This decision is of importance with regard to last week strong repression of protesters by police forces and private militias. Post election violence has so far caused the death of hundreds of people and forcibly displaced more than 200,000 persons. Meanwhile, the country is now facing a real humanitarian crisis.
FIDH and KHRC reiterate the statement by Kenyan civil society organizations that the presidential election was flawed and devoid of credibility, and that the search for peace must be accompanied by truth and justice.
It is time for the ongoing crisis in Kenya to find a political solution under the mediation of the international community, notably the African Union. « Political leaders could be held responsible under international human rights law for fuelling, for their own cause, ethnic or police violence. A political solution should prevail », said Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH.
FIDH and KHRC call upon
The national authorities
– to engage in genuine political dialogue with Mr. Raila Odinga under the mediation of the international community;
– to respect the right to freedom of expression and association guaranteed by the Constitution of Kenya and in conformity with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
– to ensure that security forces provide security and take appropriate measures to protect citizens including peaceful protesters, and to ensure that the response to any unlawful acts by opposition supporters is proportionate ;
– to lift the media ban on live coverage so as to guarantee freedom of expression, information and the media as provided by international human rights instruments;
– to ensure that all individuals responsible for human rights violations are prosecuted;
The leader of the opposition
– to call his supporters for calm and publicly announce that all individuals responsible for human rights violations will be prosecuted;
The international community, notably the African Union
– to immediately institute an independent mediation to reach a political solution to the ongoing crisis in Kenya, notably considering the possibility to establish an international independent commission to investigate on the electoral process, and on the subsequent executions committed in Kenya;