of the president's address.

It all starts with Obama, who will go to the Hill on Tuesday to make his case to Senate Democrats, a Senate leadership aide told CNN. Making sure to hit both sides of the aisle, the president also will attend the Senate GOP lunch, a Senate Republican aide said.

The House Armed Services Committee hosts three of the administration's big guns beginning Tuesday morning: Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. All of them will get important face time with the influential committee.

Although no longer a member of the administration,Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton will speak on Syria at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening, just ahead of the president's national address.

3. Whether the lobbying efforts pay off in votes

For the time being, the tide is against the White House. On Monday, six senators notched their votes in the "no" column, with just one, Democrat Barbara Mikulski, saying she would favor military intervention against Syria. In the House, chalk up 13 new "no" votes.

That brings the total of "no" votes to 29 in the Senate and 161 in the House.

Still, there are a lot of undecided members -- 46 in the Senate and at least 229 in the House. The numbers could still work out for the president.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid postponed a procedural vote that had been scheduled for Wednesday. The Senate's in no hurry to vote on Syria.

4. If Obama fares better in the court of public opinion

The president's approval rating on foreign policy is at an all-time low of 40%, a steady slide from 54% in January, according to a CNN/ORC International survey.

Just three in 10 approve of how he's handling Syria.

The public is split right down the middle on whether Obama is a strong leader, whether he is honest and trustworthy, and whether he inspires confidence.

Then there's the whole "war weariness" issue in play. Six in 10 say the war in Iraq was a mistake, and 50% say the same thing about Afghanistan. Three-quarters say the United States doesn't need to be the "world policeman."

Also hurting the president's cause, more than seven in 10 say a strike would not achieve significant goals for the United States, and a similar amount say it's not in the national interest for the country to get involved in Syria's civil war, a separate CNN/ORC International poll shows.

The sentiments come despite survey results that show 80% of Americans believe al-Assad's regime gassed its own people.

5. How the international community reacts

The next move appears to be Russia's in this diplomatic chess match. Can Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov deliver on the offer to have Syria hand its chemical arsenal over to international control, or is it just an effort to buy time for the Assad regime?

Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia's working on a "workable, clear, specific plan" that it'll present soon.

The White House is willing to listen and, perhaps, wait a bit -- but not too long.

"It's certainly a positive development when the Russians and Syrians both make gestures towards dealing with these chemical weapons," Obama told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Monday. But he said the threat of American force would remain.

"We don't want just a stalling or delaying tactic to put off the pressure that we have on there right now."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is listening, too. He's considering asking the U.N. Security Council to demand the Syrian government immediately hand over its chemical weapons to be destroyed.

France and Germany also say they like what they're hearing about a diplomatic solution. But, the French foreign minister said, the Security Council needs to oversee the process, which should start immediately, and the plan shouldn't let anyone off the hook for ordering a chemical attack.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday that France is proceeding with caution.

"We take note of this new position with interest but also precaution," he said. "We do not want it to be used as a maneuver for diversion."

What the French want to see is for Syria to be transparent about its chemical weapons program and to put it under international control.

France also wants the perpetrators of the deadly chemical weapons attack tried before the international justice system, Fabius said.

Iran, a longtime Syria ally, welcomes the Russian initiative "to stop militarism in the region."

China, also an ally of Syria, says it welcomes and supports the proposal.

The opposition Free Syria Army says Russia's proposal is nothing more than a stalling tactic.

"Here we go again with the regime trying to buy more time in order to keep on the daily slaughter against our innocent civilians and to fool the world," said Louay al-Mokdad, a spokesman for the group.

Newz

Chinese journalist Shi Tao released after 8 years in prison

The president of the World Editor Forum, George Brock, announces the Golden Pen for Freedom award to Shi Tao in 2007.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years for leaking government restrictions on reporting
• The restrictions were over the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre
• Yahoo was criticized for giving China information about Shi that was used in his conviction
• A Yahoo attorney has said its employees in China were abiding by the law

 A Chinese journalist jailed for eight years for leaking government restrictions on reporting is now free.

Shi Tao's early release was announced by the writers' organization PEN International on Saturday 15 months before he was scheduled to be freed. Shi is a member of Independent Chinese Centre, which advocates for freedom of speech.

Shi made headlines in 2004 when he sent the media restrictions to a human rights group -- an act that China said amounted to "leaking state secrets," PEN said.

What's more, Internet giant Yahoo played a part in his conviction.

In a widely criticized move, Yahoo handed over Shi's e-mail account information, which the Chinese government used in the case against Shi, according to court documents.

The reporting restrictions were over the coverage of the 15th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, in which hundreds of pro-democracy protesters were killed in a government crackdown. Chinese soldiers followed orders to open fire on unnarmed civilians.

Then-Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang testifies before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on November 6, 2007.

Official Chinese government figures said the death toll was 241, including soldiers, with 7,000 injured. Rights groups have said the number of dead was likely in the thousands.

Early release

Shi was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2005. It's not clear why he was let go early.

The U.S. Congress led a probe into the case after his conviction.

Yahoo lawyers defended the move to hand over information, saying not doing so would have jeopardized the company's own employees.

"I cannot ask our local employees (in China) to resist lawful demands and put their own freedom at risk, even if, in my personal view, the local laws are overboard," attorney Michael Callahan said in 2007.

Gao Qin Sheng, Shi Tao's mother, cries during the U.S. hearing in Washington on November 6, 2007.

Yahoo settled with Shi's family for an undisclosed amount. But the late Rep. Tom Lantos had harsh words for the company.

"It took a tongue-lashing from Congress before these high-tech titans did the right thing and coughed up some concrete assistance for the family of a journalist whom Yahoo had helped send to jail," Lantos said at the time.

Lingering questions

Shi was apparently released on August 23, but Marian Botsford Fraser, who heads up the Writers in Prison Committee for PEN, says her organization just learned of it. Botsford Fraser said Shi hasn't communicated directly with PEN but he has spoken with a affiliated group in China.

Botsford Fraser said Shi is currently living with his mother and is in good spirits. But, she added, he has no desire to speak publicly.

Botsford Fraser emphasized that while her organization welcomes Shi's early release, it has many unanswered questions. PEN can only speculate, Botsford Fraser said, as to the timing and rationale of his release. Also unknown is why Shi recently began to receive better treatment in prison.

Of late, authorities even allowed Shi to write, Botsford Fraser said. In October 2010, when he learned that Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident, received a Nobel Peace Prize, he composed a poem which read in part:

"October

Comes from afar, but not to end

October

Will become a festival for all the unfortunates and their friends."

Shi's release was not covered by Chinese state media.

News

William Ruto, Kenya deputy president, on trial for alleged crimes against humanity.

William Samoei Ruto looks on during a trial hearing in the International Criminal Court(ICC) in the Hague, Netherlands

                 STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Defense lawyer says ICC investigation against Ruto is "exceptionally deficient"
• William Ruto is on trial at The Hague over the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya
• His boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, has been indicted on similar charges
• Both deny the accusations, as does a third defendant, radio personality Joshua arap Sang

After years of setbacks and controversies, the Kenyan deputy president went on trial Tuesday at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands for alleged crimes against humanity.

William Ruto denied charges that include murder and persecution for allegedly orchestrating attacks that left more than 1,000 people dead after the disputed presidential election nearly six years ago.

His boss President Uhuru Kenyatta , has been indicted on similar charges and is set to appear before the court in The Hague in November.

A third suspect, radio personality Joshua arap Sang, is being tried alongside Ruto on the same charges. He also denies the accusations against him.

 

Photographer's view on the Kenyan vote

 

 

Popular teen hosts express violence fear

 

Kenyan PM warns against violence

 

In addition to the deaths, hundreds of thousands were displaced when ethnic groups loyal to leading candidates in the December 2007 election torched homes and hacked rivals to death.

Kenyatta and Ruto have denied accusations that they coordinated violence among their respective ethnic groups after the disputed election.

But in her opening statement, the ICC's top prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said the prosecution would demonstrate that Ruto and his powerful allies sought to exploit the country's tensions for their own political and personal ends.

The evidence would show that the outbreaks of violence "were not just random and spontaneous acts of brutality -- on the contrary, this was a carefully planned, coordinated and executed campaign of violence" that targeted perceived supporters of the PNU party, she said.

"Mr. Ruto's ultimate goal was to seize power for himself and his party through violent means," if they failed to do so through the ballot box, she said.

To do so, Ruto built up a network of influential allies from the Kalenjin ethnic group and recruited Kalenjin youths to take part in attacks, the prosecution said. He and Sang, a popular radio presenter, then both used public platforms to stir up sentiment against the Kikuyu ethnic group in the Rift Valley.

Sang used his prime-time radio show to help Ruto and his allies to "broadcast anti-Kikuyu rhetoric and even helped to coordinate attacks through coded messages," and in this way contributed to the violence, Bensouda said.

Defense: Ruto is an innocent man

Opening for the defense, lawyer Karim Khan said that the case against Ruto was based on an "exceptionally deficient" investigation and that the deputy president should never have been accused.

Khan said an inquiry would be needed at the end of a trial, to ask "how was it that someone innocent has come before this court to answer charges that will be shown to be patently false?"

He said there was a "rotten underbelly" to the prosecution's investigation, chiefly conducted under former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, which Khan said had failed to recognize the "lying witnesses" directing untrue accusations against his client.

The ICC investigation was set up to target Ruto he said, and sought to squeeze evidence into that box, "however uncomfortable, however ill-fitting, however bizarre."

Khan said his client deserved praise for being the first serving deputy head of state to come willingly before the ICC to face charges.

Ruto's electoral record demonstrated that he appealed to voters across ethnic groups and had no antipathy toward the Kikuyu ethnic group, the lawyer said. His whole reason for being in politics was to serve the whole of Kenya, Khan added.

'Atrocities ... pain and suffering'

A representative of the victims of the violence in late 2007 and early 2008 told the court that those affected included many women, children and elderly people.

The unrest left more than 400,000 forcibly displaced from their homes, besides the hundreds who lost their lives, the court heard.

One victim was quoted as saying: "If there were no victims, there would be no case. If there was no suffering, would there be any reason to accuse the accused? We are the ones who experienced the atrocities the court cites, because there were atrocities, and there was pain and suffering by the victims."

The trial is being held before presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, from Nigeria, with Judges Olga Herrera Carbuccia and Robert Fremr, from the Dominican Republic and Czech Republic, respectively.

Avoiding a power vacuum

After the disastrous 2007 election, Kenyatta and Ruto teamed up and formed a coalition, which won the most recent poll held this year.

Jittery Western nations watched as the two took office in April, raising the prospect of complicated diplomatic ties.

Kenyatta maintains that they will cooperate with the court to clear their names and has asked that their proceedings be held on different days to avoid a power vacuum.

"We will work with ICC, but it must understand that Kenya has a constitution. Ruto and myself cannot therefore be away at the same time," he said

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Long road to justice

The court has faced various setbacks leading up to the trial.

Charges against three other suspects were dropped for lack of evidence after witnesses dropped out or recanted their testimonies.

Bensouda has previously said that some of the witnesses, including a few who were set to testify against both leaders, pulled out because of intimidation.

Lawyers for Kenyatta and Ruto have denied any witness intimidation.

In yet another setback, the Kenyan parliament voted last week to withdraw from the ICC's jurisdiction, a move that would take a while to implement because it involves various steps, including a formal notification to the United Nations.

The International Criminal Court said the trials would proceed despite the withdrawal.

Stepping in

The ICC was set up in 2002 to try claims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Kenya's previous administration reneged on a deal to set up a special tribunal to try suspects in the post-election violence, forcing the international court to step in.

"The ICC is not, under any circumstances, a substitute for domestic criminal justice systems; it only intervenes if the national judicial system is either unwilling or unable to ensure that justice is done," the court said in a statement.

That message was repeated by the prosecutor in her opening statement.

The ICC intervened "only after the Kenyan efforts to establish a domestic mechanism to investigate the violence failed," Bensouda said.

Ahead of the trial, rights group Amnesty International urged Kenyan authorities to cooperate fully with the ICC to ensure a fair and effective process for those directly involved in the case, and for the Kenyan people.

"Six years after post-election violence rocked the country, it is high time to prioritize the pursuit of justice for the hundreds and thousands of people who lost their lives or homes," said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International's Africa program director.

"The government's recent efforts to politicize the ICC trials are deplorable, and must not be allowed to affect the commencement and future proceedings of this landmark trial.

"The authorities should focus their energy on ensuring justice, truth and reparation for the victims of many other crimes that the ICC is not able to deal with."

Eyes on Kenya

Kenya is the second African nation after Sudan to have a sitting president facing charges at the International Criminal Court.

It is East Africa's biggest economy and a crucial trade route into the rest of the continent, so neighboring nations are watching the trial keenly.

Kenya provides an important buffer of stability in a region that includes the fledgling Somali government and the politically tense Sudan and South Sudan.

Most importantly -- at least to the West -- Kenya is a major U.S. ally in the war against Islamist militants in the region and has remained relatively peaceful amid civil wars in neighboring nations.

The first phase of Ruto's trial is expected to end on October 4.