Election Reform Needed in Kenya to Eliminate Post-Election Violence

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan went to Nairobi to assess the status of implementing agreements made during the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation (KNDR) process.  There he met with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga in Kenya to discuss, in particular, those institutional reforms under Agenda Item Four dealing with land reforms, ending poverty, employment and historical adjustments.

His visit comes as Kenya is facing increased international pressure because of its slow response in implementing agreed reforms.

Both President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga signed a power-sharing deal to end last year’s bloodbath.  They have both expressed their commitment to introducing necessary reforms to the country.  Annan said he is encouraged by their commitment.

Annan was instrumental in mediating an end to last year’s violence.  He has said that the country should form a local tribunal to try the suspected perpetrators.  He believes that this would require both a Kenyan court and the International Criminal Court (ICC).  The President and the Prime Minister, however, believe that this would only require the ICC and not a Kenyan court.

While the President and Prime Minister have made progress toward implementing the reforms, Annan said “the pace of the reforms must be accelerated.”

“Kenya cannot afford a recurrence of the crisis and violence that engulfed it after the 2007 elections.  But that is a serious risk if tangible reform is not achieved,” he said.  “Kenyans are concerned that the window of opportunity to deliver reform is rapidly closing.”  He continued, “Kenyans who are normally patient people are beginning to doubt whether their leaders can deliver.”

Violence last year was sparked by accusations that Odinga rigged the election so that Kibaki would win reelection.  What started as political violence turned into tribal killings based on poverty, long-held ethnic hatred, and unresolved land disputes.  It left 1,200 dead and another 350,000 displaced.

“My conversations with Kenyans during the last three days have underscored that there is a crisis of confidence in Kenya’s political leadership,” Annan said.

He believes that of reforms are not quickly implemented the next round of violence would not be committed with spears an machetes as usual but with firearms.  He warns that the 2012 elections are quickly approaching.

“[The nation] cannot afford another cycle of violence,” Annan said.

For more information, please see:

AFP – ‘Serious Risk’ of Fresh Kenya Unrest id no Reforms: Annan – 08 October 2009

The Standard – Follow-up Visit by Chief Mediator Shows Kenya Still on the Radar – 08 October 2009

VOA – Kenya Warned of Future Poll Violence – 08 October 2009

AP – Annan: Kenya Postelection Violence Tribunal Needed – 07 October 2009

Xinhua – Former UN Chief Lauds Talks with Kenyan Leaders – 06 October 2009

Displaced Kenyans Reluctant to Leave Safe Camps

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – Despite the deadline for the Internally Displaced Persons to leave the camp in Eldoret, many residents are reluctant to leave because they have no where else to go.

Just two weeks ago, President Mwai Kibaki ordered the closure of the camp at the agricultural showground in the town of Eldoret, which at at time housed over 500,000 people.  Currently, less than 2,000 people remain.

Each family has been offered 35,000 Kenyan shillings (about $470) for leaving.  But in order to receive the money they have to dismantle their tent.  Sources say that these “tents” are leaky structures made out of pieces of plastic sheeting and old sacks.

Many Kenyans do not want to leave the camp because they fear returning to the communities from where they were chased.  They would prefer to be given a large piece of land so they can all settle somewhere else together because safety in numbers is the preferred security option.

Without the land, many don’t know where to go once they leave.

“The government says you can’t be given that money unless you pull down the tent.  But if you pull down the tent you don’t have anywhere to go.  So you are confused,” says Elizabeth Wanja who is from the Kikuyu ethnic group that fled attacks from Kalenjin neighbors.

The Kikuyus were viewed as supporters of President Kibaki, who is from their community.  In their protest against President Kibaki’s controversial election in December 2007, their community was attacked by rivals.

This camp in Eldoret is the only internally displaced person (IDP) camp left in Kenya.  Naomi Shaban, the minster for special programs assures the public that the possibility of IDPs being forcefully removed from the camp once the deadline has expired is unlikely.

“The government is still in the process of acquiring land to settle the IDPs on.  I don’t think the process could have been done any faster as it is an extremely complicated exercise,” she added.

An 11-year-old girl, Sonny, remembers the day she fled her home recalling her father being brutally murdered and “slashed like grass.”

“They burnt our house.  They killed my  father . . . We cannot go anywhere because we need somewhere we can stay.  President Mwai Kibaki said they will give us land.  I have not seen the land yet,” said Sonny.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Kenyans Not Ready to Leave Camps – 9 October 2009

Capital News – Kenya IDPs Remain Adamant – 9 October 2009

UPI – Displaced Kenyans Not Ready to Return Home – 9 October 2009


Slow Response to Syrian Drought Causes Angst for Thousands

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria–  With a severe and persistent drought in northeast Syria entering its third year, the United Nations (UN) is gearing up to deliver some much needed assistance. However, the international community has not come up with the necessary funds, due in large part to Syria’s tense diplomatic relations with other countries.

In the three years since the drought has begun, more than 300,000 Syrians have been forced to leave their homes.  In addition to the drought, the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Syria has caused a considerable strain on the Syrian infrastructure.

As a result, many of these families have left behind the close knit communities to which they once belonged.  Crime rates are on the rise and the level of poverty has grown exponentially.  Many of these families have settled in and around Damascus, where they can be seen seeking shelter in makeshift tents, consequently creating new pockets of urban poverty.  Furthermore, the dropout rate of displaced children has skyrocketed in the past year.  Moreover, for those families that remain in the drought stricken area, drinking water is drying up, and unclean water sources heighten the risk for disease, especially as many people’s sustenance is bread and sugared tea.

Despite efforts to aid those affected by the drought, Syria is having significant difficulties.  Syria’s relationship with some western and Arab countries is still burdened by lack of agreement on a number of regional issues.  As a result, relief funds have been largely non-existent.  Last year, when the UN issued an emergency appeal for aid money, they were only able to raise nineteen percent of the funds they sought.  Despite the lack of contribution, the UN is moving full steam ahead.  They are seeking $53 million (US dollars) in emergency funds, but have yet to receive any money.

Many hope these measures taken by the UN can stall future migration.  They further hope that a long term plan can be implemented to encourage displaced persons to return to their lands.  However, such a plan may not be feasible until Syrian relations improve with other countries and aid money is donated.

For more information, please see:

Financial Times- UN Warns of Slow Response to ‘Disaster’ Caused by Syria’s Drought– 9 October 2009

Assyrian International News Agency- UN Warns Over Syria Drought ‘Disaster’– 8 October 2009

BBC News- Villages Struggle in Syria Drought– 7 October 2009

China Imposes Death Penalty on Man Accused of Starting Riots

By Megan E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SHAOGUAN, China– A court in the southern region of China sentenced a man to death for his involvement in a brawl in July. Chinese officials believe that he was the trigger to the deadly riots which occurred in the far western region of Urumqi located in the Xinjiang province.

Map of Xinjiang Map of Xinjiang. Courtesy of BBC News.

The factory brawl in Guangdong province in June left two Muslim Uighurs dead and 14 others seriously injured. According to State media, the fight erupted between a group of Han Chinese and ethnic Uighur workers from Xinjiang at a Hong Kong owned toy factory in Shaoguan, in the Guangdong province. The violence broke out after a rumor spread that some Uighurs had raped two women form the factory.

A report was released and stated that two Uighur workers were beaten to death in the fight, and three men were severely injured. Other Han then turned on the Uighurs, beating them with iron bars and stopping medical personnel from treating the wounded, it added. Two men faced charges of intentionally harming others. Nine others were given prison sentences of five to eight years, Xinhua news agency reported. The courts in Shaoguan also gave another man life imprisonment, and nine others got sentences ranging from five to eight years in jail, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The man given the death sentence is reportedly a Han Chinese.

The incident sparked the fighting in July between Uighurs and members of China’s dominant Han ethnic group. A subsequent protest by the Uighur community in Urumqi, the capital of the western Xinjiang region, erupted in violence on July 5, with at least 197 people killed and another 1,700 injured. The turmoil is thought to be the worst ethnic violence in China for decades. The government says most of the dead were Han Chinese, but the exile activist group the World Uighur Congress claims many Uighurs were also killed.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC World News – Death sentence over China riots – October 9, 2009

Reuters – China gives death sentence over Uighur brawl case – October 10, 2009

Kyodo News – Man sentenced to death over southern China factory brawl – October 10, 2009

Stigma Against Unwed South Korean Mothers

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – In an effort to defend mothers’ right to raise their own children, activist are trying to set up what would be South Korea’s first organization of unwed mothers.  This is seen as an unusual step in a “society that ostracizes unmarried mothers.”

South Korea has been trying to improve their image as a “baby exporter.”  However, due to social and cultural pressure, thousands of unwed South Korean mothers choose abortion, which is illegal but widespread, or adoption, which is “socially shameful.”

For example, in 2008, about 90% of babies who were adopted were born to unwed mothers.  In general, almost 96% of unmarried, pregnant women in South Korea choose abortion.

Some Korean families with pregnant, unwed daughters often move to hide the pregnancy, and unmarried women with children usually lie about their marital status in fear that they will be evicted by landlords and their children shunned at schools. 

08mothers_600Unwed single mom, Mok Kyong-wha, with her son.  Courtesy of International Herald Tribune.

33-year old unwed mother, Lee Mee-kyong, said, “Once you become an unwed mom, you’re branded as immoral and a failure.  People treat you as if you had committed a crime.  You fall to the bottom rung of society.” 

Another South Korean woman Chang Ji-young, who gave birth last month, said, “My former boyfriend’s sister screamed…over the phone demanding that I get an abortion.  His mother and sister said it was up to them to decide…because it was their family’s seed.”

One American doctor, Richard Boas, who adopted a Korean baby girl back in 1988, started a group called “Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network,” which defends the rights of unwed pregnant women so that these women can receive support and resources if they choose to keep their babies, instead being compelled to choose adoption. 

Jane Jeong Trenak, Korean adoptee who grew up in the U.S., said, “What we see in South Korea today is discrimination against natural mothers and favoring of adoption at the government level.”  Activists are claiming that “Culture is not an excuse to abuse human rights.”

For more information, please see:

Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network – On further reflection – 13 September 2009

NYT –Group Resists Korean Stigma for Unwed Mothers – 7 October 2009

Yonhap News – Korean Unwed Mothers Pushed to the Brink Become Brave – 8 October 2009