Kent Law School Senior Lecturer Dr Sara Kendall has been in Nairobi to co-host an interdisciplinary workshop critically exploring the aftermath of the International Criminal Court (ICC) intervention in Kenya.
The workshop, entitled ‘After the ICC Intervention in Kenya: Reflections and Alternatives’, was co-hosted with Dr Njoki Wamai from the Department of International Relations at United States International University Africa (USIU Africa). It was also supported by USIU Africa’s Departments of Sociology and Criminal Justice.
Dr Kendall said: ‘The ICC intervention in Kenya was meant to address crimes against humanity that occurred in the wake of the 2007 elections. The ICC’s accountability efforts generated high hopes, political tensions and grave disappointments before it withdrew from the country in 2016. Although many Kenyans have moved on, whether politically or professionally, many others have continued to deal with the aftermath of the ICC’s dramatic appearance in and rapid departure from the country. The court brought with it a particular vision of accountability and promises to conflict affected communities while also changing the Kenyan political landscape. The workshop brought together advocates, human rights activists, journalists, and academics from Nairobi, Eldoret and Nakuru to reflect upon the ICC’s work in Kenya and its legacy, moving beyond the court to consider other avenues for accountability and redress.’
Workshop sessions included discussions of the ICC’s work in Kenya and eventual withdrawal; domestic criminal justice initiatives (cases on sexual and gender-based violence and police violence); local reconciliation initiatives beyond criminal justice; and current priorities for accountability and redress in Kenya. Participants brought a range of experiences with accountability projects, including grassroots advocacy for internally displaced communities and victims of sexual and gender based violence, assistance to victim representatives before the ICC, and bringing cases in the domestic court system.
The workshop, held on Monday 15 April, was funded through Kent’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) ‘Fortuity Fund’ which supports joint projects with institutions in the Global South.
A report of the workshop’s discussion and finding will be produced by Dr Kendall and Dr Wamai. Anyone wishing to use the report for future academic work and advocacy efforts in Kenya can request a copy from Dr Kendall.
Dr Kendall’s research addresses legal responses to – and complicity with – forms of violence, from international crimes to the conditions of possibility of armed conflict. One strand of this research has focused on the ways in which legal forms seek to contain or respond to mass atrocity through international criminal law and international humanitarian law. Her current research project, ‘Legal Humanitarianism: the Restorative Turn in International Criminal Justice’, focuses on the emergence of a juridical category of victimhood in ICC practices. A second strand, ‘Humanitarian Complicity’, focuses on the role of humanitarian claims in justifying (state) violence, from the colonial period to the present.
Her co-edited volume, Contested Justice: The Politics and Practice of International Criminal Court Interventions (Cambridge University Press, 2015) is available to read online.