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Rights groups call for urgent action on soaring crimes in Kenya |
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07:58, July 12, 2007 |
Kenya's human rights groups on Wednesday called for urgent action over escalating insecurity in Kenya, saying the vice has reached "a national security crisis."
The Kenya Human Rights Network also petitioned the state-turn Kenya National Commission of Human Rights (KNCHR) to establish a public inquiry into the security crisis tribal clashes in various parts of the country.
The activists said 300 criminals, police officers, victims of land clashes and suspected members of a banned sect were killed in the last six months alone.
"The security and human rights situation has reached a crisis proportion. Our laws have been neglected. We have reached a severe national security crisis," Cyprian Nyamwamu told journalists in Nairobi.
The rights group's plea came as most Kenyans have been soaked with fears of being secretly killed by members of the outlawed Mungiki sect.
A religious sect has been terrorizing villagers in and on the outskirts of Kenya's capital and central Kenya leaving behind a trail of beheaded corpses and raising fears of resurgence in violence ahead of this year's elections.
The network, which brings together 50 civil society bodies, warned that the country was slowly turning into a police state and linked the soaring wave of crime to the general election set which is due later this year.
"There's a clear link between what's going on and the elections, " said Stephen Musau of the Release Political Prisoners group after presenting a petition to the government-run rights body.
Dozens of Kenyans have been murdered in the past few months by the Mungiki criminal gang or by police hunting them down and police said they have arrested and charged in court more than 3, 000 suspected Mungiki adherents across the country.
Police have also been able to foil various robberies in several parts of the country, particularly Nairobi which records the highest number of carjackings and other armed robberies.
More people have also died in clashes over land in Mount Elgon, and Trans Mara districts in the country's Rift Valley province.
The lobby groups said women had been raped, farms abandoned and businesses closed as a result of the mayhem.
KNHRC chairman Maina Kiai reiterated his call for an urgent stakeholders meeting to discuss the current spate of insecurity, saying it was a national crisis demanding the attention of the whole country.
Kiai said Kenyans are now living in constant fear of falling victim to bullets from either the police or criminals.
"Kenyans no longer trust the police and are also living in fear of terror gangs. A solution needs to be found so that trust can be restored between the police and the citizens," he said.
Kiai also urged police to exercise reasonable force when making arrests. He said the recent killings of police officers raise questions on the level of intelligence within the force.
"If the police are being killed it essentially means the rest of the country are not safe. What kind of intelligence does our force have if they send out their officers into areas where they get killed?" he paused.
He said police were being sent out on duty without ample training and proper safety measures.
"Police go out for operations without bullet proof vests and they do not even have life insurance. Why is that the case?" he asked.
Kiai said his rights watchdog believes the only way the government can garner the needed political will and direct adequate resources to halt the escalating insecurity perpetrated by criminal groups is by declaring it a national crisis.
Political analysts have expressed fear that with elections expected later this year, the east African country which has enjoyed relative calm may be thrown into anarchy if the current insecurity is not tackled.
But the government has vowed to deal ruthlessly with the banned sect which has fought weeks of battles with minibus operators resisting their extortion attempts.
The group instills fear by promoting archaic rituals like swearing oaths and female circumcision, and many Kenyans believe it has been supported by corrupt politicians.
Source: Xinhua
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