Your Voice Can Make a Difference in Kenya

Alert Issued: February 5, 2008

Since the close, disputed elections in December, violence has swept Kenya. Armed groups from different ethnic groups-but often formed by parties and politicians to advance decidedly political aims-have caused as many as 1,000 deaths and massive displacement.

At this time of crisis, there is a desperate need for impartial reporting on human rights violations. But human rights defenders have received numerous death threats, often from members of their own ethnic group, because they were standing up for the rights of all people. Some have been forced to leave the country due to the failure of the Kenyan government to offer protection or respond to the threats.

What can the United States do? There are two hearings this week on Capitol Hill seeking to address the crisis in Kenya. Please ask your elected representatives to urge the Bush Administration to make the protection of human rights a central part of its agenda by:

• supporting the work of human rights defenders
• ensuring that negotiations to end the violence address the problem of impunity of armed groups and the police
  

 
Background

See a Timeline of Recent Events here.

Sample Letter:

Dear Member of Congress,

I have watched with alarm as post-election violence has threatened to tear Kenya apart. I am pleased to hear that the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold hearings this week. I urge members of those bodies to speak up for human rights defenders and against impunity, and for others to use their own committee positions and contacts with the executive branch to do the same.

In order to understand the complex political and economic roots of the current crises, it is essential to have accurate, non-partisan information about what is happening on the ground. But Kenya's human rights defenders are under attack. They have received numerous death threats from armed groups, often from members of their own ethnic group, precisely because they stand up for the rights of all people. One leaflet lists the names of so-called traitors, including several prominent human rights defenders: "The traitors live among us in peace, just like our detractors. They are the inherent weaknesses of our communal collapse and worse than the genocideers because they gnaw on our dignity and honour as a people from within." Some defenders have left the country as a result of threats, and one journalist who covered the situation of defenders has received death threats himself. I am not aware of any effective police response to the threats, or other government efforts to protect defenders from being targeted.

Any long-term solution will require that those responsible for planning and carrying out violence are held accountable. On February 4, a mediation team headed by Kofi Annan announced that both sides had agreed to the establishment of a truth commission that may include local and international experts. This is welcome news, but only if the commission has a strong mandate and is accompanied by efforts to prosecute those responsible for human rights violations.

I urge you to use your position in relevant committees and caucuses, and your contacts with the State Department or other agencies, to find out:

• What is the Bush Administration doing to support the work of human rights defenders in Kenya? Has the Kenyan government been urged to make their protection a priority?
• Will the Bush Administration support a negotiated settlement that seeks to end impunity for human rights violations, in order to break the repetitive cycle of political violence?

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Sincerely,