In recent weeks hundreds of young men and boys from the Dadaab refugee camps have been secretly recruited for the force, lured with false promises of lavish pay and claims of backing from the United Nations and the United States.
Bringing powerful politicians to justice is a tough task. But Kenya has learned the price of inaction - a pattern of political violence over decades. Now Parliament has a chance to stop the rot, hold violent politicians to account, and set an example for other countries struggling to make the law reach the most powerful people.
Kenya is at a pivotal moment. After the devastating post-electoral violence a year ago, the country has an opportunity to investigate and prosecute those responsible before political tensions rise again in the run-up to new elections, probably in 2012.
While the West grapples with wasted food, the developing world faces the spectre of increasing hunger. There is a human rights dimension to this calamity that is frequently missed or ignored - women and their children are most likely to lack food and go hungry. Passing laws that protect women's land rights will cost governments very little, but will go a long way to reducing starvation and improving the lives of African women and children.
Located in the region of the world that has been hit the hardest by the AIDS epidemic — southern and eastern Africa — Kenya made antiretroviral treatment for AIDS free of charge in 2006, and has been lauded for its prevention measures. Yet research that Human Rights Watch conducted there last year shows that the government is not doing nearly enough to treat HIV-positive children, the most vulnerable patients.
Kenya has a sorry history of entrenching impunity and failing to investigate and prosecute criminal behaviour by senior politicians. The brilliance of the Waki report was in the specificity of its recommendations, the detailed timeline for implementation and provision for communicating the names of those suspected of masterminding the violence to the International Criminal Court should Kenya's leaders fail in their duty to deliver justice.
Refugees who survive the Somali militias and Kenyan police face additional problems when they go to one of three overcrowded and under-serviced refugee camps near the Kenyan town of Dadaab.
Ishmael is a victim of a 2007 rendition program in the Horn of Africa, involving Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the United States. There are at least 90 more victims like him. Most have since been sent home. A few – including a Canadian and nine who assert Kenyan nationality – remain in detention even now. The whereabouts of 22 others – including several Somalis, Ethiopian Ogadenis, and Eritreans - remain unknown.
Kenya is one of the first beneficiaries of "Operation Monogram," the British government's counter-terrorism training and equipment foreign assistance program, because it shares a border with war-torn Somalia and because of its own experience of terrorist attacks. Research by Human Rights Watch has now provided hard evidence of abuses by Kenyan security forces that received British training. The British government should be working proactively to ensure that these security forces act according to the law. The US, which is involved in the same places for the same reasons, should follow suit.
The debate about amnesty in Kenya has become intensely politicized. The Prime Minister and the President are taking apparently opposing positions. The dangers of the debate turning sour are obvious, threatening to undermine the fragile solidarity that gave birth to the National Accord and Reconciliation Act and the coalition government. What should be the way forward?
In recent weeks hundreds of young men and boys from the Dadaab refugee camps have been secretly recruited for the force, lured with false promises of lavish pay and claims of backing from the United Nations and the United States.
Bringing powerful politicians to justice is a tough task. But Kenya has learned the price of inaction - a pattern of political violence over decades. Now Parliament has a chance to stop the rot, hold violent politicians to account, and set an example for other countries struggling to make the law reach the most powerful people.
Kenya is at a pivotal moment. After the devastating post-electoral violence a year ago, the country has an opportunity to investigate and prosecute those responsible before political tensions rise again in the run-up to new elections, probably in 2012.
While the West grapples with wasted food, the developing world faces the spectre of increasing hunger. There is a human rights dimension to this calamity that is frequently missed or ignored - women and their children are most likely to lack food and go hungry. Passing laws that protect women's land rights will cost governments very little, but will go a long way to reducing starvation and improving the lives of African women and children.
Located in the region of the world that has been hit the hardest by the AIDS epidemic — southern and eastern Africa — Kenya made antiretroviral treatment for AIDS free of charge in 2006, and has been lauded for its prevention measures. Yet research that Human Rights Watch conducted there last year shows that the government is not doing nearly enough to treat HIV-positive children, the most vulnerable patients.
Kenya has a sorry history of entrenching impunity and failing to investigate and prosecute criminal behaviour by senior politicians. The brilliance of the Waki report was in the specificity of its recommendations, the detailed timeline for implementation and provision for communicating the names of those suspected of masterminding the violence to the International Criminal Court should Kenya's leaders fail in their duty to deliver justice.
Refugees who survive the Somali militias and Kenyan police face additional problems when they go to one of three overcrowded and under-serviced refugee camps near the Kenyan town of Dadaab.
Ishmael is a victim of a 2007 rendition program in the Horn of Africa, involving Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the United States. There are at least 90 more victims like him. Most have since been sent home. A few – including a Canadian and nine who assert Kenyan nationality – remain in detention even now. The whereabouts of 22 others – including several Somalis, Ethiopian Ogadenis, and Eritreans - remain unknown.
Kenya is one of the first beneficiaries of "Operation Monogram," the British government's counter-terrorism training and equipment foreign assistance program, because it shares a border with war-torn Somalia and because of its own experience of terrorist attacks. Research by Human Rights Watch has now provided hard evidence of abuses by Kenyan security forces that received British training. The British government should be working proactively to ensure that these security forces act according to the law. The US, which is involved in the same places for the same reasons, should follow suit.
The debate about amnesty in Kenya has become intensely politicized. The Prime Minister and the President are taking apparently opposing positions. The dangers of the debate turning sour are obvious, threatening to undermine the fragile solidarity that gave birth to the National Accord and Reconciliation Act and the coalition government. What should be the way forward?