BRIEF: Kenyan Opposition Leader Slain

BRIEF: Kenyan Opposition Leader Slain

NAIROBI, Kenya – The murder of an opposition leader today has triggered an on-set of violence again in Kenya. Mugabe Were, a lawmaker who won a seat in parliament, was shot to death as he drove home. Odinga claims the murder was a planned assassination given that Were had bullet wounds in both eyes. The police are treating his murder as a homicide but have not ruled out political motives. President Kibaki has condemned the killing and appeals for calm.

With the news of Were’s death, hundreds of men armed with machetes and clubs inset with nails gathered in Nairobi slums. One witness claimed the group dragged a Kikuyu doctor from his clinic and attacked him with machetes until “his head was off”. In the Mathare slum, volunteer aid worker Fospeter Oumaa witnessed a man dragged from his car and attacked with machetes. In the Kibera slum, homes dividing members of the Kikuyu and Luos tribes were set on fire.

Police have failed to control the violence throughout Kenya. Police on the ground and in helicopters fired at a mob of Kikuyus chasing hundreds of Luos outside the Naivasha Country Club. More deaths have been the results of police shooting than ethnic attacks. With the death rate at over 800, the Human Rights Groups have accused police officers of using excessive force.

Meanwhile, former UN chief Kofi Annan has begun formal talks of mediation. Annan says he hopes to resolve the immediate political issues within four weeks and the underlying ethnic crisis within a year.  Western donors have urged both sides to resolve the crisis, and consider a power-sharing solution or risk losing aid.

On Nairobi’s Capital FM radio station, U.S Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, whose father is Kenyan, appealed for “Kenyan leaders to rise above party affiliations and past ambitions for the sake of peace.”

For more information please see:

Yahoo News- Opposition Lawmaker Killed in Kenya – 29 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Annan Launches Kenya Mediation, Violence Spreads – 29 January 2008

Kenya’s Death Rate Soars as Violence Spreads

By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Eastern and Southern Africa

NAIVASHA, Kenya – Violence erupts once again in Kenya, one month after the disputed December 27 presidential election. Hundreds of people in rival tribes wielding machetes, clubs, and hammers clashed in the streets of Naivasha, Nikura, and Kisumu earlier today. According to Baraka Karama, a journalist for independent Kenya Television in Kisumu, the streets were literally covered in blood.

For several weeks angry Lous supporter of Raila Odinga have blocked roads, set buses, homes and cars on fire and attacked members of President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe.

According to witnesses, a gang of youths killed four Kikuyus with machetes and stoned to death two others in the villages around Eldoret. Other witnesses claim another person was burned alive in a minibus. “We wish to find one, a Kikuyu. … We will butcher them like a cow,” exclaimed David Babgy, 24.

In Naivasha this past weekend, thousands of armed Kikuyus confronted Luos, wanting revenge. At least 22 people were killed, nineteen of them Lous, after they were chased through a slum by a gang of Kikuyus and trapped in a shanty that they set on fire. According to a mortuary worker, 64 bodies laid in the morgue after this weekend’s clash.

The death toll has now passed the 800 mark.

The post election dispute has gone beyond the disputed presidential election, exposing a deep seated ethnic resentment. The bloodshed has been largely centered on the Rift Valley towns of Naivasha and Nakuru. After Kenya’s 1963 Independence from Great Britain, President Jomo Kenyatta proclaimed the Rift Valley for his Kiyuyu people. Since then Kiyuyus have dominated politics and the economy through a patronage system and corruption. The December 27 presidential election has unearthed years of concealed resentment; pitting neighbors against one another.

Mediation efforts have failed and there appears to be no sign of relief. Kibaki claims the door of communication is open but that his presidency is not negotiable. Odinga has rejected a power-sharing strategy and remains adamant that Kibaka must step down from his position. Thus the dispute remains at a deadlock.

On Sunday, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan sent a proposal to both sides, asking each to choose a team of three negotiators and a liason officer who will work to reach a solution that is agreeable to both sides. Annan, who organized the first meeting between Kibaki and Odinga last week, is urging both sides to be prepared to make hard decision in order to restore the country’s stability.

Meanwhile, about 250,000 people are homeless. Schools have been closed for several weeks and used as shelters. Navisha, Kenya’s flower capital, and Nakuru, known for its wild-life filled lakes, has become war zones. The once picturesque tourist towns of Rift Valley are now no-go zones. The violence has resulted in slowed economic activity that will likely hit the tourism sector hard.

In 2007, Kenya earned 65.4 billion shillings in tourism. Last week, according to the Kenya Tourism Federation, the sector could be forced to lay off about half of its 250,000 employees to cope with losses arising from the unrest.

For more information please see:

MSNBC (AP) – Kenya Fighting Leaves Road ‘Covered in Blood’ – 28 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Kenya’s Rift Valley Burns, Death Toll Soars – 28 January 2008

Yahoo News (AP) – Kenya Election Violence Spreads in West – 28 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Violence Exposes Kenya’s Deep Ethnic Fault Lines – 28 January 2008

AllAfrica.com – Kenya: Rivals Given Roadmap to Peaceful End – 28 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Kenya Shilling Recovers Losses vs Dollar, Unrest Weighs – 28 January 2008

Myanmar Makes Further Dissident Arrests

By Juliana Chan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

In breaking a promise to the United Nations, Myanmar’s military government has arrested almost 100 dissidents, Amnesty International reports.

The human rights group said the junta had arrested 96 people since November. Facing increased international pressure, the military government met with United Nations’ envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, in November and agreed that it would hold no more activists following its deadly crackdown on protests in Yangon in September 2007.

September’s protests led by Buddhist monks, turned into the biggest anti-government demonstration since 1988. According to the United Nations, at least 31 people were killed and 74 are missing.

Catherine Baber, director of Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific program, said that four months since the violent suppression on peaceful demonstrators, rather than stopping unlawful arrests, the government has actually accelerated them. She said that instead of bowing to demands for moderation from the international community, the junta’s priority is to silence its citizens.

The new arrests target people who attempt to send evidence of the junta’s crackdown to the international community. Among those arrested are members of democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, a Buddhist monk, and a labor activist.

Amnesty International said that at least 700 people arrested in connection with the September protests remain behind bars, while Myanmar is still holding 1,150 political prisoners from before the demonstrations.

Furthermore, Myanmar’s military government has postponed an invitation to United Nations envoy, Mr. Gambari. Mr. Gambari has visited Myanmar twice and was promised a third visit soon, in a effort of cooperation with the United Nations. The junta now says it will not be convenient for Mr. Gambari to visit until April.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Burma dissident arrests ‘ongoing’ – 25 January 2008

The New York Times – Rights Group Accuses Myanmar of Holding More Dissidents – 27 January 2008

AFP – Myanmar arrests 96 dissidents since November: Amnesty – 26 January 2008

Pakistani Army Not to be Involved in Elections

By Elizabeth Breslin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

The Pakistani Army announced today that it will be distancing itself from the election process.  The parliamentary elections are now scheduled for February 18th, delayed because of the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhuttoin December. (See Impunity Watch story here).

An Army spokesperson said that “conduct of elections as per Constitution is the sole responsibility of the Election Commission and Army will not be involved in the election process.”  Pakistan’s current military chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, has seemed to prefer to stay out of politics since his appointment in October 2007.   Some analysts believe that the Army is attempting to keep itself outside of the likely controversies surrounding the upcoming election.  Kayani understands that the process will be messy, and by staying out of it he will avoid any blame.

President Musharraf’s opponents are alleging that he will use his power as President to influence the elections.  There is a widespread concern that Pakistan’s Election Commission is incapable of assuring a fair election.  There are allegations that the current Chief Election Commissioner is openly partisan, as well as government officials on all levels.  Furthermore, after the removal of judges and suspension of the Constitution in November, government officials and members of the judiciary are afraid to act independently.

Pakistan’s government has assured United States and European Union monitoring teams that they will be allowed to access elections sites freely and can go in unannounced to any polling site.  They are however refusing to allow exit polls to be conducted.  Critics worry that this is problematic as exit polls are an essential tool for assuring fair and independent elections.

In a speech on Friday, President Musharraf has issued a warning to Western countries to stop criticizing Pakistan’s government regarding the election and its methods of fighting against terrorism.  He requested instead their support during this difficult time.  He reiterated that the elections would be free and fair.

For more information, please see:

CBS News – Pakistan’s Army Steps Aside From Election – 27 January 2008

Daily Times – ANALYSIS: Election manipulation – 27 January 2008

BBC News – Musharraf issues warning to West – 25 January 2008

The Kansas City Star – Pakistan bans observers from conducting exit polls for election – 25 January 2008

Egypt Brotherhood Members Continue to Protest Gaza Blockade

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Thousands of Egyptians held protests peacefully on Friday in support of Palestinians in Gaza, calling for an end to the Israeli blockade. Many of the protesters were from Egypt’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, whose members have been detained for staging protests since the ordeal began. Many of the protesters carried banners that read: “Save Gaza” and “Free Despite Siege.”

On Wednesday, Egyptian authorities arrested scores of Brotherhood members in dawn raids for “illegally organizing protests against the Israeli blockade of Gaza.” The authorities rounded up the men in raids on their homes, including the secretary general of the Cairo doctors’ syndicate, Saad Zaghloul, in the northern port city of Alexandria. Others have also been detained in areas where the Brotherhood has a strong popular base including Giza, north of Cairo, and in Gharbia and Kafr al-Sheikh. They were accused of organizing demonstration without a permit and with belonging to a banned organization.

The crisis began when Palestinian militants first breached the wall between Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday, blowing up part of the wall that allowed tens of thousands of Palestinians to enter into Egypt and stock up on food and fuel. A second breach occurred later, when a bulldozer knocked over a new section of the border wall. Though Egypt has remained idle, allowing thousands to cross the border for humanitarian reasons, the Egyptian government plans to reseal the border in the coming days.

The Muslim Brotherhood, a non-violent group deemed illegal in Egypt, said Egypt should unilaterally open the border with Gaza. For this cause, more than 350 Brotherhood members have been arrested for continuously staging protests. Friday was no exception, where some 2,000 Egyptians protested in support of the Gazans outside the Cairo International Book Fair.

Israel had first blockaded its borders with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets into southern Israel. The blockade has affected approximately 1.5 million people who live in Gaza Strip.

For more information, please see:

The Jerusalem Post – Protests for Gaza held across Mideast – 25 January 2008

BBC News – Egypt cracks down on Gaza protest – 23 January 2008

Ynetnews – Egypt arrests Muslim Brotherhood members protesting Gaza siege – 23 January 2008

Reuters – Egypt detains 30 Brotherhood men over Gaza protests – 23 January 2008