Accusations President Uhuru Kenyatta faced at ICC

Naivasha Post Election Violence

NAIROBI: President Uhuru Kenyatta faced five charges of crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court's Office of the Prosecutor has said.

The charges comprised murder, deportation or forcible transfer of persons, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts committed in Nakuru and Naivasha in January 2008.

The prosecution hoped to lay evidence proving that about 112 non-Kikuyu and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) supporters were killed in Nakuru between January 24 and 27, 2008. At least 45 belonged to ethnic groups perceived to be ODM supporters.

In Naivasha, at least 41 perceived ODM supporters were killed during the attacks. The executions involved shooting, slashing and burning to death unarmed men, women and children found on streets, in homes and shops.

"Bodies of those killed with guns were mutilated to hide the gunshot wounds," said the documents filed by the prosecution to disclose the evidence. This was to conceal the fact that they had been killed with guns supplied by the Government.

The prosecution claims a quarry in Nakuru was used for the killings and dumping of bodies. "The Mungiki and pro-Party of National Unity (PNU) youth identified their victims through various means such as language, use of checkpoints and examination of identification cards for names from ethnic groups perceived to support ODM," the prosecution would have argued at the trial.

One man in Naivasha had his manhood cut before he was killed. "In another incident, Mungiki attackers rounded up six to eight perceived ODM supporters, forcibly circumcised at least one and beat and tortured the others before killing them. Bodies of murdered civilians remained in the streets for days and others were thrown into the local quarry.

Victims' teeth

Houses were burned with owners still inside. Some 19 people were burned alive in a house at Kabati estate. Another three women and children were burned alive in a house in Karagita.

In both areas, thousands of perceived ODM supporters were forcibly expelled from their homes for fear of attacks. Looting, property destruction, murders, rapes, forcible circumcisions, penile amputations, beatings, torture and severe physical injuries perpetrated by the attackers forced them to leave the areas.

Data collected shortly after the attack recorded over 50,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Nakuru, including approximately 4,000 sheltering in Afraha Stadium. They were then transported to areas outside Nakuru.

In Naivasha, IDPs went to Naivasha Police Station, Naivasha Prison, the showground and other makeshift camps, from where they were transported to different parts of Kenya. At least 9,000 IDPs were forced to take refuge at the police station.

Mungiki and pro-PNU youth forcibly circumcised non-Kikuyu men using pangas and other sharp objects such as broken bottles and pieces of glass. At least four men admitted to Nakuru Provincial General Hospital were forcibly circumcised and one had his penis amputated. Attackers also pulled out victims' teeth with pliers, cut them with pangas and bludgeoned them with rungus, rocks and other blunt objects.

The Mungiki and pro-PNU youth gang-raped women perceived to be ODM supporters. One victim contracted HIV and died. Other rape cases went unreported or were reported later.