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II. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Human Rights Watch calls on the Kenyan government to take comprehensive measures to address the problems of firearms availability and organized political violence, as well as the relationship between them. Detailed recommendations can be found in Chapter IX. Our main recommendations to the Kenyan government are:

* Take action to prevent politically motivated violence and ensure accountability for past incidents of such violence, including incidents carried out with state sponsorship. Specifically, make public in full the findings and recommendations of the government's commission of inquiry into ethnic violence (the Akiwumi Commission); impartially investigate all allegations of violence, incitement to violence, and other crimes; bring the perpetrators to justice, regardless of their political affiliation; and renounce violence by the ruling party.

* Ensure accountability of local security structures. Apply strict norms of discipline and accountability to the police reservist program or disband it. Bar the formation of community militias. Do not permit local communities to take on or share in law-enforcement functions without strict oversight, proper training, full adherence to legal standards that are consistent with human rights norms, and accountability.

* Strengthen legal controls. In particular, revise legislation related to firearms and ammunition to ensure that it reflects the highest standard and is comprehensive. This should encompass the manufacture, possession, and transfer of these weapons-inclusive of export, import, sale, transshipment, and transport-both within Kenya and with respect to international transactions. Strictly enforce these legal controls, including by: ensuring that security forces are adequately trained and equipped; enhancing the capacity of customs officials to identify and inspect suspicious cargo; combating corruption among law enforcement personnel; and ensuring accountability for misconduct.

Moreover, we call on Kenya's international donors and the international community to:

* Work with the Kenyan government and other regional actors to enhance security and reform the security sector, to address the demand for weapons and the culture of violence, and to encourage progress with respect tosmall arms controls, while ensuring that in all cases human rights (including refugee rights) are not compromised.

* Insist on governmental accountability for past incidents of ethnic and political violence involving agents of the state at any level, and press for needed reforms, as specified above, to prevent further such violence.

* Exercise restraint with respect to arms transfers to East Africa and the Great Lakes region, as well as other areas of violent conflict and countries where the diffusion of weapons could generate or contribute to a potentially excessive and destabilizing accumulation of weapons and thereby put human rights in danger.