Kenya: The International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) has faulted the Government for not efficiently addressing the plight of the victims of sexual crimes during the 2007 post-election violence.
A new study released by ICTJ reveals the failure to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) during the post-election chaos, and also failure to compensate the victims.
The study analyses the extent to which responses by the State to the violence, like criminal prosecutions, police reforms and the formation of a commission of inquiry have provided justice for these victims. The violence recorded a significant number of sexual violence cases.
The report shows atrocities committed included rape, deliberate transmission of disease, including HIV, and forceful impregnation of women. Some men, too, were sodomised or singled out for forced circumcision or penile mutilation and amputation. According to the Waki Commission, the 900 cases of SGBV reported were only the tip of the iceberg.
An independent study suggested there might have been more than 40,000 incidents of sexual violence during the first three months of 2008. Nairobi Women Hospital alone treated 600 victims of rape within 72 hours of attack.
Despite the vast documentation of such cases, no individual has been convicted of a sex crime related to the violence or the victims being counseled, the report indicates.
“It is very troubling that six years on, not one person has been convicted of a sexual violence crime and the Government has yet to redress the harms suffered by the victims,” said Amrita Kapur, senior associate for ICTJ’s Gender Justice Programme.
Reparations programmes
The report further shows of the 48 women interviewed, nine were raped by police officers, including one who was raped by the officer she had sought help from after a rape ordeal.
Kapur highlighted the 66 complaints submitted to the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions, which were sent back to the police for further investigations and no report has been issued over the matter.
The study recommends that the Government guarantee victims’ rights through implementation of a reparations programmes for victims.
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