Kenya violence likely to escalate in absence of talks

3 Jan 08 – The Aegis Trust is deeply concerned at the violence being perpetrated in Kenya in the wake of the disputed presidential election.

Men, women and children have been raped, burned alive, shot, or hacked to death with machetes. Hundreds of people have been murdered and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes.

The ethnic division of parties in Kenya has contributed to the ethnic character of this political violence, with people from both the Kikuyu and Luo tribes being targetted. Accusations of genocide have been levied by the Government and the opposition against each another in the media.

“While the ethnic dimension to the violence is extremely disturbing, use of the term ‘genocide’ does not accurately reflect the situation in Kenya right now,” says Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust. “Rather, it generates fear, division and polarisation. The natural response of groups who fear they will be destroyed is to think that they must kill their would-be attackers before they can be killed themselves. So accusations of genocide can become a self-fullfilling prophecy.

“All politicians and community leaders in Kenya should be mindful that their country is a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Evidence that anyone in Kenya has been responsible for incitement to crimes against humanity can and should lead to their prosecution at the ICC.

“Aegis urges Mwai Kibaki, Raila Odinga and their respective parties to heed the calls of Kenyan civil society, Governments and eminent figures around the World to meet as a matter of urgency to resolve the election dispute in a peaceful and democratic manner.

“Immediate talks would be the best way to calm the violence, and Kenya’s politicians cannot afford to postpone them until it is over. In the absence of talks, the violence may escalate very rapidly.”