While her husband embarked on his humanitarian trip to North Korea earlier this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was en route to Kenya, and today she had a tough message to Kenya’s leaders.

Clinton said she is carrying that message straight from President Obama, “the son of Kenya,” and said that if the Kenyan government does not set up a legal tribunal to prosecute those behind last year’s election violence, the International Criminal Court would get involved.

Last year after a controversial election, the country exploded into weeks of intense bloodshed, escalating into clashes between certain tribal groups and between civilians and soldiers. Many observers around the world agreed that Kenya’s election commission ignored evidence of vote rigging in order to keep the current government in power.

Today, people are pushing for the trials and punishment of those behind the election violence and Clinton echoed their demand: “If there’s not going to be a special local tribunal that has the confidence of the people, then the people deserve to know that there is some process to hold people accountable.”

Clinton maintained that if Kenya did not take steps to set up their own court, the International Criminal Court would open an investigation into the situation based on a list of prime suspects that the former UN secretary general gave to the ICC in July. It is reported that the Kenyan government does not want to set up the tribunal out of fear that some high-level officials are suspects too.

You can join our Secretary of State in fighting for the human rights of people in Kenya and around the world.

Or, want to be your own diplomat? Get involved in local politics or start a politics club at your school.