Impunity widespread in Kenya despite reforms, says US report

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Former President Mwai Kibaki (second left) lifts up Kenya's Constitution soon after promulgating it at Uhuru Park, Nairobi August 27, 2010. The United States has said impunity is on the rise despite reforms. Photo/FILE 

By KEVIN J KELLEY
Posted  Saturday, April 20  2013 at  14:04

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Corruption and human rights abuses occur frequently in Kenya, and those responsible are seldom punished, the United States said on Friday.

"Widespread impunity at all levels of government continued to be a serious problem, despite implementation of judicial reform and the vetting of all judges and magistrates," the State Department finds in regard to Kenya in its new report on human rights worldwide.

"The government took action in some cases to prosecute officials who committed abuses and, for the first time, several former senior government officials were convicted of corruption," the report observes.

"Nevertheless, impunity--particularly in connection with human rights abuses committed during the 2007 post election violence was pervasive," it states.

As of late last year, the report notes, there had been a total of 24 convictions in cases stemming from the violence following the 2007 elections, in which more than 1,300 Kenyans lost their lives.

"No police officers had been prosecuted successfully," the State Department points out.

The report's detailed accounting of conditions in Kenya during 2012 depicts the government as indifferent to incidents of lawlessness on the part of the police and powerful politicians.

"Since President Kibaki assumed office in 2002, despite numerous scandals, no top officials had been prosecuted successfully for corruption," the State Department reports.

It also notes that the government did not make good on a promise in December 2011 to investigate widespread abuse by security forces in North Eastern Province.

The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, mandated in 2008 to investigate alleged torture of Kenyans since independence, still has not released a final report that was expected in December 2011, the report adds.

The generally scathing assessment of human rights violations in Kenya does include a few positive findings.

"In contrast to previous years," the US notes, "the judiciary asserted and maintained its independence, despite attempts by the executive branch to influence the outcome of judicial decisions."

Nonetheless, the report adds, "judicial corruption remained a problem at the magistrate level."