THE government has failed victims of the 2007/8 post-election violence, according to a new report released last night. The joint report by Kenya the Human Rights Commission and International Commission for Jurists (ICJ-Kenya) was launched last night by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in a ceremony also attended by ICC officials.

The report "Elusive justice; a status report on victims of 2007-2008 post election violence in Kenya" says the government's efforts to resettle IDPs have been flawed and incomplete.

The focus on resettlement has also seen the government ignore other forms of violations like sexual violence, psychological torture and compensation for lost lives. "Those whose family members were killed, who lost substantial productive capacity due to injury, and those who experienced sexual and gender-based violence have seen virtually no targeted response to their violations," the report says.

Families of those killed have not received any compensation , children who lost breadwinners have not been assisted and sexual violence victims have since been ignored, the report says.

The report further says the government has never conducted a proper registration of all victims, fully and satisfactorily resettled all IDP's. There has not been any genuine reconciliation process. "Many victims of displacement are still struggling to access education and face serious challenges because of cost, discrimination, interruption in their educational progress, and missing documents," it says.

According to the report, the government has a duty under the various treaties, covenants and even constitution to help the victims. It says the failure by the government has "set the stage for a continuing cycle of violations in the coming elections." The reports recommended that the government design a comprehensive program to provide compensation ad social security support to families whose loved ones were killed, and to individuals who suffered grievous injury.

Respondents numbering 800 respondents were interviewed in more than 200 sites last year to compile the report. The findings mirror those of countless others done by civil society groups.