Brussels, 12/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU, has reacted to the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate post-electoral violence in Kenya in 2007-2008, calling upon the Kenyan authorities to cooperate with the ICC.
In a declaration published on 9 April, Baroness Ashton stresses that the EU sees the ICC as "a valuable instrument of the international community to combat impunity for the most serious crimes". On behalf of the EU, she calls on the Kenyan authorities not to forget that the local judicial mechanisms may be helpful in concluding the ICC's investigations and stresses "the importance of an effective and credible national witness protection programme". (A.N./transl.fl)