The European Union is concerned over Kenya’s proposal to have its truth commission deal with the perpetrators of last year’s post election violence.

The EU said in a statement Friday it does not consider Kenya’s Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) to be a substitute for a judicial system that should deal with the 2008 post-election violence cases.

The Kenyan government has been under intense pressure since last week’s decision to expand the mandate of the TJRC to cover the post-election violence.

But the EU Council is concerned that the decision does not ensure that Kenyans will achieve justice through a process meeting international standards on human rights and the rule of law.

The Council said that the TJRC can play a role in national reconciliation, but cannot replace a judicial mechanism. The EU will take this into account when considering whether to provide financial support to the TJRC, the Council added.

The international community is calling for the establishment of a credible, independent, constitutionally protected, local special tribunal to end the impunity of perpetrators of the post-election violence.

The flipside of Nairobi’s decision is that it gives the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo the green light to begin the process that could see political heavyweights and prominent businessmen hauled to The Hague for trial.

Ocampo is in possession of an envelope containing the names of potential suspects. The situation in Kenya has been under preliminary examination by the ICC prosecutor since 2008 and the deadline after which he could move in, is about seven weeks away.

Kenya set up its truth commission in October last year. Its main task is to investigate human rights abuses over the entire period between Kenya's independence in 1963 and February 2008.

The TJRC chairman, Mr Bethuel Kiplagat, and his deputy, Ms Betty Murungi told the Sunday Nation newspaper that they had rejected proposals to expand their mandate, leaving the government proposal in limbo.

They argue that unlike the special tribunal, the truth commission lacks teeth and can’t bring suspects to trial.