Mueller on Kenya and the ICC

Susanne Mueller, who works at Boston University’s African Studies Center, has published a very interesting essay on the relationship between Kenya and the ICC. I want to bring it to our readers’ attention, because it’s published in the Journal of East African Studies, which many international-law folk may not normally read. Here is the abstract:

Kenya’s 2013 election was supremely important, but for a reason not normally highlighted or discussed. Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto’s run for president and deputy president as International Criminal Court (ICC) indictees was a key strategy to deflect the court and to insulate themselves from its power once they won the election. The paper maintains that the strategy entailed a set of delaying tactics and other pressures to ensure that the trials would not take place until after the election when their political power could be used to maximum effect to halt or delay them. However, unlike in 2007–08, the 2013 election did not result in mass violence. The Kenyatta–Ruto alliance united former ethnic antagonists in a defensive reaction to the ICC. The analysis has implications for theories seeking to explain why countries ratify and comply with treaties. It develops an alternative political economy argument to account for outliers like Kenya and has implications for international criminal justice and democracy in Kenya.

It’s an illuminating and persuasive argument, well worth the read if you are interested in Kenya and the ICC. A free copy can be downloaded here.