Kenya National Civil Society Center urges President to form a special tribunal for gross Human rights violations and enforced disappearances
KNCS Executive Director Suba Churchill/Photo Courtesy
By Hubzmedia Reporter
The Kenya National Civil Society Center (KNCSC) has called upon President William Ruto to establish a special tribunal for gross human rights violations, including enforced disappearances as stated in the Kenya Kwanza Manifesto.
The Executive Director of the KNCSC Suba Churchill notes that there is need for the government to end all forms of extra judicial killings that have been taking place in the country,
“Page 58 of the Kenya Kwanza Manifesto elaborates on the presidents pledge to ending all forms of extra judicial killings including enforced disappearances by establishing a tribunal ,anything short of that would amount to a backtrack on ending all forms of extra judicial killings”Said Churchill
“Whereas the President and the Kenya Kwanza Alliance pledged to establish a special tribunal as the only mechanism capable of exposing the facts about the spate of extra- judicial killings that have been perpetrated in the country in the pretext of fighting terrorism and other forms of crime, the Kenya National Civil Society Centre is becoming increasingly concerned that there seems to be a deliberate move by the government to undermine and renege on this important pledge it made to the people of Kenya and published in the Kenya Kwanza manifesto, “He added.
The KNCS has however appreciated the steps that have been taken so far to disband the Special Service Unit (SSU) within the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), but notes that mere Disbandment of such units without impartial investigations that can lead to holding those found culpable to account have not brought excesses of such units and the human atrocities they have been accused of perpetrating to an end.
“It is for this reason that the pledge to establish a special tribunal not only came with the promise to meet public expectations on the fairness of such a process, the mechanism would also go a long way in ensuring that justice is delivered for the victims of these gross human rights violations in an open and impartial manner, and provide an opportunity for closure to affected families that have had to live with the grief, uncertainty and anxiety of not knowing the circumstances under which they lost their loved ones, especially those that disappeared without a trace, in the face of procrastination and prevarication by successive governments in their attempts to avoid accountability for their acts of commission and omission”Said Churchill.
Churchill added that Such a process would absolve security operatives who might have been accused falsely of committing extra-judicial killings of any wrongdoing, and ensure that those found culpable are held to account in accordance with the law in a fair and transparent manner.
“The ongoing process in which former members of the Special Service Unit seem to have been presumed guilty until proven innocent merely on account of their association with the unit is not only unconstitutional but also has the potential to turn into another gross violation of their human and fundamental rights, and in the process undermine any meaningful intentions and efforts to address the perennial problem of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances in Kenya”.
The Kenya National Civil Society Center has affirmed anything short of a Special tribunal would amount to a macabre dance on the graves and yet to be interred remains of the hundreds of victims of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances .
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