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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
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East Africa: Recent Human Rights Documents
East Africa: Recent Human Rights Documents
Date distributed (ymd): 980428
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: East Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains a recent press release on the human rights situation
in Kenya from Amnesty International, Article 19 and Human Rights Watch,
and a press release from Amnesty International on abuses against freedom
of the press in Ethiopia. A supplementary note indicates sources on the
Web for additional information from the three organizations.
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kenya
Press release
Amnesty International, Article 19 and Human Rights Watch
(NAIROBI, 8 April) - A coalition of three major human rights groups
today called Kenya "a powder keg waiting to explode" and warned
the government to stop using "divide and rule" tactics that are
likely to plunge the country deeper into violence.
The delegation of three groups, Amnesty International, ARTICLE 19 and
Human Rights Watch, interviewed more than 200 people from all sections
of Kenyan society, including survivors of violent incidents as well as
Kenyan government officials. The joint mission was sent in the wake of
waning international attention to continuing human rights violations in
Kenya, reflecting the seriousness with which the organizations view the
situation.
The delegation found the situation particularly serious in the Rift
Valley, where killings continue sporadically after the recent mass attacks.
More than 100 people have been killed and thousands displaced since the
latest violence began in January 1998.
"Kenya is a powder keg waiting to explode, all the signs are there"
said Edge Kanyongolo, a spokesperson for the delegation, speaking at a
press conference today in Nairobi. "The downward spiral of violence
and ethnic hatred is resulting in increasing human rights violations, and
will not end until the government stops using divide and rule tactics."
Survivors of violence in the area describe an ongoing "war"
in which members of previously mixed communities attack each other with
arrows and pangas (machetes). In the first wave of incidents, in Laikipia,
guns were also used.
Many survivors are afraid to return to their homes, citing the lack
of security in the area and the apparent unwillingness of the authorities
to prevent further attacks. The government has systematically failed to
investigate and punish armed aggressors, and to protect frightened, angry
and displaced people. The human rights delegation expressed fears that
the supporters of the ruling party are instigating political violence,
but blaming the incidents on spontaneous outbursts of ethnic hatred.
Statements like the following, from one survivor, were common and emphasize
that unless the root causes of violence are addressed, people will not
return to their homes. He stated that "when we try to visit our homes,
we receive warnings such as "even if you till, you are just doing
useless things. Even after planting, you will not eat"". Some
one else expressed a common sentiment: "My fear is not even for the
past or the present but for the future".
This violence follows the pattern established in 1991-94, the delegation
said, in which supporters of the ruling party, KANU, attacked members of
ethnic groups considered to support the political opposition. In that violence,
high-ranking government involvement was proven. This time, compelling evidence
suggests that the initial attacks were organized from outside the communities.
Attacks occurred only in areas where the opposition Democratic Party (DP)
won seats. Violence began within days of KANU politicians visiting the
area and verbally threatening DP supporters, who had recently mounted a
legal challenge to the presidential election results.
This violence is not occurring in a vacuum. Demands for a system of
political pluralism, specifically an inclusive constitutional process,
are answered by calls from members of the ruling party to introduce a system
of ethnic federalism (Majimboism). There is concern that the manner in
which the system is being proposed could be used to stip certain ethnic
groups of their rights.
In 1998, the delegation found some worrying new developments, including
an increasing use of more sophisticated weapons, and a new tendency to
target women for rape and killing. Old people and children are not spared.
The delegation also noted that 1998 was the first time that members
of the Kikuyu community retaliated to attacks in an organized fashion,
following the failure of the government to act. Subsequently the wave of
violence slowed to a trickle, reinforcing calls within that community for
armed retaliation to achieve security.
There is an ongoing problem all over Kenya with access to accurate and
affordable information, particularly in rural areas. The delegation concluded
that this information void provides a fertile ground for acceptance of
rumour as fact, and that, reconciliation in such an atmosphere is impossible.
The cheapness and availability of firearms can only exacerbate the cycle
of revenge.
The delegation concluded that since 1991, when the government was forced
to introduce a multiparty system, it has actively undermined freedom of
expression and contributed to and promoted a culture of impunity and growing
violence, with the aim of undermining genuine and meaningful reforms. Pressure
for reforms is continually met with a combination of sticks and carrots,
in the form of brutal state violence tempered by promises of change.
Most recently demands for an open and inclusive process of constitutional
reform have provoked government threats to deregister non-governmental
organizations, and serious harassment of human rights activists.
Despite interventions by the international community on human rights
issues in the lead-up to the elections in December 1997, momentum has not
been sustained. Small concessions by the Kenyan government, often not carried
through, have been hailed as major steps forward, missing the ongoing pattern
of government unwillingness to promote and protect the rights of all its
citizens regardless of ethnicity or political affiliation.
Kenya is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. Amnesty International,
ARTICLE 19 and Human Rights Watch call on the Kenyan government to prevent
future human rights violations, hold perpetrators of such violations accountable
and defend freedom of speech, association and assembly. The international
community should increase pressure on the Kenyan government to uphold its
national and international legal obligations and should closely monitor
any promised reforms using clearly articulated benchmarks.
Amnesty International
ETHIOPIA
Journalists in prison - press freedom under attack
SUMMARY AI INDEX: AFR 25/10/98
DISTR: SC/CC/CO/GR/PO
The Ethiopian Government has recently intensified its attacks against
the private press, which have put it at the forefront of repression of
the press in Africa, despite its claim to welcome a free and critical press.
There are currently 16 journalists in prison in Addis Ababa. More than
200 editors and reporters from the new independent private press have been
arrested at various times since 1993, nearly all of them for writing or
publishing articles critical of the government. They were detained under
the 1992 Press Law which, with its vaguely-defined criminal offences, has
paved the way to harsh government-supported action by police and courts.
Most of the 16 detained journalists have been held for some months without
being formally charged. Two are serving prison sentences of between one
and two years. In 1998 so far there have been at least 14 new arrests,
including an unprecedented attack on one newspaper, Tobia -- four journalists
and six administrative staff were arrested and the office was burned down
by unidentified arsonists -- while three journalists on Urji newspaper
have been charged with armed conspiracy. Over a dozen journalists have
fled the country.
Amnesty International considers most of the detained journalists as
prisoners of conscience imprisoned on account of the peaceful expression
of their opinions and their professional activities as journalists.
There is no open ban on newspapers or journalists in Ethiopia and the
government has tolerated much critical and sometimes offensive or ill-informed
reporting by the private press. But there is a deliberate pattern of suppression
of the private press and the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists Association.
In contrast, the state press and the official Ethiopian Journalists Association
defend the Press Law and avoid criticising the government.
The Press Law, heralded as a "Proclamation to Provide for the Freedom
of the Press", has been used as a weapon against press criticism.
Its vaguely-defined criminal offences of "incitement of conflict between
peoples" and "publishing false information", together with
other laws on defamation and "spreading false rumours", have
led to contraventions of international standards relating to press freedom
(particularly Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights). The right to freedom of expression has been unduly restricted
by these new and old laws and by their harsh application by the police
and courts. The balance between the freedom of the press and its responsibilities
has been lost.
The government has rejected the consistent international criticisms
of the attacks on press freedom which have been made by western donor governments,
media associations and human rights groups. It has refused so far to change
the Press Law or its application, denying that it is being oppressive.
There have been other violations against detained journalists. Not only
are they often detained unlawfully after their arrest, serious questions
arise over their treatment in custody and the fairness of the court hearings
and trials -- they are denied confidential access to legal counsel, for
example.
The report concludes with recommendations and calls on the Ethiopian
authorities to immediately release all journalists who are prisoners of
conscience, ensure that journalists can practise their profession without
fear of arbitrary detention, and revise the Press Law to conform to the
Constitution's commitment to freedom of the press and to international
standards of freedom of expression.
This summarizes a 16-page document (6,244 words): ETHIOPIA: Journalists
in prison - press freedom under attack (AI Index: AFR 25/10/98), issued
by Amnesty International in April 1998. Anyone wishing further details
or to take action on this issue should consult the full document.
INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT,
1 EASTON STREET,
LONDON WC1X 8DJ,
UNITED KINGDOM
Africa Information from AI, HRW and Article 19 on the Web:
Amnesty International
Press Releases from Amnesty International on Africa are archived at:
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news/press/africa.shtml
More general information from Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org
and http://www.amnesty-usa.org
1997 Kenya report from Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/kenya/report
E-mail addresses for Amnesty International Sections http://www.amnesty.org/aisect/email.htm
Human Rights Watch
([email protected], [email protected],
[email protected])
There is no Africa-specific section on the Human Rights Watch web site
(http://www.hrw.org). The Human Rights
gopher site (gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:5000/11/int/hrw/africa),
containing material for some countries through mid-1997, is apparently
no longer being updated. However, publication summaries and some publications
are available on-line and can be located at http://www.hrw.org/reports98/publctns.htm
or through the search function on the site.
The March 1998 report on Clinton Administration Policy and Human Rights
in Africa
(http://www.hrw.org/reports98/africa/africlin.htm),includes
sections on Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda.
Article 19, the International Centre Against Censorship
([email protected])
The Article 19 web site (http://www.gn.apc.org/article19)
has background information about the organization.
Alerts from Article 19 and allied organizations around the world are
available at the site of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange
Clearing House (http://www.ifex.org).
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the Africa
Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational affiliate of the Washington
Office on Africa. APIC's primary objective is to widen the policy debate
in the United States around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa,
by concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant information and
analysis usable by a wide range of groups individuals.
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