These families fled Kenya's post-election bloodshed last year — ethnic clashes which killed at least 1,300 people and uprooted more than 300,000.

They're calling for the immediate arrests and prosecution of those responsible, something the government has so far failed to do.

[Peter Kuria, Internally Displaced Person]:
"They chased me with machetes and clubs and I was seriously injured. I know those people who did this to us, we know very well those who looted and set our property on fire. All I'm saying is, because of the incompetence of the system no one has been arrested."

But now, their appeal for justice may be answered.

The International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is requesting an investigation into those suspected of crimes against humanity.

[Louis Moreno-Ocampo, ICC Chief Prosecutor ]:
"I explained to them that I consider the crimes committed in Kenya were crimes against humanity, and I consider that  therefore the gravity is there."

He held talks with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga in Nairobi on how to bring the masterminds of the violence to justice.

Crisis mediator Kofi Annan strongly supports legal proceedings against the main suspects.

He's already given Moreno-Ocampo a list of people, said to include influential cabinet ministers, members of parliament and businessmen.

For their part, Kibaki and Odinga have allowed the chief prosecutor to pursue his own investigation rather than referring the case themselves to the ICC.

They say they're committed both to cooperating with the ICC and to establishing a local prosecution mechanism.

But the problem for Kenya's leaders is that they were rivals during the presidential race.

The killing started after President Kibaki was declared the winner, and Odinga disputed the results.

By giving up any of their former party allies accused of violence, they risk the collapse of their coalition and a new outburst of ethnic violence.