Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odingare-ignited the amnesty debate on Monday by calling for independent investigators to probe the post election violence.
Addressing an international law conference in Nairobi, Odinga who formed a coalition government with President Mwai Kibaki early this year, said that those arrested over the violence should be released because the police were acting under the instructions of one party to the conflict.
The PM said the release of the suspects would allow independent commissions to complete their investigations.
"The Waki and the Kriegler commissions should be given the mandate to decide on the amnesty controversy," he said.
The Independent Review Commission led by retired South African judge Johann Kriegler is looking into the conduct of the elections and the controversial tallying process that led to the dispute while the Commission of Inquiry into the Post Election Violence led by Appeal Judge Phillip Waki was set up to investigate the facts and surrounding circumstances related to the chaos.
Odinga dismissed investigations by the police saying they were part of the violence and cannot provide fair investigations. He further said there was a likelihood of favoring one side if police are allowed to investigate the perpetrators of post election violence.
"Let the people be released, the police themselves were actors to the conflict, we are not talking about amnesty, we are talking about justice, let everybody be released, and if we have to be arresting, arrest the police officers too who shot to kill," he said.
Odinga said that at the time, al the State machinery was under the control of the Party of National Unity (PNU) leading to the arrests of a high number of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) supporters.
He added that the ODM supporters were protesting at the manner the Electoral Commission had conducted the election. "In the process, the country's systems reacted by shooting to kill which then led to people arming themselves," said Odinga.
"This then led to the arrest of people and since PNU controlled the instruments of power at the time, ODM supporters were arrested," the PM said when he opened a three-day international conference on restorative justice and international law in Nairobi.
Thousands of people are still being held by the police in connection with violence in December and January that killed over 1,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Many of those arrested were from the Kalenjin ethnic group in the Rift Valley or from the western city of Kisumu, who were supporters of opposition leader Odinga, now the PM.
Several of the lawmakers from these areas are calling for amnesty for those being held, a call that was echoed Kalenjins during the premier's visit to the Rift Valley over the weekend
The police say 137 people have been charged with capital offences, while about 4,600 petty crimes like theft and looting have also been dealt with by Kenyan courts since the violence that paralyzed the nation during January and February.
Some political analysts say the deep rift within the government could potentially hamper developmental activities and reconciliation after the election dispute.
The PM said that he was calling for independent investigations since the country needed to pursue justice in the light of what happened at the beginning of year.
Odinga said that justice and peace were interconnected and Kenya could not escape from this reality.
"Should priority be given to bringing the perpetrators of past human rights violations to justice, thereby fighting the culture of impunity or is it more important to start by dealing with measures to ensure that peace and stability," he asked.
"The question is how we sequence this process of bringing about peace while pursuing justice. There can be no greater injustice than denying people peace."
The PM said that the country was on the course in addressing the underlying causes of the violence to avoid a repeat. He said the formation of the Grand Coalition Government set the stage for the setting up of the Kriegler and Waki commissions to look into the various issues surrounding the election and the violence.
"Soon, we will set up a Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission which is also long overdue. We must tackle historical injustices," said Odinga.
Kibaki and Odinga formed a power-sharing government in April, after both claimed victory in the December elections. The election dispute triggered riots and ethnic violence that killed at least 1,200 people. More than 300,000 others were displaced.
Odinga says the jailed youth are scapegoats for the police and officials, who he says committed the most violent crimes.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article