• Deputy prime minister is among suspects named
• More than 1,000 died in ethnic attacks and riots
Six of Kenya's most powerful men, including the son of founding president Jomo Kenyatta, two cabinet ministers, the head of the civil service and a former police chief, have been formally accused by the international criminal court of committing "massive crimes" during the 2007 election crisis.
Uhuru Kenyatta, the current deputy prime minister and finance minister, was the highest-profile of six suspects for whom indictments were sought by prosecutors in The Hague today. In a case that strikes at the very heart of the government, he was accused of murder, rape, deportation and persecution, together with Francis Muthaura – a close aide and gatekeeper of the president, Mwai Kibaki – and the former police chief Hussein Ali.
A second case, featuring similar charges, targets the opposition politicians William Ruto – a powerful cabinet minister currently under suspension – and the industrialisation minister Henry Kosgey, as well as the radio presenter Joshua arap Sang. They stand accused of planning and inciting ethnic violence in the Rift Valley province, where the worst attacks took place. All six men deny the charges and have vowed to clear their names.
Kenyatta, whose family is one of Kenya's richest, said he was willing to appear before the court voluntarily.
"My conscience is clear, has been clear and will always be clear," he said in a statement. "I have committed no crime."
At least 1,133 people were killed in the weeks after Kibaki's questionable poll win, either in ethnic attacks and reprisals, or by police during protests and riots. Hundreds of thousands more were forced to flee their homes. As part of a peace deal to end the strife, a commission of inquiry instructed the government to establish a special tribunal to try the main perpetrators. It failed to do so, extending the impunity for Kenya's elite that has existed since independence, including those involved in ethnic violence around previous elections, and prompting the ICC to step in.
Before presenting his cases to judges in the pretrial chamber, who will rule early next year on whether the evidence merits the request for summonses, the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, accused the suspects of "crimes against humanity as a whole". "By breaking the cycle of impunity for massive crimes, victims and their families can have justice," he said.
This is the first time the ICC has pursued a case involving political violence rather than rebellion or counterinsurgency campaigns, and it is hoped that it will discourage electoral chaos elsewhere in the world.
The decision to pursue suspects on both sides of the coalition government has lowered the risk of violence by their supporters, though police remain on high alert. Reacting to the announcement, which has caused panic in the government in recent days, Kibaki said he hoped the ICC process "will meet our expectations as a nation". But he indicated that the suspects who are in government would not lose their jobs for now.
"Calls for action to be taken against them are therefore prejudicial, pre-emptive and against the rules of natural justice," he said.
The first case raises serious questions over Kibaki's own role in the crisis. Besides heading the civil service, and acting as secretary to the cabinet and chairman of the national security advisory committee, Muthaura is extremely close to the president. He was handpicked for his role by Kibaki, as was Ali, the police commissioner during the violence. Both stand accused of authorising police to use "excessive force" – 405 people were killed by security forces during the crisis.
They are also alleged to have instructed the police to allow a Kikuyu criminal gang to carry out reprisal attacks against ethnic groups perceived to support the opposition. In Moreno-Ocampo's submission, Kenyatta, also a close ally of Kibaki's, is described as the "focal point between the PNU" – the president's party – "and the criminal organisation the Mungiki" and is alleged to have given gang leaders logistical and financial support.
Muthaura described the allegations against him as "manifest nonsense" but said he would appear in The Hague if called. Ali, who was transferred from the police to the postal service last year, insisted he had acted "professionally, diligently" and lawfully.
The prosecution submission in the other case rejects the longstanding claim by members of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, which is headed by the 2007 election challenger and current prime minister, Raila Odinga, that all the violence after the poll was spontaneous. It accuses Ruto and Kosgey of planning criminal attacks on Kikuyus and other ethnic groups perceived to support Kibaki as far back as December 2006 – a full year before the poll – and of assembling a network of thousands of Kalenjin men to carry out co-ordinated raids once the election results were released.
Sang, a radio presenter with the Kalenjin-language station Kass FM, is alleged to have used his show "to collect supporters and provide signals to members of the plan on when and where to attack".
All three men proclaimed their innocence today but said they would co-operate with the ICC.
A survey published today showed that 85% of Kenyans – among them many victims and survivors of attacks – supported the court's action.
"I have been hoping for a long time this would happen," said Pastor Stephen Mburu, 46, who narrowly escaped when his church near Eldoret was burned to the ground by a mob of Kalenjin men, killing up to 35 Kikuyus, mostly women and children. "This case can stop these things occurring again in the future."
