Rights groups have condemned President William Ruto’s decision to sign the Protocol of the Constitutive Act of the African Union terming it an affront to justice for victims of international crimes.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI) said the signing of the Act grants Ruto immunity against potential international crimes he may commit while in office
“And it is not him alone. ‘Senior state officials’ will not be prosecuted for similar violations until they leave office,” they said.
Ruto signed the Protocol of the Constitutive Act of the African Union on July 24 effectively allowing for the ratification of the Malabo Protocol.
Malabo Protocol extends the jurisdiction of the yet-to-be-established African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR) to crimes under international law and transnational crimes.
The Court will have jurisdiction to try 14 different crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Malabo Protocol will be ratified within the next three months with October as the deadline but Ruto said Kenya will ratify it in September.
Once adopted, Heads of State of countries that are signatories to the Protocol will henceforth be immune to the International Criminal Court processes unless their cases are referred to The Hague-based court by the African Union.
Article 4 of the Act also insulates senior state officials from prosecution over criminal offences of international nature until they leave office.
AU adopted the Malabo Protocol in 2014 with the aim of introducing a regional accountability mechanism and reinforcing the concept of “African solutions for African problems”