Opposing International Justice: Kenya's Integrated Backlash Strategy Against the ICC

Abstract

The government of Kenya has employed a wide range of strategies to undermine the recently-dismissed prosecutions of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto before the International Criminal Court (ICC). This Article argues that these strategies are part of an integrated backlash campaign against the ICC, one that encompasses seemingly unrelated actions in multiple global, regional and national venues. We identify three overarching themes that connect these diverse measures — politicizing complementarity, regionalizing political opposition, and pairing instances of cooperation and condemnation to diffuse accusations of impunity. By linking its discrete acts of opposition to these three themes, the government ultimately increased the effectiveness of its campaign against the Court. Our findings provide new evidence to analyze others instances of backlash against international courts and institutions.

Keywords: International Criminal Court, ICC, criminal justice, atrocities, Africa, backlash, post-colonialism, Kenya, African Union

JEL Classification: K33, F53, F54, F55, N47, K14