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KENYA: SADLY, WHO TODAY WILL SPEAK OF THE KENYANS?
The Star - All Africa
Sept 11 2014
column By Patrick Gathara
When, following the Second World War, the surviving Nazi and Japanese
leaders, were arraigned in military courts to face charges of, amongst
others, crimes against humanity, Chief Prosecutor Robert Jackson
described the trials as "one of the most important tributes that Power
has ever paid to Reason". However, given that only crimes of the Axis
Powers could be tried and that it was not a defence to argue that the
Allies had done many of the same things the Axis Powers were being
accused of, "one of the most important tributes that Power has ever
paid to Reason" turned out to be little more than victors' justice.
Last week, we witnessed another example of victors' justice in a crimes
against humanity trial. International Criminal Court prosecutor, Fatou
Bensouda, surprised no one with the admission that the case against
President Uhuru Kenyatta with regard to the 2007-08 post-election
violence had practically collapsed. It perhaps was never a strong
case to begin with and the ICC's dismal track record in securing
convictions does not inspire much confidence. However, it would be
hard to deny that the death knell for the case was rung on the day
Uhuru and his fellow indictee, William Ruto, won the elections and
ascended to the highest office in the land.
The campaign that followed, which sought to intimidate both the
court and its witnesses, was unprecedented in its ferocity. And
it succeeded. Many of the witnesses had sudden changes of heart or
experienced what can only be described as an attack of conscience -
previously suppressed memories of being bribed and coached abruptly
surfaced. At the same time cartels were said to be hunting witnesses
down, the government was expending huge amounts of time as well as
diplomatic and fiscal resources trying to stop the trial and ignoring
the constitution. Specifically Article 143(4), which expressly allowed
for the prosecution of a sitting president.
As the President looks set to cast aside the "personal challenge"
he has succeeded in masquerading as a national problem, similar
things are happening in his deputy's case. Meanwhile, we long ago
learnt that the other 4,500 pending PEV cases meant to be prosecuted
locally had similarly collapsed. The rub of it is that no one will now
be held responsible for the deaths of 1,200 Kenyans and the maiming
and displacement of hundreds of thousands of others.
Such impunity is, of course, nothing new in Kenya. In fact, it was
because of our scepticism over the ability of the local justice
system to deal with our high and mighty that many were ready to say:
"Let's not be vague: It's the Hague." However, when it came down to it,
our incestuous elite closed ranks to protect one of their own. Nary
a voice was raised, even in the opposition, when the state subverted
the constitution, refused to cooperate with the ICC and failed in
its duty to protect witnesses. In fact, even before the election,
Uhuru's bitter rival, Raila Odinga, had promised to scuttle the ICC
trials if he won. Few politicians on either side are perturbed by
the failure to prosecute more than a handful of PEV-related cases.
The collapse of these PEV cases, both locally and at the ICC,
is profoundly depressing because it reinforces the disposability of
Kenyan lives. The fact is, from the dawn of our history, Kenyans have
been regularly slaughtered in large numbers, mostly at the behest of
our ruling elites who picked up their bad habits from the colonials.
And throughout, impunity has been the order of the day. The Indemnity
Act, for example, gives blanket immunity to all government personnel
for crimes committed against the population of North Eastern during
the Shifta War in which up to 7,000 people died. No one has been held
responsible for the many subsequent massacres in the same region
nor for the government-instigated mass killings and displacements
in the 1990s. According to the Kenya Human Rights Commission, "from
1991 to 1996, more than 15,000 people died and almost 300,000 were
displaced in Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western. In the run-up to the
1997 elections, fresh violence erupted on the Coast, killing more
than 100 people and displacing over 100,000."
Rather, the men on whose watch many of these murders and displacements
occurred are today feted, both in death and in life. Within the
last month we have solemnly marked 36 years after the death of
President Kenyatta and celebrated President Moi's 90th birthday. At
these anniversaries, the many victims of their brutal rule remained
conveniently hidden and forgotten, their lives and suffering as cheap
today as it was when it was inflicted.
The fact that Kenya refuses to demand justice for its people is the
most telling sign of how low our lives are esteemed. The fact that
our people die nameless and are displaced in nice round numbers is
a reminder of our individual insignificance. There are no monuments
to remind us of those we have sacrificed for our elites, save for
the hidden camps for the displaced whose existence the government is
quite happy to deny. For most of the time they are invisible, their
unending suffering rendered meaningless. Even during the ICC trials,
they have mostly remained unseen.
The ease with which we have forsaken our brothers and sisters does
not bode well for the future. The charge of "crimes against humanity"
was first articulated in reference to the Armenian Genocide of 1915-18.
However, the Turks were never formerly prosecuted under international
law. This failure to hold them to account paved the way for the
Nazi Holocaust. As Adolf Hitler rhetorically asked his generals:
"Who today still speaks of the Armenians?"
Who today will speak of the Kenyans?
http://allafrica.com/stories/201409110914.html
The Star - All Africa
Sept 11 2014
column By Patrick Gathara
When, following the Second World War, the surviving Nazi and Japanese
leaders, were arraigned in military courts to face charges of, amongst
others, crimes against humanity, Chief Prosecutor Robert Jackson
described the trials as "one of the most important tributes that Power
has ever paid to Reason". However, given that only crimes of the Axis
Powers could be tried and that it was not a defence to argue that the
Allies had done many of the same things the Axis Powers were being
accused of, "one of the most important tributes that Power has ever
paid to Reason" turned out to be little more than victors' justice.
Last week, we witnessed another example of victors' justice in a crimes
against humanity trial. International Criminal Court prosecutor, Fatou
Bensouda, surprised no one with the admission that the case against
President Uhuru Kenyatta with regard to the 2007-08 post-election
violence had practically collapsed. It perhaps was never a strong
case to begin with and the ICC's dismal track record in securing
convictions does not inspire much confidence. However, it would be
hard to deny that the death knell for the case was rung on the day
Uhuru and his fellow indictee, William Ruto, won the elections and
ascended to the highest office in the land.
The campaign that followed, which sought to intimidate both the
court and its witnesses, was unprecedented in its ferocity. And
it succeeded. Many of the witnesses had sudden changes of heart or
experienced what can only be described as an attack of conscience -
previously suppressed memories of being bribed and coached abruptly
surfaced. At the same time cartels were said to be hunting witnesses
down, the government was expending huge amounts of time as well as
diplomatic and fiscal resources trying to stop the trial and ignoring
the constitution. Specifically Article 143(4), which expressly allowed
for the prosecution of a sitting president.
As the President looks set to cast aside the "personal challenge"
he has succeeded in masquerading as a national problem, similar
things are happening in his deputy's case. Meanwhile, we long ago
learnt that the other 4,500 pending PEV cases meant to be prosecuted
locally had similarly collapsed. The rub of it is that no one will now
be held responsible for the deaths of 1,200 Kenyans and the maiming
and displacement of hundreds of thousands of others.
Such impunity is, of course, nothing new in Kenya. In fact, it was
because of our scepticism over the ability of the local justice
system to deal with our high and mighty that many were ready to say:
"Let's not be vague: It's the Hague." However, when it came down to it,
our incestuous elite closed ranks to protect one of their own. Nary
a voice was raised, even in the opposition, when the state subverted
the constitution, refused to cooperate with the ICC and failed in
its duty to protect witnesses. In fact, even before the election,
Uhuru's bitter rival, Raila Odinga, had promised to scuttle the ICC
trials if he won. Few politicians on either side are perturbed by
the failure to prosecute more than a handful of PEV-related cases.
The collapse of these PEV cases, both locally and at the ICC,
is profoundly depressing because it reinforces the disposability of
Kenyan lives. The fact is, from the dawn of our history, Kenyans have
been regularly slaughtered in large numbers, mostly at the behest of
our ruling elites who picked up their bad habits from the colonials.
And throughout, impunity has been the order of the day. The Indemnity
Act, for example, gives blanket immunity to all government personnel
for crimes committed against the population of North Eastern during
the Shifta War in which up to 7,000 people died. No one has been held
responsible for the many subsequent massacres in the same region
nor for the government-instigated mass killings and displacements
in the 1990s. According to the Kenya Human Rights Commission, "from
1991 to 1996, more than 15,000 people died and almost 300,000 were
displaced in Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western. In the run-up to the
1997 elections, fresh violence erupted on the Coast, killing more
than 100 people and displacing over 100,000."
Rather, the men on whose watch many of these murders and displacements
occurred are today feted, both in death and in life. Within the
last month we have solemnly marked 36 years after the death of
President Kenyatta and celebrated President Moi's 90th birthday. At
these anniversaries, the many victims of their brutal rule remained
conveniently hidden and forgotten, their lives and suffering as cheap
today as it was when it was inflicted.
The fact that Kenya refuses to demand justice for its people is the
most telling sign of how low our lives are esteemed. The fact that
our people die nameless and are displaced in nice round numbers is
a reminder of our individual insignificance. There are no monuments
to remind us of those we have sacrificed for our elites, save for
the hidden camps for the displaced whose existence the government is
quite happy to deny. For most of the time they are invisible, their
unending suffering rendered meaningless. Even during the ICC trials,
they have mostly remained unseen.
The ease with which we have forsaken our brothers and sisters does
not bode well for the future. The charge of "crimes against humanity"
was first articulated in reference to the Armenian Genocide of 1915-18.
However, the Turks were never formerly prosecuted under international
law. This failure to hold them to account paved the way for the
Nazi Holocaust. As Adolf Hitler rhetorically asked his generals:
"Who today still speaks of the Armenians?"
Who today will speak of the Kenyans?
http://allafrica.com/stories/201409110914.html