'Kenya unrest fuelled by poverty, impurity'

from the Independent On Line

Geneva - Political and ethnic unrest that swept Kenya in January and February after disputed presidential polls was fuelled by deep poverty and a culture of impunity, UN human rights experts said on Wednesday.

President Mwai Kibaki claimed victory in the December 27 polls, sparking fury from opposition leader Raila Odinga and his supporters, who claimed the vote was rigged.

The two rivals eventually signed a power-sharing agreement on February 28 after torturous negotiations led by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan, but not before violent protests, police raids, tribal clashes and revenge killings left at least 1 500 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.

"While the violations of democratic rights provided the trigger for the bulk of street violence and human rights violations, a number of underlying causes also contributed to fuelling the outburst," said a report by a five-person team from the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The experts cited a lack of access to water, food, health and decent housing as well as high unemployment, Kenya's colonial legacy and the mismanagement of land distribution, particularly in the government stronghold of the Rift Valley.

Kenya also suffers from a culture of impunity against rights violators and a long history of politically-motivated violence, leaving the state with a diminished ability to tackle the root causes of violence, the report added.

The Kenyan state "failed to take all appropriate measures to meet its obligations to protect the rights of its citizens," with the police in particular often guilty of using excessive force, it said.

Ten percent of all the killings were carried out by the police, the report said citing government statistics.

The UN team, who visited Kenya from February 6-28, identified three main phases of violence: firstly, the "spontaneous" reaction of opposition supporters, secondly what they called "partially organised" targeting of government supporters in the Rift Valley and thirdly "retaliatory" attacks against the opposition.

In the Rift Valley, "credible evidence suggests that many attacks were partially organised, reportedly by political and/or traditional leaders eager to settle long-held grievances over land issues and other real and perceived forms of discrimination," the report said.

The UN experts urged the government and opposition to make good on their promises to tackle issues of land reform, police and judicial reform, social and economic inequalities and corruption.