Lobby group, victims for special tribunal

By Vitalis Kimutai and Maureen Mudi

Human rights activists and victims of post-election violence in the North Rift have supported plans to set up a special tribunal to try suspects locally.

They urged President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to rally MPs to pass the Special Tribunal Bill initiated by Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara.

At a news conference in Eldoret, the victims said in the event the MPs would not pass the Bill, they would stage a hunger strike in protest.

"Some of us are going to stage a hunger strike to press for this cause as we would rather die than continue living in pain seeing those in power ignore our plight," they said.

Mr Ken Wafula, the executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Watch led the victims in petitioning the two leaders to take a leading role in ensuring the Imanyara Bill was enacted.

The victims, who included Ms Yusila Cherono, Mr Joseph Mwangi, Ms Rose Maiyo, Ms Lucy Chebet and Mr Kibirech Kitur said the role played by Kibaki and Raila in the Bill would prove whether they were serious with resolving the post-poll issues.

"We appeal to Kibaki and Raila to lobby the MPs to pass the Bill as it is out of their political contest that the chaos erupted," they said.

"We demand that those who killed our relatives, raped our mothers, wives and daughters, those who maimed and disabled us, should face justice," the victims said in a statement read in turns.

Wafula said the victims had been threatened by some individuals after going public with their plight during a recent meeting in Elodret.

Main perpetrators

"Victims of the violence and other stakeholders are demanding that the Special Tribunal be established to try the small players in the violence locally while main perpetrators are taken to The Hague," Wafula said.

Elsewhere, victims of past ethnic clashes in Mombasa have threatened to demonstrate for allegedly being ignored by the Government.

Led by Eliatha Mate, the about 600 residents in Likoni area met at the Catholic Church on Wednesday demanding compensation for loss of lives and displacements years ago. They said the Government had ignored their plight and was currently compensating other groups yet they have been seeking justice for many years.

"We have been forgotten despite the suffering we underwent. Our efforts to seek justice have not yielded any fruits so far," said Mr Mate.

 

 

Read all about: MPs National assembly Danson Mungatana Kenya local tribunal The Hague ICC chief prosecutor Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara

 

 

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