Category Archives: democracy

Kenyan Constitutional Review–Debate Opens Tuesday Amid Wrangling

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A nutshell:

Lots of daily ins and outs and ups and downs, with actual debate and, probably more importantly at present, lots of political posturing, on the draft revised Constitution.

The Coalition “partners”, ODM and PNU, have gelled into a split: ODM supports passage by Parliament of the draft in its current form; PNU wants to do amendments in Parliament before final passage. Debate opens Tuesday and a final vote is due by March 31.

PNU lost a procedural vote Thursday (25-23, or 48 voting out of 212 Members) to adjourn for Parliament to go on retreat to Lake Naivasha to further review and discuss possible amendments, etc.

Former (“retired”) President Moi says he will campaign against draft without changes. Some ODM MPs from the Rift Valley aligned with William Ruto voted with the PNU side to adjourn for the retreat.

Feingold’s Strong Statement on Uganda getting international coverage

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Senator Russ Feingold, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Africa Subcommittee issued a statement last week expressing concern about the fragile state of democracy in a number of African countries, with strong words about the state of affairs in Uganda looking ahead to the February 2011 presidential elections.

On Sunday, The Observer in Kampala ran the statement in full, under the headline “Uganda remains a one-party state, U.S. Senator tells Obama”. Yesterday, The Guardian covered it in Uganda news.

From the statement:

Uganda, like Rwanda, is a close friend of the United States, and we have worked together on many joint initiatives over recent years. President Museveni deserves credit for his leadership on many issues both within the country and the wider region. However, at the same time, Museveni’s legacy has been tainted by his failure to allow democracy to take hold in Uganda. Uganda’s most recent elections have been hurt by reports of fraud, intimidation and politically motivated prosecutions of opposition candidates. The Director of National Intelligence stated in his testimony that Uganda remains essentially a “one-party state” and said the government “is not undertaking democratic reforms in advance of the elections scheduled for 2011.”

Uganda’s elections next year could be a defining moment for the country and will have ramifications for the country’s long-term stability. The riots in Buganda last September showed that regional and ethnic tensions remain strong in many parts of the country. Therefore, it is important that the United States and other friends of Uganda work with that country’s leaders to ensure critical electoral reforms are enacted. In the consolidated appropriations act that passed in December, Congress provided significant assistance for Uganda, but also specifically directed the Secretary of State “to closely monitor preparations for the 2011 elections in Uganda and to actively promote…the independence of the election commission; the need for an accurate and verifiable voter registry; the announcement and posting of results at the polling stations; the freedom of movement and assembly and a process free of intimidation; freedom of the media; and the security and protection of candidates.”

MAJOR NEWS SCOOP: Sunday Nation-“Kenya among the best in filing reports on women’s rights”

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I think this is really beyond the need for any comment:

Posted Sunday, March 7 2010 at 20:14

Kenya has been ranked among the top performers in Africa who have filed periodic reports on progress made in implementing a UN convention that champions the rights of women.

But the country has been submitting these reports two years, and in some instances, seven years later than the date set by the UN Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) committee.

Dorcus Coker-Appiah, a committee member of the convention, said Kenya was one of the countries in Africa trying hard to comply with reporting requirements.

The country has submitted six reports, the last being in 2006, since it ratified the convention 26 years ago. It is yet to submit the seventh report which was due in 2009.

Countries are expected to present their first report a year after ratifying the convention and then after every four years.

Kenya’s performance is rated good on a continent where some countries have not submitted a single report since they ratified the treaty more than 10 years ago.

Botswana, Central Africa Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone and Swaziland are some of the countries that are yet to submit a single report.

— By Arthur Okwemba, in New York

“The Reckoning”–The ICC in Mississippi and Kenya

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For the first time, I have an occasion to post about something taking place right here “on the ground” in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Last night my daughter and I attended a screening of the film “The Reckoning”, the documentary story of “the battle for the International Criminal Court”, at our town’s arts and culture center. We both found it inspiring and greatly enjoyed getting to meet and talk with Director Pamela Yates who was accompanying the film on a “Southern Series”.

The film website has been on my links to the right since about the time I started this blog and I would highly recommend it. It gives background for the Court concept dating back to the Nuremberg trials and has lots of coverage of the development of the cases in Northern Uganda and Eastern Congo, as well as Darfur. Good insight on Ocampo and the prosecutors working with him. Ms. Yates is deeply engaged and knowledgeable–and she and her colleagues are following the proceedings before the Court in Kenya.

Her previous film, “State of Fear” involved the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission in Peru.

For more information on the ICC–including news from the Kenya inquiry–and citizen activism to support it, go to IJCentral:

Skylight Pictures and the International Center for Transitional Justice Productions (ICTJP) are producing a 3-year campaign to build a global grassroots movement to support an effective international justice system, with IJCentral at its core. By joining the IJCentral global community, you will be kept informed about developments with the ICC and other international justice cases, and your voice will be heard by our leaders and policy makers, letting them know that we want perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide to be held to account.

Saturday Nation: Kiplagat and Ranneberger go for “Softer” Sell of TJRC Chairmanship

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The Truth Justice and Reconciliation commission chairman Bethwel Kiplagat (left) with US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger during a youth forum on Agenda Four on March 5, 2010. Photo/JENNIFER MUIRURI

By SATURDAY NATION ReporterPosted Friday, March 5 2010 at 22:30

Embattled Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission chairman Bethuel Kiplagat on Friday softened his stance, saying he would seek forgiveness from Kenyans if proven guilty of any wrongdoing in the past.

“If I made a mistake, then I will ask for forgiveness but it is important that we stop wasting time on enmity and build an atmosphere of truth, justice and reconciliation,” Mr Kiplagat said at a Kenya Youth Development Trust conference.

Mr Kiplagat said his experience in diplomacy and reconciliation work in Sudan, Mozambique and other war-torn countries compelled him to apply for the TJRC job and Kenyans should help him to take forward the work.

Warmed up

US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger warmed up to Mr Kiplagat, saying he had had an outstanding career and was among the first Kenyans to help seek ways to end the post-elections violence in 2008. “I wish you well,” Mr Ranneberger said.

Mr Kiplagat and Mr Ranneberger concurred that the post-election violence was caused by tribal bitterness and intrigues where the youth were used as foot soldiers by politicians who later dumped them when their interests were accomplished.

Executive director of the Committee of Experts drafting the new constitution, Dr Ekuro Aukot told youths:

“Are you being driven in GK Passats now, or is traffic being stopped for you to pass? Why allow yourselves to be used by these politicians?” he queried.

Again, it seems clear to me that the diplomatic role of facilitating negotiations between warring foreign parties is something entirely different than acting as a Kenyan to lead the TJRC. Kiplagat was without dispute a key Moi insider–period–regardless of whether he is personally guilty of specific acts, for which he now graciously offers to apologize if proven guilty (by whom?). Moi ran the country from 1978 to 2003; he reportedly stole perhaps $1B and otherwise distributed the wealth of the public for his private purposes; he acted in all sorts of extralegal manners to repress legitmate opposition, including the use of torture, etc. Moi eventually stepped aside as President under constitutional term limits, but kept all the money and a substantial role for himself and his cronies in key areas of the economy and politics.

What is the purpose of a TJRC process if not in substantial part to examine the conduct and consequences of the Moi rule?

You would have to be pretty naive to believe that many of the current crop of Kenyan political leaders–MPs, President Kibaki, etc.–really want much light shed or justice done. Thus, the process will of course be subject to powerful efforts to subvert and divert it, so that it poses no real threat to the status quo. As with other commissions in the past.

As for what side of this Ranneberger is on, I would suggest he has a track record that is worth taking a look at.

Kenyan PM Odinga Speaks Out on Election, “Dubious” Post-Election Role of Jendayi Frazer and Ambassador

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We’ll stay on and fight for reforms: Raila from The Sunday Nation

The key quote:

Friends of Kenya played a major role in getting both sides to talk. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was a key player. He called me at night and talked genuinely and passionately about developments happening in the country. He said he was willing to use his influence to facilitate negotiations. He also spoke to Mr Kibaki and relayed a similar message.

At that time, the US was playing a dubious role. The US Ambassador (Michael Ranneberger) was trying to manipulate diplomats in Nairobi. He was very quick to accept the results. (Then US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs) Jendayi Frazer also arrived and played a dubious and ambiguous role.

The British PM was more forthright and engaged genuinely.

On the election:

The election in 2007 will go down as a watershed in Kenya’s history because of the manner in which the vote tallying was manipulated. In the past, people had known that elections are manipulated. But that was before the era of Information Communication Technology and particularly before mobile phones became widely available. The mobile phone changed everything. It was now possible for results to be relayed instantly from every polling station in the country.

We in ODM had set up a very elaborate communication network and, by midday on December 28, we had a good idea what the results were. Media outlets were also announcing results directly from polling centres and the whole country could see what the result of the election was. There is no doubt in my mind and in the minds of many Kenyans what the outcome of that election was.

Eventually, the tallying of the vote was manipulated at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. Kenyans only blame the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) but it was a far wider operation. ECK officials were heavily coerced by the state security apparatus, including the intelligence services, the police and especially the Administration Police.

This is the first time I have read of the PM speaking explicitly in this way on the record. Obviously Frazer is out of government and into the lobbying world with the firm representing Museveni, as well as her academic post, and Ranneberger’s tenure is winding down–perhaps this is intended to be a signal that the expectations for reform run both ways.

HT CK in Nairobi–had managed to miss this.

Kingara and Oulu Murders

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Friday, March 5 is the one year anniversary of the murders of Kenyan rights activists Oscar Kingara and G.P.O. Oulu of the Oscar Foundation. They were killed in what can be described as a “gangland style hit” not long after they were verbally attacked by the Government Spokesman. The previous week Kingara had met with United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, and the Oscar Foundation for which the two were working was providing evidence to the UN on extrajudicial killings by Kenyan Police.

The Kenyan National Human Right Commission plans a memorial event and civil society activists are organizing.

Reportedly, the Government is awaiting the release of O.J. Simpson so that he can assist in the ongoing investigation.

Alston’s report on extrajudicial killings may have contributed eventually to the transfer of the head of Kenya’s police at the time, Hussein Ali, to the position of Postmaster under international donor pressure, but to date, no major shake-ups of the internal security apparatus or major prosecutions so far as I am aware.

Today is Election Day in Togo

Today-Supreme Court hears oral argument in Samantar v. Yousuf–Somalia and Somaliland Torture Case (Updated)

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NPR’s story from before the argument this morning.

For a recap of the today’s argument and other details see SCOTUSWiki on Samantar v. Yousuf

This site includes links to the various briefs, including the Amicus Brief filed by Foreign Minister Duale for the Republic of Somaliland in favor of Yousuf (the victims), and other supporting amicus briefs from three Democratic Members of Congress, Senators Spector and Feingold and Representative Lee, and from a group of former US diplomats including Princeton Lyman. The US Government also supported affirming the Fourth Circuit’s ruling overturning the District Court’s dismissal of the case on sovereign immunity grounds.

The Summary of Argument from the Somaliland brief:

TORTURE, EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS AND THE ARBITRARY DETENTION OF SOMALI CITIZENS WERE ALL EXPRESSLY FORBIDDENBY THE CONSTITUTION THAT CREATED THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF SOMALIA. SUCH ACTS THEREFORE COULD NOT POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN PERPETRATED UNDER ANY LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY GRANTED TO THE SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENT OF SOMALIA OR ITS PUBLIC OFFICIALS. UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE DOCTRINE OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY DOES NOT APPLY.

THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS HAS ENACTED STATUTES PROVIDING THE VICTIMS OF HUMAN-RIGHTS ABUSES A REMEDY WHEN THE PERPETRATORS OF THOSE ABUSES ARE FOUND WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THIS COUNTRY’S BORDERS. IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE JUDICIAL PROCESS ENVISIONED BY THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS BE PERMITTED TO GO FORWARD SO THE EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE PEACE AND RECONCILIATION IN SOMALILAND AND THROUGHOUT THE REGION CAN BE REALIZED. MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE RULE OF LAW BE APPLIED TO THE PERPETRATORS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN-RIGHTS ABUSES WHEN THEY ARE FOUND WITHIN THE BORDERS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Amicus briefs supporting Samantar were filed by three former Republican Attorneys General, Meese, Barr and Thornburg, and by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Visiting US Diplomat speaks on corruption, prosecution of post-election violence

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The Standard covers Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Karl Wykoff:

The US continued to pile pressure on the Coalition Government for urgency in the implementation of key reforms and decisive action against corruption.
. . . .
Speaking just a day after the second anniversary of the signing of the National Accord, Mr Wyckoff said: “It is important to note that some significant progress has been made-particularly with respect to the constitutional review process and the interim electoral commission, but much more must be done to implement reforms with a much greater sense of urgency.”
. . . .
Wyckoff also reminded Kenya that suspects of post-election violence must be held accountable if Kenya is to avert future occurrence of skirmishes.

“The culture of impunity is critical…. it is critical that perpetrators of the violence be brought to justice,” said Wyckoff.

He further called on the Government to be proactive in protection of witnesses of post-election chaos.
. . . .
Wyckoff, who has been in the region for two weeks conducting extensive consultations in Nairobi and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on a wide range of issues, called on the coalition partners to hold a referendum that would not disintegrate the people.

“We urge the coalition leaders to work together to support a new draft constitution and to work towards the holding of a timely referendum, which will help unite the country,” he said.

We don’t know who won poll, says envoy–Standard reports from 2nd Anniversary of “Power Sharing”

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By David Ochami

The US Government has defended its quick recognition of President Kibaki’s controversial win of the disputed December 2007 presidential election.

However, US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger admitted that to date the US was not sure who won the election. Mr Ranneberger on Sunday said power sharing between ODM and PNU had not brought the desired dividend against impunity and corruption.

“The election was disputed. We did our best to get to the bottom of it. It is almost impossible to say who won,” he said.

The envoy spoke on the second anniversary of the signing of the National Accord and disputed perceptions that former Under Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer’s intervention at initial stages of the post-election crisis favoured Kibaki’s win.

Addressing the Press in Addis Ababa in 2008, Dr Frazer suggested that opposition supporters in Rift Valley were cleansing Kibaki’s tribesmen from the region. She later retracted the reference a few days after Ranneberger led the US’ recognition of Kibaki’s disputed win. As violence spiralled across the country, the US withdrew the recognition.

On Sunday, Ranneberger claimed Frazer’s statements and US recognition was forced by circumstances.

He said the US had little recourse after the Electoral Commission of Kenya declared Kibaki winner.

“We knew there was no possibility of a recount in the circumstances,” the envoy said, adding that after violence broke out, the US led foreign powers in calling for AU mediation and a negotiated settlement.

Two years later and the same ambassador giving similar answers to the same questions, about events from two years ago. I think it is fair to say that he hasn’t been particularly persuasive.

HT to DS in Nairobi