Kenya
03.05.04
Urgent Interventions
Kenya: Property destruction, forced eviction and excessive use of force
OMCT/HIC-HLRN
JOINT URGENT ACTION APPEAL:
Property destruction, forced eviction and excessive use of force against members of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community in Kenya
Case KEN–FE 030504.ESCR
The Coordination Office of the Housing and Land Rights Network of Habitat International Coalition (HIC-HLRN) and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) request your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Kenya.
Brief Description
OMCT has been informed by a reliable source about renewed violence against the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people of Mount Elgon region, eastern Kenya, with 200 houses burned down and one child killed.
On 18 February 2004, members of the Pok (Bok) community, supported by the local MP John Serut and the District Commissioner Mr. James Ole Seriani, seized the farms of the neighbouring Chepkitale community and set fire to their houses, food stores, and other property. Over the course of five days (18–23 February), more than 200 houses belonging to members of the Chepkitale community were burned, five Chepkitale (Ogiek) people were injured and one Pok child burned to death.
Paradoxically, it is reported that the police also arrested 21 members of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community and brought them before the court on charges of incitement, burning houses and intention to harm others, among other charges. The police also reportedly ill-treated and beat the arrested persons. Some of the arrested persons reportedly had to seek medical treatment at various hospitals as a result of police beatings. One person is in the hospital with a bullet wound as a result of shooting by the police. Apparently, no member of the Pok community has been arrested, despite reports that people from the Pok community instigated the violent encounters.
The arrested persons were released on bail and are awaiting trial. In the meantime, they are required to report regularly to the security office. Although some of those arrested have had access to lawyers, others do not have the financial means necessary to obtain legal representation.
Those members of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community made homeless by the attacks are currently sheltering with relatives nearby, while others are hiding deep in the forest. According to the information received, the community has not received any aid so far. The Red Cross only has been able to provide aid to the few people at the Kopsiro Divisional Headquarters. It is reported that local leaders, who are from the Pok community, are obstructing efforts to provide aid to the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people.
Background Information
The Pok community, who constitute a majority of the local leaders, are reported to be involved in a systematic effort to displace the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people from their land. The socioeconomic situation of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people is deteriorating and their hunting-and-gathering livelihood is threatened. The reports received indicate that the Pok community wants to evict the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people in order to turn the Chepkitale’s ancestral homeland into a national game reserve, which would serve as a source of money for the Pok-controlled County Council. It is also reported that the Council has allocated land of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community to relatives and friends of local Pok politicians as a way of securing votes.
The conflict between the Pok and Chepkitale (Ogiek) communities is not new. Since 1971, many efforts have been made to resolve the land conflicts occurring between these communities, but it is reported that these plans have always been plagued by corruption and political favouritism. Between 1992 and 2004, five different settlement committees were formed to attempt to resolve these disputes, but they have regularly resulted in further dispossessing the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community of their land. During this period, it is also reported that nine people, mostly from the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community, have been killed, 800 cows have been stolen and many people were arrested. The information received also indicates that several members of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community have disappeared, while others have been forced into exile.
International Human Rights Law
The Kenyan government, including local authorities, bear an obligation to prevent human rights violations and to intervene to protect against violence.
The practices reported here contravene the Chepkitale (Ogiek) peoples’ human right to adequate housing; i.e., the right of all women, men and children to gain and sustain a secure place to live in peace and dignity. The Pok community, supported by local authorities, especially violate the Chepkitale (Ogiek) peoples’ entitlements to security of tenure; access to, and benefit from environmental goods, namely land and water; habitability and livelihood on the resettlement lands; location; cultural appropriateness; information and capacity building, participation and self-expression; freedom from dispossession; physical security, and adequate compensation for violations and losses. All are elements of the human right to adequate housing as recognized in international law. It should be noticed here that all these elements, to be considered as respected, should be obtained in an environment of self-determination, nondiscrimination, gender equality, rule of law, and nonregressivity.
Specifically, the authorities have breached their treaty obligations under Articles. 2, 4, 5 and 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which Kenya acceded to on 3 January 1976. The State has been derelict in its obligations as elaborated in the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comments Nos. 4 and 7 on the human right to adequate housing.
By their ill-treatment and arbitrary arrest of the 21 people, the Kenyan authorities have also violated Arts. 7, 9 and 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). By the attacks on the homes and farms of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people and the failure to afford protection to the community from such attacks, the Kenyan authorities also violate Arts. 7, 12 and 17 of the ICCPR.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Kenya urging them to:
§ act on an urgent basis and prevent any further attempts to take over the lands of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people, to destroy their homes and farms and stop them from residing on and utilising their land;
§ take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the families whose homes have been burnt down and who have been evicted from their lands;
§ order a thorough and impartial investigation into the allegations of ill-treatment and harassment against the affected persons in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
§ guarantee the right to adequate housing of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people with particular attention to the following elements: security of tenure, access to public and environmental goods and services, freedom from dispossession and the right to information and resettlement, as recognized in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, among others;
§ ensure that adequate compensation, assistance with rebuilding homes, food and medical attention are provided to the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people families whose homes and farms have been demolished and destroyed;
§ guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses:
H.E. Mr. Kiraitu Murungi
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
Harambee Avenue
P.O. Box 40112 / P.O.Box 30083
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: + 254 231–5105
H.E. Major Mardsen Madoka
Minister of State
Office of the President
P.O. Box 30510
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax : +254 233–7340
Mr. Amos Wako
General Attorney, State Law Office
Harambee Avenue
P.O. Box 40112
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 231–5105, +254 221–1082
Ambassador Mohamed Amina C.
Permanent Mission of Kenya
Av. de la Paix 1–3 (1er)
1202 Genève, Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 731–2905
E-mail: mission.kenya@ties.itu.int
JOINT URGENT ACTION APPEAL:
Property destruction, forced eviction and excessive use of force against members of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community in Kenya
Case KEN–FE 030504.ESCR
The Coordination Office of the Housing and Land Rights Network of Habitat International Coalition (HIC-HLRN) and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) request your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Kenya.
Brief Description
OMCT has been informed by a reliable source about renewed violence against the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people of Mount Elgon region, eastern Kenya, with 200 houses burned down and one child killed.
On 18 February 2004, members of the Pok (Bok) community, supported by the local MP John Serut and the District Commissioner Mr. James Ole Seriani, seized the farms of the neighbouring Chepkitale community and set fire to their houses, food stores, and other property. Over the course of five days (18–23 February), more than 200 houses belonging to members of the Chepkitale community were burned, five Chepkitale (Ogiek) people were injured and one Pok child burned to death.
Paradoxically, it is reported that the police also arrested 21 members of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community and brought them before the court on charges of incitement, burning houses and intention to harm others, among other charges. The police also reportedly ill-treated and beat the arrested persons. Some of the arrested persons reportedly had to seek medical treatment at various hospitals as a result of police beatings. One person is in the hospital with a bullet wound as a result of shooting by the police. Apparently, no member of the Pok community has been arrested, despite reports that people from the Pok community instigated the violent encounters.
The arrested persons were released on bail and are awaiting trial. In the meantime, they are required to report regularly to the security office. Although some of those arrested have had access to lawyers, others do not have the financial means necessary to obtain legal representation.
Those members of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community made homeless by the attacks are currently sheltering with relatives nearby, while others are hiding deep in the forest. According to the information received, the community has not received any aid so far. The Red Cross only has been able to provide aid to the few people at the Kopsiro Divisional Headquarters. It is reported that local leaders, who are from the Pok community, are obstructing efforts to provide aid to the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people.
Background Information
The Pok community, who constitute a majority of the local leaders, are reported to be involved in a systematic effort to displace the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people from their land. The socioeconomic situation of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people is deteriorating and their hunting-and-gathering livelihood is threatened. The reports received indicate that the Pok community wants to evict the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people in order to turn the Chepkitale’s ancestral homeland into a national game reserve, which would serve as a source of money for the Pok-controlled County Council. It is also reported that the Council has allocated land of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community to relatives and friends of local Pok politicians as a way of securing votes.
The conflict between the Pok and Chepkitale (Ogiek) communities is not new. Since 1971, many efforts have been made to resolve the land conflicts occurring between these communities, but it is reported that these plans have always been plagued by corruption and political favouritism. Between 1992 and 2004, five different settlement committees were formed to attempt to resolve these disputes, but they have regularly resulted in further dispossessing the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community of their land. During this period, it is also reported that nine people, mostly from the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community, have been killed, 800 cows have been stolen and many people were arrested. The information received also indicates that several members of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) community have disappeared, while others have been forced into exile.
International Human Rights Law
The Kenyan government, including local authorities, bear an obligation to prevent human rights violations and to intervene to protect against violence.
The practices reported here contravene the Chepkitale (Ogiek) peoples’ human right to adequate housing; i.e., the right of all women, men and children to gain and sustain a secure place to live in peace and dignity. The Pok community, supported by local authorities, especially violate the Chepkitale (Ogiek) peoples’ entitlements to security of tenure; access to, and benefit from environmental goods, namely land and water; habitability and livelihood on the resettlement lands; location; cultural appropriateness; information and capacity building, participation and self-expression; freedom from dispossession; physical security, and adequate compensation for violations and losses. All are elements of the human right to adequate housing as recognized in international law. It should be noticed here that all these elements, to be considered as respected, should be obtained in an environment of self-determination, nondiscrimination, gender equality, rule of law, and nonregressivity.
Specifically, the authorities have breached their treaty obligations under Articles. 2, 4, 5 and 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which Kenya acceded to on 3 January 1976. The State has been derelict in its obligations as elaborated in the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comments Nos. 4 and 7 on the human right to adequate housing.
By their ill-treatment and arbitrary arrest of the 21 people, the Kenyan authorities have also violated Arts. 7, 9 and 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). By the attacks on the homes and farms of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people and the failure to afford protection to the community from such attacks, the Kenyan authorities also violate Arts. 7, 12 and 17 of the ICCPR.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Kenya urging them to:
§ act on an urgent basis and prevent any further attempts to take over the lands of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people, to destroy their homes and farms and stop them from residing on and utilising their land;
§ take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the families whose homes have been burnt down and who have been evicted from their lands;
§ order a thorough and impartial investigation into the allegations of ill-treatment and harassment against the affected persons in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
§ guarantee the right to adequate housing of the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people with particular attention to the following elements: security of tenure, access to public and environmental goods and services, freedom from dispossession and the right to information and resettlement, as recognized in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, among others;
§ ensure that adequate compensation, assistance with rebuilding homes, food and medical attention are provided to the Chepkitale (Ogiek) people families whose homes and farms have been demolished and destroyed;
§ guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses:
H.E. Mr. Kiraitu Murungi
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
Harambee Avenue
P.O. Box 40112 / P.O.Box 30083
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: + 254 231–5105
H.E. Major Mardsen Madoka
Minister of State
Office of the President
P.O. Box 30510
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax : +254 233–7340
Mr. Amos Wako
General Attorney, State Law Office
Harambee Avenue
P.O. Box 40112
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 231–5105, +254 221–1082
Ambassador Mohamed Amina C.
Permanent Mission of Kenya
Av. de la Paix 1–3 (1er)
1202 Genève, Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 731–2905
E-mail: mission.kenya@ties.itu.int