KNCHR names poll suspects ahead of ICC

By ODUOR JAGERO
Published July 25, 2009

A rioter is confronted by law enforcement officers.

With the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) having preempted the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo by boldly naming individuals alleged to have incited, financed and fueled the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya, the political temperatures have hit a crescendo.

Raila Odinga, the country’s premier and leader of Orange Democratic Party (ODM), has dismissed the report as propaganda. On the other hand his cronies and confidants, adversely named in the report, while vowing to go to court, say “this report is a bunch of lies,” and rubbish it as a political gimmick.

The report entitled On the Brink of Precipice, has implicated bigwigs in both ODM and Party of National Unity (PNU). “This is presented in the effort to remain faithful to hundreds of Kenyans who provided this information, which we expect the relevant agencies to further investigate,” the report says.

The report, perhaps in a display of impartiality, named Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta of PNU, and Agriculture Minister William Ruto of ODM as perpetrators. These two faces, apart from Premier Odinga and President Kibaki, symbolically represent the front ends of the Grand Coalition partners

Ruto belongs to the Kalenjin Community, one of the areas where villages were torched and hundreds killed, including the infamous burning of women and children in a church. Although he never talked during the violence, his antagonists believe he was one of the people pulling the strings.

Uhuru is one of the PNU luminaries, and is largely rumored to be gearing to take over the mantle of Central Kenya leadership from Kibaki come 2012. The report recounts that he organized a meeting where money was raised to marshal Mungiki into revenge attacks carried out in Naivasha, which mainly targeted Luos and Luhyas – minorities in the Central Rift City.

The voluminous 238-page report does not stop at politicians, but taints the police force, terming the government’s response slow and ineffectual. It accuses the police commissioner Maj-Gen Hussein Ali, in particular, for failing to marshal his officers to stop the escalation of violence.

Looters in Kisumu Town

“Some police officers under his command were involved in the use of excessive force leading to death and injury. Some police officers were partisan, while others neglected duty,” says the report.

The report further blames FM stations (many of which are ethnic), and the church for failing to stand up against human rights abuse.

Other powerful politicians indicted by the report are Chris Okemo, a veteran Western Kenya politician, Kabando wa Kabando from Central, the late Kipkalia Kones and Willian Ole Ntimama.

However, the general feeling is that the report is shallow, inconclusive and lacking in water tight evidence. It fails to show exactly how the incitement was done and how money changed hands, critics say.

Elizabeth Ongoro, a Member of Parliament in Nairobi, who is alleged to have bought petrol for arsonists, believes the report has been largely driven by malice and misinformation.

She asks, “Who does not know the commission is full of aspiring politicians who want to implicate others in constituencies they have an interest? Who can respect the commission going by the way it handled this matter?”

Uchumi Supermarket go up in flames in the Western Town of Kisumu

The Nairobi Metropolitan Assistant Minister adds, “I’m not going to address this matter individually. We want to approach it collectively. The report is based on rumours and trumped up allegations. I’m not shocked.”

In fact, 209 people have been named including seven ministers, three assistant ministers and many former MPs.

The report gives harrowing accounts of individuals who were caught in the violence, and corroborates them with pictures of burning villagers, kids fleeing homesteads, women wailing, and dead bodies lying along alleyways and crossroads. It displays weapons – both crude and modern – that were used to settle scores.

In an unprecedented move by any human rights group in Kenya, KNCHR gives strong recommendations to the government. “The Chief Justice should establish administrative special courts in theatres of violence where many crimes may have been committed to expedite the determination of post-election violence criminal cases,” the report recommends.

And in respect of international criminal liability, the report says: “The prosecutor of the ICC should open investigations in Kenya to determine who bears the greatest responsibility in committing crimes against humanity.”

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Tags: justice, Kenya, kiai