Frank to ICC: Sanction Kenyan Army, Police over killing of protesters
…Urges Ruto to apologise over anti-people law
A former deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, Friday, called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute heads of security agencies responsible for the killing of innocent protesters in Kenya.
He also called on President William Ruto to urgently apologise to the people of Kenya for attempting to make a legislation that was manifestly anti-people before he was forced to beat a retreat by the irate youth.
In a statement Friday in Abuja, Frank said he is standing solidly behind the youth of Kenya for rising up to oppose dictatorial tendencies on the part of the government in a democratic setting, although President Ruto is his personal friend.
He further called on the international community, especially the United States, United Kingdom and European Union to place a visa ban on the heads of the security agencies that would be indicted by the ICC after holistic investigations.
“Those who issued orders to security agencies to shoot at and kill innocent and peaceful protesters must be urgently fished out and prosecuted according to international law,” Frank said.
According to him, the right to protest is enshrined in several international treaties and declarations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR).
He insisted that recognising this right inevitably imposes an obligation on the state, including the government and armed forces of Kenya to facilitate protest, including by ensuring protesters are safe and not killed.
Frank said: “Protest is a public demonstration of disapproval and is not a criminal action, therefore to kill lawful citizens for protesting is a crime against humanity which must be condemned by all with attendant sanction on perpetrators to serve as a deterrent.
“We stand with the Kenyan protesters and mourn those who have paid the supreme price. However, we urgently demand the International Criminal Court to go after those that killed the protesters.”
He lamented that “majority of Kenyans, including the youth, now being massacred, voted massively to elect Ruto to office because of the trust and confidence that they had in him and people believed he was going to be a people’s president.”
