Alston wants team formed to probe human rights abuses

The Kenya government should set up an independent commission to investigate human rights abuses between 2005 and 2008, a report by United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston proposes.

Prof Alston also says President Kibaki should “publicly acknowledge his commitment to ending unlawful killings by the police”.

Prof Alston recommends that the investigations include abuses by the Sabaot Land Defence Force, the role of officials who support SLDF, abuses by police and the military and the reasons for the lengthy delay in government intervention to stop SLDF.

He wants an independent forensic analysis of the mass graves in Mt Elgon conducted and recommends that all military units involved in “Operation Okoa Maisha” against the SLDF be barred from taking part in UN or African Union peacekeeping operations until the independent investigations had taken place.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe acknowledged seeing the report, but said the government would make its presentation to the 11th session of the UN Human Rights Council scheduled to be held next week in Geneva.

Prof Alston also wants the government to publish in three months a report on the steps it has taken to prevent and prosecute those who intimidate human rights defenders.

The Special Rapporteur, who was in the country for 10 days between February 16 and 25, says that Kenya should amend the death penalty laws to apply to crimes of intentional deprivation of life.

He wants reports by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) presented to the Justice minister and tabled in Parliament. The government, he, says should then provide a substantive response within reasonable time to all the reports.

However, Prof Alston is concerned that those responsible for the post-election violence, including police officers blamed for extrajudicial executions and officials who organised or instigated violence, still remain immune from prosecution 18 months after it all happened.

He warns that ignoring or denying the existence of extrajudicial killings will lead to chaos and large-scale violence.

The Special Rapporteur insists that the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General should be sacked. He says the police boss has become the single major obstacle to reform in the police force.

Major obstacle

“While the current police commissioner was originally seen as a potential reformer and rapidly established a highly centralised style, he has since become the major single obstacle to police reform,” the report says.

Prof Alston recommends that the Attorney General resign to restore public trust in the office and end its role in “promoting impunity”.

He calls for elimination of political control over prosecutions and further recommends termination of the tenures of majority of existing judges and replacing them with competent appointees.

The UN Special Rapporteur also wants Mungiki members to cease their harassment, abuse and murder of Kenyans.