In February this year, the UN’s Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston was in Kenya to investigate, and report on, the spectre of so-called ‘extrajudicial killings’ in the country (see prior blog). It seems the UN had become quite concerned about what it was hearing about lethal fire being leveled (more-or-less at will) at members of the Kenyan public: You see, an extrajudicial killing occurs when someone dies at the hands of the security forces without recourse to due process in the law. No charges are laid. No evidence is led. The person is simply shot down and purposefully killed.
"Killings by the police in Kenya are systematic, widespread and carefully planned”, Alston said. “They are committed at will and with utter impunity.”
The Kenya government's reaction was simply typical:
"The government finds it inconceivable that someone who has been in the country for less than ten days can purport to have conducted comprehensive and accurate research on such a serious matter".
I mean, what did Alston actually need to research? It's all pretty much in the open and freely reported. You don't need a Ph.D. to hear or read all about it ...
Take last week Wednesday as a case in point. It was a rather spectacular example that I woke up to on radio news (and was later reported in one or two sidebars in the newspapers): Five ‘suspected thugs’ were gunned down and killed in the ‘vicinity of’ the Delamere farm. This, after police received ‘an anonymous tip-off’ that they were ‘going to rob’ households in the area. ‘A pistol was found in their possession’.
"Killings by the police in Kenya are systematic, widespread and carefully planned”, Alston said. “They are committed at will and with utter impunity.”
The Kenya government's reaction was simply typical:
"The government finds it inconceivable that someone who has been in the country for less than ten days can purport to have conducted comprehensive and accurate research on such a serious matter".
I mean, what did Alston actually need to research? It's all pretty much in the open and freely reported. You don't need a Ph.D. to hear or read all about it ...
Take last week Wednesday as a case in point. It was a rather spectacular example that I woke up to on radio news (and was later reported in one or two sidebars in the newspapers): Five ‘suspected thugs’ were gunned down and killed in the ‘vicinity of’ the Delamere farm. This, after police received ‘an anonymous tip-off’ that they were ‘going to rob’ households in the area. ‘A pistol was found in their possession’.
‘Anonymous’ means, of course, that the source cannot be traced. That they were ‘going to’ commit a crime means that no crime had in fact been committed. That a lone pistol was found with them perhaps points to the same pistol I have mentioned before (see prior blog). No mention was made in the reports of any rounds of ammunition.
It is widely suspected here that these killings are simply a means for Kenya’s government to rid itself of unwanted opposition, spent resources, or ‘evidence’ in certain cases (see blog on ‘John’ the Baptized, below). It has not yet happened with Maina Njenga (but he is reportedly very scared after having spoken to Alston). It DID happen a few weeks ago with Mungiki’s second-in-command after an alleged ‘argument’ at a downtown shop. The man was shot dead by his unidentified assailant (in a society where virtually no one other than the police carries a gun). No investigation followed ... It never does.
What bothers me the most in the ‘Delamere incident’ (other than the deaths themselves) is that there was absolutely NO report as to who the dead actually were. No names were released. No press reports detailed the grief of their families. No claims were made by family members themselves. I would imagine that the ‘suspected thugs’ were actually ‘gunned’ beyond recognition and that the family members are simply too scared to ask what happened to their father or brother. The victims might well have been senior Mungiki members. And, if so, I’d say that they might have had a few facts pertaining to the sponsorship of Mungiki by senior politicians during Kenya’s post-election violence in 2007/8 ... Facts that the government doesn’t want out in the open right now.
So why all this now …?
The International Criminal Court is due to act against certain (as yet undisclosed) ‘names’, placed in an envelope by (ex) Chief Justice Phillip Waki nearly two years ago. These ‘names’ are purported to belong to senior politicians (MPs and others) suspected of having organized and sponsored the post-election violence in Kenya in 2007/8 - violence that left more than 1300 Kenyans (of all tribes) dead.
Luis Moreno Ocampo, the man who successfully prosecuted members of the Argentinean junta some years back, is the chief prosecutor at The Hague. He now has the envelope with the ‘names’ in his possession. He evidently loves horses. But you can see, just by looking at him, you wouldn’t want to face him in a court of law. The words gritty and tenacious come to mind.
Quite a few senior Kenyan officials must be terrified right now. They should be. The pursuit of justice at The Hague might not be swift but the results are likely to be enduring for the main protagonists of the post-election violence. You see, they are to be charged with genocidal acts and crimes against humanity! And Ocampo says he wants to make ‘an example’ of Kenya.
Ocampo came here a few weeks back to establish whether a ‘local tribunal’, to try suspects in Kenya, was going to be established. Word from Harambee House (the Sate President’s office) was that no, it was not going to happen. Fine, Ocampo said, and promptly jumped back on his plane to present pre-trial evidence at The Hague.
Kenyan politics can sometimes be so transparent that it’s laughable* … I don’t think Ocampo’s plane had even landed back in Holland by time President Kibaki and others were backtracking and saying they WERE in fact going to establish the local option. Too late, Ocampo cried.
Aside from Kibaki’s sham statement, there actually have been a few attempts to establish a local tribunal to try suspects. So far, they have been without success: the scheduled debates are being boycotted in parliament. So far, there has not even been a quorum of members in attendance (for a variety of reasons).
The international community sees a local tribunal as the preferred option (rather than the ICC) and just two days ago, Hawkeye Annan bemoaned the fact that the local option had not been established. But if Hawkeye knew anything about the reality of politics, and the current judiciary, in Kenya, he would actually be rather glad … The most likely outcome of the local tribunal would be that the envelope gets stolen!
But, jokes aside (and I guess it’s not really a joking matter), if anyone were actually to stand trial locally (already a very doubtful prospect), it would be beyond 2012, for sure. You see, things here move slooooooowly. But 2012 is the year of Kenya’s next general election and the habit here is to treat parliamentarians like gods. The result would be that everyone of note (by then re-elected public officers) would be found innocent. This would be for a variety of fabricated reasons.
The most likely reason for lack of convictions would simply be due to a lack of evidence. Well, not exactly a lack of evidence but, as I have tried to say above, …
… a large pile of dead evidence ...
Extrajudicial killings may be ‘aimed at’ (if I may use the term) slightly less desirable members of this society. But, if truth be told, the instigators of those killings (not the ‘executors’ themselves) are perhaps a lot less desirable in this society. If this society is to break the shackles of enslavement from years of political, economic and social repression, it has to rid itself of the forces that purport to be its ‘elected’ leadership but which are really just nefarious individuals (and groups) playing a very dangerous game of power politics, for personal gain.
With that, I am requesting anyone who has one, please to send me a used (but not TOO USED) South African bulletproof vest for Christmas. I saw on TV the other night that they are the best!
B-)
(* On exactly the day that Kofi Annan flew in last week, Minister of Internal Security, Prof. George Saitoti, found it necessary to make a comment on the urgent need to reform the police force. A strange coincidence indeed, because Saitoti has not said much about this urgency before Annan’s arrival. But, he added, Kenya just cannot afford the reforms and will need help from the international donor community. Funnily, he fell short of telling the world that Parliament is about to redecorate its chambers at a cost of over a Billion Shillings!)
