Activists in ICC cases ‘facing death threats’

Activists helping the International Criminal Court are facing death threats and risk going to jail, according to a lobby group.

Human rights defenders especially those working at the grassroots in areas which were hard hit by the 2007 post-election violence have received death threats while others have been arrested on trumped up charges, claims Eldoret based National Association of Human Rights Activists (Nara).

A Nara report released on Monday says there are more than 30 criminal cases pending in various courts in the country against the activists.

“Activists facing such charges face difficulty in raising funds to hire lawyers, raise bonds and are forced to defend themselves in court,” said Nara boss Ken Wafula during the release of the report in Nakuru Town.

Mr Wafula said that human rights defenders pursuing ICC cases bore the heaviest brunt of “police harassment and intimidation” as they are allegedly trailed by National Intelligence Security Services (NSIS) agents.

“NSIS has even been using agents of the opposite sex to seduce and place under their watch key human rights activists in areas that were the epicentre of the post-election violence,” said Mr Wafula.

He also accused the spy agency of breaking into offices of human rights defenders and taking away communication equipment.

Pursuit for justice

However, the report did not give instances where such break-ins took place.

It said some of the activists who have been closely following the ICC cases in Rift Valley have been forced to relocate to foreign countries due to death threats, thus weakening the pursuit for justice.

“Apart from receiving death threats, human rights activists are bombarded with hate speech in their mails, phones from politicians who want them to abandon their quest to seek for justice for the post-election victims,” added Mr Wafula.