Human Rights House Foundation (HRH F) condemns the post-electoral violence in Kenya and calls for the limitations to freedom of expression and information movement and peaceful assembly to be lifted. In the same statement, HRH F also expresses deep concern that the current crisis has also resulted in targeted harassment and threats against human rights defenders. To read the full statement, click here or see below. (25-JAN-08)

ELECTORAL VIOLENCE IN KENYA

The Human Rights House Foundation (HRH F) follows the current crisis in Kenya with great concern and condemns in the strongest terms any form of violence, be it to protest or repress.

While we understand the disappointment and anger of millions of Kenyans, HRH F deeply regrets the loss of hundreds of lives and the vast destruction of property that have taken place. While we also recognize that the Kenyan police are trying to contain protests that in some cases have been violent, the HRH F cannot accept the reckless, lethal force that has been used to achieve this. In particular, the firing of live ammunition into crowds cannot be justified.

Under the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, police may use force only when strictly necessary and only to the extent required for the performance of their duty. From reports received from colleagues in Nairobi and from international human rights organisations alike, HRH F concludes that the Kenyan police have gone well beyond these limitations. Hence, the Kenyan government should urgently, publicly and with immediate effect instruct the police to stop its excessive use of force, initiate an independent an impartial inquiry into the police killings, and prosecute any and all police officers found to have used excessive force against civilians, regardless of whether or not they took part in the protests.

HRH F expresses its concern also about the ongoing violent clashes in the rural areas, and in particular Rift Valley, where the police are reported in many instances not to have intervened effectively. While clashes between different ethnic groups go much further back in some of these areas and have flared up in relation to every election in the last 20 years, they could, therefore, have been predicted and prevented more easily there than anywhere else in Kenya. HRH F calls on the government of Kenya to immediately investigate the many deaths in these areas, bring to justice everyone found guilty of wrongdoings, and compensate the victims.   

HRH F also strongly condemns the restrictions on journalists’ and photographers’ right to collect whatever openly available information they want, and the authorities’ introduction of further limitations on the freedoms of expression and opinion, the media and information, and assembly and movement. -We remind Kenyan authorities that both Kenyan and international law prohibits a general ban on demonstrations, as has in practice been introduced in Kenya, says Maria Dahle, HRH F’s Executive Director. The Kenyan government must respect the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. HRH F demands that the ban on live broadcast and the restrictions on content communicated in private cell phones are both lifted.

Finally, HRH F is deeply concerned that a limited number of human rights defenders, among them Maina Kiai, the Chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, also seem to have been targeted with threats and harassment, on the grounds of their activities as human rights defenders. We take this opportunity to remind Kenyan authorities that human rights defenders’ particular rights are also protected by the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Internationally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, commonly known as the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1998. 

HRH F keeps in daily contact with key figures within the human rights movement in Kenya and releases regular updates on www.humanrightsouse.org.

Oslo, 25 January 2008

Maria Dahle

Executive Director
The Human Rights House Foundation