Ms. Fatou Bensouda
Prosecutor
International Criminal Court
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM, The Hague
The Netherlands
Re: Communication pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome Statute requesting the investigation and prosecution of high-level Kenyan officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity
that have been committed in the Jubbaland region of Somalia.
Dear Ms. Bensouda,
President of Kenya & Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta
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The Hague- Representing hundreds of victims in Gedo, Lower Jubba and Middle Jubba regions of Somalia, Somali Rights on Monday filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, Netherlands against Kenyan military leaders including their Commander Uhuru Kenyatta for charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity including torture, massacre, illegal use of excessive force, rape, destruction of property, and displacement of civilians.
The suit comes at a time when the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta already faces crimes against humanity for his role in killing hundreds of his own Kenyan citizens. It also follows recent United Nations Security Council reports that implicate Kenyan Defense Forces in Somalia of crimes against humanity such as massacre, sexual violence, and torture in contradiction of international humanitarian and human rights laws and disregarding the UN Security Council ban on charcoal exports thereby promoting an illegal trade that funds the activities of the terror group Al Shabab.
Somali Rights will lead Somalis in various parts of the world in a campaign to suspend U.S. and EU funding for Kenyan military criminals in southern Somalia. Rallies are scheduled in major U.S. cities including Seattle Washington, Denver Colorado, Columbus Ohio, Saint Paul Minnesota, Phoenix Arizona, Chicago Illinois, and Washington DC. Protestors will urge their US Senators to vote against any funding for the Kenyan military as punishment for their crimes against humanity.
About Somali Rights
Somali Rights monitors, documents, and prosecutes issues related to human rights, war crimes, crimes against humanity and potential massacres in a bid to advocate for the victims and influence global public policy on prevention, intervention, and holding perpetrators of atrocities accountable.
The organization carries out media campaigns, litigations and other judicial actions. Somali rights accords pro bono legal representation to Somali victims inside Somalia and globally and closely engages governments, international justice institutions, and nonprofit organizations to assist in setting up independent fact finding missions, commissions of inquiry, and tribunals to conduct investigations and prosecution of atrocities.
Somali Rights is registered in the United Kingdom as a charitable organization and in the United States of America as a global nonprofit organization. Please contact us at [email protected] for more details.
For more information, please visit WWW.SOMALIRIGHTS.COM