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Kenya: Congressional Resolution, Jan. 1996

Kenya: Congressional Resolution, Jan. 1996

Kenya: Congressional Resolution
Date Distributed (ymd): 960113

The Kenya Human Rights Initiative (KHRI)
<khri-mailbox@cornell.edu>
January 10, 1996


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104th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives

Rep. John Porter is submitting the following concurrent resolution this week; which will be referred to the Committee on International Relations, Africa Subcommittee.

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning the political and human rights situation in the Republic of Kenya.

Whereas the Governments of the United States and the Republic of Kenya have enjoyed friendly relations as the Republic of Kenya has been an important and politically stable ally to the United States in Africa;

Whereas the Republic of Kenya is a major tourist destination in East Africa enhancing its economic and political importance to the United States;

Whereas the Republic of Kenya is one of the largest recipients of United States foreign assistance in sub-Saharan Africa;

Whereas such foreign assistance had been offered to encourage democratic freedoms, human rights, and political stability in the Republic of Kenya;

Whereas after nine years as a single-party state led by the Kenya Africa National Union, a 1991 constitutional amendment restored multi-party democracy;

Whereas the Kenyan Constitution guarantees the rights of assembly, association, conscience, and expression;

Whereas the Republic of Kenya, as a signatory to the United Nations Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the African Charter, is obliged to adhere to its international legal obligations and to protect the fundamental human rights of all its citizens;

Whereas despite the 1991 Constitutional amendment restoring multi-party democracy, the Government of Kenya continues to wage a campaign of repression designed to eliminate criticism and dissent;

Whereas Government of Kenya security forces have harassed and detained government critics, including former cabinet members and other advocating multi-party democracy;

Whereas former member of Parliament from Nakuru, Koigi wa Wamwere, who has been recognized as a determined opponent to ethnic cleansing, brutality, and corruption in the Republic of Kenya, has been targeted by the Government of Kenya for his political beliefs and has spent the batter part of the last nine years in police detention;

Whereas numerous international human rights groups and independent international observers have concluded that the trial and sentencing of Mr. Wamwere and his two co-defendants, Charles Kuria Wamwere and G.G. Njuguna Ngengi, to four years in prison and six "strokes" (lashes with a cane), was conducted in a manner that was inconsistent with international legal standards, that the charges against the defendants were unsubstantiated by the evidence, that much of the evidence was fabricated, and that the trial was not conducted by an independent and impartial tribunal;

Whereas the Government of Kenya continues to intimidate and harass human rights attorneys, peaceful demonstrators, and human rights activists by regularly interfering with many civil liberties, including freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association;

Whereas prisoners in the Republic of Kenya, especially political prisoners, are detained in prison for indefinite periods of time without being charged with a crime;

Whereas prisoners in the Republic of Kenya charged with crimes remain in prison for excessively lengthy periods of time without being brought to trial;

Whereas prisoners in the Republic of Kenya are often subjected to various kinds of torture, including beating with sticks, fists, handles of hoes, and gun butts, often resulting in permanent disability;

Whereas life threatening prison conditions in the Republic of Kenya, including sexual abuse, severe over crowding, poor diet, inadequate health care, substandard bedding materials, and flooded or unheated cells led to several hundred deaths in prison in 1994;

Whereas despite constitutional provisions to the contrary and the Kenya Police Commissioner's June 1993 announcement that torture was prohibited and would not be tolerated, there continue to be credible reports that police and security forces resort to torture and brutality to break up licensed public assemblies;

Whereas the President of Kenya exerts overwhelming influence over the country's judiciary, including through the President's refusal to renew contracts of the three High Court Judges who have issued rulings adverse to the government; and

Whereas the Republic of Kenya's political stability is threatened by the Government of Kenya's repression of individual rights and democratic freedoms and its intolerance toward political dissent:

Now therefore be it resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),

SECTION 1: STATEMENT OF POLICY:

It is the sense of the Congress that the Government of Kenya should:

1. Uphold the rights of assembly, association, conscience, and expression, which are guaranteed in the Kenyan Constitution;

2. Adhere to its international legal obligations under the United Nations Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the African Charter;

3. End all intimidation and harassment of those who are critical of government policies and those working for democracy in Kenya, particularly individuals within the church, the press, and the legal and academic communities;

4. Either charge and try or release all prisoners, including persons detained for political reasons;

5. Cease all physical abuse or mistreatment of prisoners;

6. Release Mr. Koigi wa Wamwere and permit him to exercise his rights of free expression, association, and political participation in a multi-party democracy; and

7. Restore the independence of the judiciary.

SECTION 2. ASSISTANCE TO REPUBLIC OF KENYA: It is the sense of the Congress that the United States should consider reducing, and possibly suspending, military and economic assistance to the Republic of Kenya unless the Government of Kenya makes substantial progress in addressing the concerns set forth in Section 1.

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The Kenya Human Rights Initiative
G29 Anabel Taylor Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Ph. & Fax:607-255-9985)
E-mail: khri@cornell.edu
FREE KOIGI! "Make Injustice Visible" -Mahatma Gandhi
Our internet Home page address is:
http://www.cornell.edu/Alumni/koigi.html

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Message-Id: 199601131837.KAA18437@igc3.igc.apc.org From: "Washington Office on Africa" woa@igc.apc.org Date: Sat, 13 Jan 1996 13:38:33 +0000 Subject: Kenya: Congressional Resolution

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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