HRW: Uhuru, Ruto Should Cooperate With ICC

Human Rights Watch has urged President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court.

The watchdog in an online statement also called on the new government should also uphold and protect the bill of rights as stipulated in the country’s constitution.

“Kenyatta and Ruto should be held to their promises to attend their trials before the ICC,” said Elizabeth Evenson, HRW senior international justice counsel said.

“As president of an ICC member country, Kenyatta should also ensure that his government provides the cooperation it owes the ICC and the support it needs. Victims of Kenya’s post-election violence and their families have already waited more than five years for justice,” she added.

The two including their co-accused Joshua Sang, former Kass FM host have been voluntarily attending ICC proceedings in their cases before the ICC on charges of committing or contributing to the commission of crimes against humanity during Kenya’s election-related violence in 2007 and 2008.

“The new government should also reverse the climate of fear through publicly pledging to help ensure the safety of people who seek to assist justice efforts,” Evenson said.

Earlier there have been concerns on witness protection by Kenyan government with the ICC prosecutor complaining on witness interference.

Witness interference through pressure on witnesses and their families has been blamed for acquittal of Kenyatta’s co-accused Francis Muthaura after a witness feared to come forward and testify against him.

HRW blames lack of government cooperation which has seen witnesses recanting parts of their testimony and admitting to accepting bribes.

Lastly the new government should uphold the bill of rights enshrined in the country’s 2010 constitution to make progress in reform agenda especially police reforms.

“Intimidation of civil society groups increased in the periods before, during, and following the March 4 elections,” HRW indicated.

Threats against civil society activists, media, and ICC witnesses that amount to violations of national law should be investigated and prosecuted, it added.

Manuel Odeny © 2013

HRW condemns KDF over Garissa, says 52 injured

 Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned the KDF’s appraisal attack in Garissa following attack in which three soldiers had died on November 19.

In an online statement the organisation says an employee at Garissa Provincial Hospital said at least 52 people with severe injuries had been admitted there, at least eight of them with gunshot wounds on November 19 and 20, following the army reprisals.

“Witnesses told HRW that, immediately after the killings of the three officers, the Kenyan army surrounded the town, preventing anyone from leaving or entering, and started attacking residents and traders,” the statement says.

Witnesses also said that the military shot at people, raped women, and assaulted anyone in sight. Among the gunshot victims were two school boys who are claimed to have been home bound from school.

During the rampage soldiers also set fire to businesses among them Muqti market, the Alwaqaf building and Maua Posho Mill.

“The military remained in barracks on November 20, but regular police, administration police, and riot police continued the attacks,” HRW.

HRW now puts the government on the spot to end its arbitrary attacks by members of the military and police against residents of the northern region as a routine response to any attack on its security forces.

“The level of abuse by Kenyan security agencies following last week attack on three of its military officers is appalling and a complete contradiction of the government’s obligation to protect its citizens and guarantee their rights and freedoms,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Lefkow says the government should respect the rule of law and ensure that its security agencies follow the strict letter of the law in detaining people before handing them over to the criminal justice system.

Dujis MP Aden Duale is quoted in the statement against the human rights abuses in Garissa saying,“over 70 people have been injured, some by gunshots from the Kenya Defense Forces, women have been raped.”

This not the first time HRW is accusing the government of complacency on armed forces in North Eastern, its May report “Criminal Reprials: Kenya Police and Military Abuses Against Ethnic Somalis” has been ignored.

“(We) documented serious abuses by security officers in the northern region following attacks in which security officers were killed. In October we documented cases of similar abuses in Mandera and Garissa, each time in response to a grenade or gun attack on security officers,” it says.

Following the report the military promised to end such violence to no avail and no one has not been detained or investigated or any evidence of any investigations by police into the abuses.

“The Kenyan government should take direct responsibility for the persistent abuses by its security forces in Northern Kenya, get them under control, and hold them to account,” Lefkow said

Libya: New evidence shows Gaddafi, Mutassim were murdered by Misrata militias

A man holds a picture of the slained former Libya strong man Muarmar Gadaffi in Tripoli soon after his death.

Human Rights Watch in new evidence has blamed Misrata based militias for war crime for murder of former Libya dictator Muammar Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and 66 other Libyans on October 20 last year.

The evident is set to put into question the Libyan government official account that the two as well as all others who perished at the scene, died during fierce crossfire.

In a 50 page report titled Death of a Dictator: Bloody Vengeance in Sirte the human rights watchdog interviewed families of victims, survivors of the Gaddafi’s convoy and officers in opposition militias who were at the scene.

The report also reviews ‘a large number of video recordings made by opposition forces on their cell phones, some of which show captured detainees at the site of the final battle.”

“Video footage shows that Muammar Gaddafi was captured alive but bleeding heavily from a head wound, believed to have been caused by shrapnel from a grenade thrown by his own guards that exploded in their midst,” HRW says in an online website statement.

The evidence discredits the Libyan government’s and militias claim that Gaddafi and his son died in a cross. It also discredits the widely circulated You Tube video of the former dictator half naked and lifeless body being loaded in ambulance.

“In the (new evidence) footage of Muammar Gaddafi (he) is severely beaten by opposition forces and stabbed with a bayonet in his buttocks, causing more injuries and bleeding,” HRW says in evidence of torture of former Libyan leader before his death.

The evidence also confirms that Mutassim Gaddafi was also captured alive at the scene of the battle and his film in Misrata as he smokes cigarettes and drinks water while engaging in argument with militias was different from his body which was alter paraded on streets with a throat wound showing sign of torture.

“Our strongest evidence for these executions comes from the footage filmed by the opposition forces, and the physical evidence at the Mahari Hotel, where the 66 bodies were found,” said Peter Bouckaert, Emergencies Director at HRW says.

HRW say that immediately after the killing they reported the matter to National Transition Council (NTC) for full investigation and accountability has been dragging its feet to start an inquiry.

“Libya’s challenge to bring armed militias like Misrata militias under control and end their abuses is by investigation the mass executions of October 20, 2011,” Bouckaert says.

HRW now calls International Criminal Court (ICC) which investigates and prosecutes war crimes committed by all sides in Libya after February 15, 2011 to come in if the Libyan authorities are not able or willing to investigate or prosecute.

© Manuel Odeny, 2012

Kenyan Police on spot over abuse of refugees in Dadaab

Refugees in Dadaab Camp, Kenya. GUARDIAN

By Human Rights Watch

Police brutality in Dadaab in recent days suggests that the promises by senior police officials to investigate reports of mistreatment are nothing more than hot air. Despite many inquiries and promises of police reform, police in Dadaab respond to attacks by abusing anyone who happens to be nearby. Daniel Bekele, Africa director

(Nairobi) – Kenyan police arbitrarily arrested, detained, and beat refugees following the discovery of explosives and an attack on a police vehicle in the Dadaab refugee camps in mid-May 2012. Senior officials visiting the camps on May 23 should ensure a full and speedy investigation leading to the identification and disciplinary measures against any officer responsible for abuse and the compensation of victims.

“Police brutality in Dadaab in recent days suggests that the promises by senior police officials to investigate reports of mistreatment are nothing more than hot air,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Despite many inquiries and promises of police reform, police in Dadaab respond to attacks by abusing anyone who happens to be nearby.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed refugee leaders, aid agency staff, and nine victims of two attacks on the Hagadera and Dagahaley camps, two of the five in the Dadaab complex.

On May 11, two improvised explosive devices were discovered by police in Hagadera. That evening, police went house to house in blocks L and N of Hagadera camp indiscriminately beating residents while arresting others.

Six residents – four men and two women – told Human Rights Watch that police came to their homes asking for weapons, explosives, and the men of the house. But the police appeared to make no distinction between men, women, and children, beating and detaining anyone they found, and later requiring bribes of 10,000-15,000 Kenya shillings (US$115-175) in exchange for release.

A 17-year-old girl, who was at home when the police arrived, said: “They beat me with batons on my arms and back and legs. They lifted me outside the house and threw me into a big truck with so many people packed [in].” She was detained for 15 hours during which police, she said, “asked me to admit that I was the one who put the landmine in the road and I said that I have no idea.”

A 50-year-old man said: “They beat me with big sticks and a gun. They pulled me outside the house and threw me into a truck in which many other people were stacked like sacks of maize. They were beating and arresting people for six hours.”

Refugee leaders said at least 70 people were detained in Hagadera on the night of May 11, including three female minors. Aid agencies told Human Rights Watch that the figure was probably higher. The provincial police officer, Leo Nyongesa, contacted by Human Rights Watch on May 21, claimed no knowledge of the detentions and denied reports of police abuse.

One Hagadera refugee leader who requested anonymity said, “We are ready to cooperate with the police to improve the security but the police cannot be trusted since they beat everyone indiscriminately and unprofessionally.”

On May 15 an improvised explosive device went off under a police car near the market in Dagahaley camp, killing one police officer and injuring two others. According to four witnesses, police reacted by attacking residents in the market.

One man told Human Rights Watch: “I was closing my shop when three policemen stopped me and started slapping me with no question[s]. Theyentered the shop and searched inside. One of them was with me outside holding my hands crossed. I was horrified. People were running for their safety. They hit me with batons several times on the arms and shoulders.”

A female merchant in the market said that police beat her and destroyed her vegetables. Both witnesses said that police looted shops in Dagahaley market following the blast.

Abdifatah Ahmed Ismail, refugee chairman of Dagahaley camp, called the police reaction “deliberate robbery.” He said that “What the police did in Dagahaley was the same as what they did in Ifo [another camp in Dadaab] in December: looting the shops and business centers in the pretext of searching for explosives.”

Nyongesa told Human Rights Watch that a high-level delegation including the national police commissioner, Mathew Iteere, is scheduled to visit Dadaab on May 23 to assess the situation. He claimed to have no knowledge of recent police abuses, although he acknowledged that there had been problems in Dadaab in the past.

Human Rights Watch called on the Kenyan authorities to offer compensation to victims of abuse or looting.

In December 2011, following widespread police abuses against refugees, the police promised to investigate.

In response to earlier allegations about police misconduct in Dadaab in 2010, in October 2010, the Ministry of State for Internal Security established a team to investigate abuse. The team consisted of a representative of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims; two women representatives, one from the Dadaab area and one from a national women’s organization; a youth representative from Dadaab; and a representative of the Refugee Consortium of Kenya.

The team conducted an investigation and drafted a report, which was submitted to the Ministry of State for Internal Security, but never made public. The ministry did not respond to repeated requests from Human Rights Watch in 2011 for a copy. A member of the team told Human Rights Watch that the team found significant evidence of human rights abuses by members of the security forces, but that the ministry did not take any action to hold those responsible to account. Since then, no public statement has been made about any such investigation.

“Senior Kenyan officials should recognize that this abusive police behavior is counterproductive and order all police forces deployed in Dadaab to treat residents with restraint and respect,” Bekele said. “There is no excuse for this abuse.