Kenya: Clinton Asked to Press for Pev Prosecutions

2 August 2012

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been urged to use her upcoming visit to Kenya to press for local prosecutions of all involved in the 2008 post election violence. In an open letter to Clinton, who began her tour in Senegal on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch's Africa director Daniel Bekele said accountability for Kenya is crucial as the country heads to another election. "Accountability is an urgent need for Kenya, which has yet to make significant progress on prosecuting those responsible for post-election violence in 2007, and which now faces a new set of elections for March 2013," Bekele said. He said police and other security forces in Kenya continue to engage in widespread abuses "with near-complete impunity".

Although four Kenyans are facing crimes against humanity charges at the ICC in the Hague, majority of the low-level perpetrators have not been held to account. The Waki report said a total of 3,561 people suffered injuries in the post election period. Of these, 1229 were inflicted by sharp objects, 604 by blunt ones, 360 had soft tissue injuries, 557 suffered gunshots, 267 were shot with arrows, 164 burns and 196 assaults.

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