Past regimes blamed for atrocities
President Uhuru Kenyatta meets members of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission at State House in Nairobi, Tuesday May 21, 2013. PHOTO/HENRY NYAGA|PPS
What you need to know:
- The report cites the assassinations of independence war heroes Pio Gama Pinto and Tom Mboya, the charismatic J M Kariuki during the Kenyatta era, Dr Robert Ouko and Anglican bishop Alexander Muge during the Moi presidency and university don Chrispin Mbai during the Kibaki era.
- Other cases of torture were perpetrated during the crackdown on underground movements such as Mwakenya, the February 18 Movement and the Sabaot Land Defence Forces, the report says.
The truth team Tuesday lifted the lid on some of the darkest periods in post independent Kenya, detailing chilling cases of political assassinations, detention without trial, torture and political marginalisation.
In its report handed to President Kenyatta at State House yesterday, the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) accused the Jomo Kenyatta, Moi and Kibaki governments of presiding over serious injustices including political assassinations to suppress dissenting voices.
The report cites the assassinations of independence war heroes Pio Gama Pinto and Tom Mboya, the charismatic J M Kariuki during the Kenyatta era, Dr Robert Ouko and Anglican bishop Alexander Muge during the Moi presidency and university don Chrispin Mbai during the Kibaki era.
The report states that over 18,000 Kenyans were tortured or detained without trial by successive governments between 1963 and 2008. Agents of the Special Branch, a notorious wing of the police force that specialised in crushing political dissent in the 1970s and 80s, were mainly responsible for torture and unlawful detention at the notorious Nyayo House basement cells, said victims who appeared before the commission.
Other cases of torture were perpetrated during the crackdown on underground movements such as Mwakenya, the February 18 Movement and the Sabaot Land Defence Forces, the report says.
It also reports torture cases during the Shifta War to suppress residents of Northern Kenya who had threatened to secede to Somalia.
The report notes that excessive force was used to crush SLDF elements in Mt Elgon District in an operation carried out by the military.
“There was torture during arrest and separation of men from women in villages and towns. There was torture during transportation to the bases set by the military in places like Kapkota, Saandet and Kaptama. Finally, once in the bases, those arrested were subjected to various forms of torture,” the report says.
Speaking after receiving the report, Mr Kenyatta said the government will take the recommendations of the report seriously.
