Document - Kenya: Further Information on fear for safety / Impunity

KENYA Kenya: Further Information on fear for safety / Impunity

PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 32/001/2003
10 January 2003

Further Information on UA 367/02 (AFR 32/026/2002, 18 December 2002) - Fear for safety/Impunity

KENYA Civic, Parliamentary and Presidential candidates,
Voters in 27 December 2002 General Elections

According to the results released by the Electoral Commission of Kenya, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), a coalition of 14 opposition political parties, won the Presidential election on 27 December 2002. The new President, Mr Mwai Kibaki, a former leader of the official opposition in Kenya, was sworn in on 30 December. He was elected President of the Republic of Kenya with 62.2 percent of the vote against his main opponent Mr Uhuru Kenyatta from the Kenya National African Union (KANU) who received 31.3 percent. Nine women were elected to the new National Assembly out of a total of 210 Members of Parliament (MPs).

Around the time of the elections, an Amnesty International mission to Kenya found the human rights situation to be generally peaceful with some relatively isolated incidents of election violence. The organization found that the Electoral Commission of Kenya played a proactive role in taking some action against candidates and parties involved in election violence. In some areas the Kenyan police arrested suspected perpetrators of politically motivated violence, however no formal investigation was carried out to bring those responsible to justice.

Overall, the mission found that the police and provincial administration provided adequate policing and security for political rallies and voters, demonstrating that they took the concerns raised by Amnesty International and other local human rights organizations seriously.

We thank the UA network for mobilizing pressure on the Kenyan authorities during the election period. No further action from the network is required. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.

********



Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 0DW, London, United Kingdom

Voir la fiche descriptive du document