By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – A human rights organization has called on the Kenyan government to improve security in northern Kenya in order to prevent killings and cattle rustling.

The Kenyan government’s human rights watch dog, the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) accused state agencies of being too lenient in dealing with the insecurity in the Upper Eastern region and challenges them to step it up.

KNCHR condemned the recent killings that occurred in Isiolo, Samburu, Tigania, Igembe, Garbatula and Laisamis, and announced that security forces have not taken appropriate action to detain those responsible.

“Insecurity in the region has brought development to a near standstill and we need to note that when people already have very little, the impact of insecurity in terms of the clashes takes them back to step one,” said KNCHR Commission Vice-Chairman Hassan Omar Hassan.

The insecurity has been fueled by increasing allegations that cattle rustling has been commercialized.  Sources say that more than 70 people, including security agents, have been killed and over 5,000 livestock stolen since December 2007. The commission also alleged a cover up by the local provincial administration and other security officials who are trying to make the situation appear less serious than it actually is.

There are currently thousands of cattle and goats grazing in the Shaba National Reserve and they are being protected by local militiamen.  The Kenya Red Cross said tension was also high between communities in Gambela where close to 10 people were killed and more than 1,700 families were displaced last month.

“The government must nip this crisis in the bud,” Hassan added. “This insecurity is further aggravated by alleged militia harbored in the park which endangers safety of the tourists,” he said.

For more information, please see:

Capital News – KNHCR Condemns Killings in Upper Eastern – 9 August 2009

Daily Nation – Boost Security to Avert Raids, Urges Group – 9 August 2009

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation – KNCHR Condemns Killing in North Eastern – 9 August 2009

By Dahee Nam
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

BANJUL, Gambia – Six Gambian journalists were jailed for two years on Thursday for publishing a statement criticizing the president.  They were convicted of six counts of defamation and sedition.

Those convicted include three executive members of the Gambian Press Union, two reporters from The Point newspaper, and one from Foroyaa newspaper.  One of the journalists for The Point also contributed to Reuters.  The journalists were sentenced to two-year prison term and heavy fines after criticizing President Yahya Jammeh’s declaration that the government was not responsible for the 2004 death of prominent journalist Deyda Hydara.

Hydara, the editor and co-founder of The Point and the Gambia correspondent for Agence France-Presse, was killed by unidentified gunmen in his car on the outskirts of the capital city of Banjul in December, 2004.  He was also a member of Reporters Without Borders, which advocates freedom of the press.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the sentencing was a “politicized judgment,” saying that it “reflects a partisan judicial system controlled by the president.”

Gambia is regularly criticized for violating press freedom.  President Jammeh warned journalists last month against tarnishing Gambia’s image.

“Any journalist who thinks that he or she can write whatever he or she wants and go free, is making a big mistake. … If anybody is caught, he will be severely dealt with,” Jammeh said in a television interview.

“Nobody can write or say anything that does not favor Yahya Jammeh and his government. The few people who do it have been sentenced to jail or have been arrested or have been harassed, some of whom are not even journalists.  Even thought it’s the six journalists who have been sentenced to jail, it’s the whole issue of expression that is now dead, so to speak. That is now in a very serious situation,” Gambian journalist Amie Joof said.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Gambia Media Jail Terms ‘Unjust’ – 07 August 2009

Guardian – Six Journalists Jailed in Gambia – 07 August 2009

VOA – Six Gambian Journalists Jailed for Sedition – 07 August 2009

AFP – Six Gambian Journalists Jailed for Criticising the President – 6 August 2009

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

GOMA, DR Congo – In the rape capital of the world rape is being used as a weapon of war and instances of this atrocity have recently increased.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has reported that rapes are committed by both militias and police and military officers.  Ten percent of rape cases involve male survivors, according to the ABA sexual violence clinic in Goma.

Male rape is on a sudden incline since the joint military operations between Congo and Rwanda rebels began.  Rape is being used as a tactic to humiliate and dehumanize the Congolese people and force them into submission.

Most men are afraid of the social stigma attached to the homosexual act and fail to report rape or sexual abuse.  Most that do have suffered extreme abuse, including castration and assault leading to continued and severe bleeding.  Many men would rather die than report rape and some have.

Brandi Walker, aid worker at a local hospital, said, “Everywhere we go, people say men are getting raped, too.”

Male rape cases are greatly less in number than female rape cases but aid workers say it is a lot harder for men to recover.  According to Waker, a man’s identity is too connected to power and control.

“I’m laughed at. The people in my village say: ‘You’re no longer a man. Those people in the bush made you their wife,'” said one survivor.

Women for Women International, an aid organization based in Washington, focuses on how devastating rape is to society.  The organization trains top police and military officials.  They are learning how to prevent rape under their command.

“While we are an organization that values investment in women, you have to engage larger communities,” says Lyric Thompson, policy analyst at Women for Women. “In many places we work, the community leaders are men, so we use men’s position of influence. Our program in Congo is a model for other programs. It involves a huge paradigm shift from approaching men as the perpetrators – the enemy – to engaging them as allies; as fathers, sons, brothers.”

Last year the rape epidemic seemed to be easing but that has since disappeared.  Between 50,000 and 100,000 women have been raped in the past decade of conflict.

For more information, please see:

Ms. Magazine – Rape of Men Used as Weapon of War in Congo – 06 August 2009

VOA – Clinton Says DRC ‘Worst Example of Man’s Inhumanity to Women’ – 06 August 2009

NY Times – Symbol of Unhealed Congo: Male Rape Victims – 04 August 2009

Christian Science Monitor – Congo: Confronting Rape as a Weapon of War – 02 August 2009

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – On Wednesday, the United States warned the Kenyan government that it must quickly implement delayed reforms and that the corruption, impunity, and human rights abuses are holding the country back. She also said that Kenya’s failure to investigate a bout of deadly violence after the 2007 election is disappointing to the U.S.

President Barack Obama’s father was Kenyan, therefore U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a personal message from President Obama to President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga that they must work harder to fully implement the power-sharing deal that ended the bloody violence which spawned from a disputed election in December 2007.

Even though at least 1,300 people were killed during the violence, the cabinet has resisted the many calls for a tribunal in order to hold those responsible for the violence accountable.

Clinton warned that investors would shun states on the continent that had weak leaders and economies which are riddled with corruption and crime.  In a press conference with Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula, she made her point abundantly clear.

“The absence of strong, effective democratic institutions has permitted ongoing corruption, impunity, politically motivated violence, human rights abuses and a lack of respect for the rule of law,” said Clinton.

Wetangula followed her remarks by saying that his government was doing everything it could.

“All sanctuaries of corruption will be destroyed to make Kenya a cleaner and safer place to do business,” he promised.

Clinton mentioned a few opportunities that Africa, specifically Kenya, has in making a change. For example, she mentioned that Africa has an opportunity to create its own “Green Revolution.”

“Right now, Africa suffers from a severe shortage of electric power and too many countries rely on oil as virtually their only source of revenue. But the capacity for producing renewable and clean energy is far and wide,” said Clinton.

She also mentioned that empowering women in Africa would be a valuable step in boosting development and decreasing the impunity that surrounds Kenya.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Kenya Impunity ‘Disappoints U.S.’ – 5 August 2009

Bloomberg – Kenya Committed to War on Corruption, Impunity, Minister Says – 5 August 2009

Daily Nation – Obama’s Warning – 5 August 2009

Reuters – Clinton Tells Kenya to Implement Delayed Reforms – 5 August 2009

Pambazuka News – Kenya: Impunity and the Politicisation of Ethnicity – 31 July 2009