TJRC Report (Newspaper Supplement)

TJRC Report (Newspaper Supplement)

Seattle University School of Law Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation I. Core TJRC Related Documents Commission of Kenya 5-26-2013 Final Report - TJRC Report (Newspaper Supplement) Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/tjrc-core Recommended Citation Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission, "Final Report - TJRC Report (Newspaper Supplement)" (2013). I. Core TJRC Related Documents. 1. https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/tjrc-core/1 This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya at Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in I. Core TJRC Related Documents by an authorized administrator of Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. May 26, 2013 / Standard ON SUNDAY ADVERTISER’S ANNOUNCEMENT / Page XX TRUTH, JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION Promoting Peace, Justice, National Unity, Dignity, Healing and Reconciliation Among The People of Kenya REPORT OF THE TRUTH, JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION ABRIDGED VERSION INTRODUCTION Research and investigations: taking exercise and public hearings to accommodate persons with the Commission established an Investigation Department whih disabilities. The experiences of PWDs are reflected across the The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC or the was responsible for identifying and interviewing witnesses whose various Chapters of this Volume. Commission) was established in the wake of the tragic events of individual stories would contribute to the historical narrative the 2007/2008 Post-Election Violence (PEV). of gross violations of human rights in the country. The role of Volume III focuses on issues relating to national unity and the Department also extended to the collection and analysis of reconciliation in Kenya. The Commission was mandated to inquire The Commission has produced its Report as the culmination of relevant documentary and other forms of evidence. Investigations into the causes of ethnic tension and make recommendations on a process that lasted four years and took the Commission to all were conducted in three main phases: before, during and after the the promotion of healing, reconciliation and coexistence among regions of the country. hearings. ethnic communities. The violence, bloodshed and destruction of the PEV shocked Hearings: The Commission started its hearings in mid-April 2011 The final volume of the Report - Volume IV - provides a catalogue Kenyans into the realisation that their nation, long considered in Garissa and concluded at the beginning of April 2012 in Nairobi. of the findings and recommendations of the Commission. Included an island of peace and tranquillity, remained deeply divided The Commission conducted three kinds of hearings: individual in this volume is the Commission’s recommendation relating to the since independence from British colonial rule in December hearings, women’s hearings and thematic hearings. implementation mechanism and reparation framework. 1963. It prompted a fresh opportunity for the country to examine the negative practices of the past four and half decades that Individual hearings focused on the experience of individuals in THEMATIC OVERVIEWS contributed to a state that still holds sway in Kenya: normalization relation to gross violation of human rights. Testimony was heard and institutionalization of gross violation of human rights, abuse of from individuals whose rights had been violated, as well as from Political History: A general outline power and misuse of public office. those who either had knowledge of or allegedly participated in acts that resulted in the violations. In order to contextualise gross violations of human rights and In the aftermath of the 2007/2008 PEV, the Kenya National Dialogue historical injustices that occurred during the mandate period, and Reconciliation (KNDR) process resulted in the adoption of Women’s hearings were exclusively attended by women. The the Commission divided the political history of Kenya into four among others, the Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of hearings were framed as ‘conversations with women’. They were distinct epochs. These epochs correspond with the four political the Coalition Government (Coalition Agreement) on the basis of designed to and were safe spaces where women could freely talk administrations that governed the country prior to and during the which, the National Assembly enacted the National Accord and about violations that were specific to them. thematic hearings that Commission’s mandate period: Reconciliation Act on 18 March 2008. The National Accord paved focused on specific violations, events, or groups of victims. • British colonial era (1895 to 1963); the way for the establishment of a coalition government with a • President Jomo Kenyatta’s era (1963 to 1978); President, Prime Minister and two Deputy Prime Ministers. Thematic hearings were meant to elicit public testimony on specific • President Daniel arap Moi’s era (1978 to 2002); and themes that are of particular importance in Kenya’s pursuit for • President Mwai Kibaki’s era (2002 to 2008). As part of the KNDR process, an agreement for the establishment truth, justice and reconciliation. The Commission held a total of 14 of a truth, justice and reconciliation commission (TJRC Agreement) thematic hearings focusing on diverse subjects. A review of the colonial period by the Commission revealed a litany was also adopted. Pursuant to the TJRC Agreement, the National of offences and atrocities commited by the British administration Assembly enacted the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Act (TJR Report writing: The final product of the Commission is a Report against the people now known as Kenyans. These violations Act) on 23 October 2008. The Act received Presidential Assent on which was compiled in terms of section 5(j) and 48(2) of the TJR included massacres, torture, arbitary detention, and sexual 28 November 2008 and came into operation on 17 March 2009. Act. These sections essentially tasked the Commission to compile violence, most of which were committed, initially, when the British a report providing as comprehensive as possible an account of its government forced its authority on the local population, and later, In terms of the TJR Act, the Commission was inaugurated on 3 activities and findings together with recommendations on measures when it violently sought to quash the Mau Mau rebellion. From 1952 August 2009.The broad mandate of the Commission was to inquire to prevent the future occurrence of violations. Details of the Report onwards, the British administration established detention camps in into gross violation of human rights and historical injustices that are provided below. which suspected members of Mau Mau and/or their sympathisers occurred in Kenya from 12 December 1963 when Kenya became were tortured and ill-treated. Others were detained in restricted independent to 28 February 2008 when the Coalition Agreement THE REPORT villages where they were used as forced labour under harsh and was signed inhuman or degrading conditions.The colonial government was The Report is structured into four volumes: also responsible for massive displacement of thousands of people METHODOLOGY AND PROCESS from their lands. More than 2 million hectares of land were taken Volume I provides an account of how the Commission was formed, away from the original inhabitants. This displacement created the The work of the Commission was structured into four mutual and how it interpreted its mandate and conducted its work, and the conflicts over land that remain the cause and driver of conflict and overlapping phases: statement-taking, research and investigations, challenges it faced in carrying out its mandate. ethnic tension in Kenya today. hearings and report writing. Civic education was conducted On 12 December 1963, Kenya gained independence from British alongside these activities. Volume II is further divided into three sub-volumes. Volume IIA focuses on the major violations of bodily integrity rights that were rule. Independence came with high expectations and hopes. It signaled an end to practices that had been institutionalised under Statement taking: The Commission designed a Statement Form committed during the Commission’s mandate period. These are: British rule; the end of racial segregation, detention camps, torture, to capture information from witnesses. The Statement Form was unlawful killings and enforced disappearances (that is, massacres, massacres, unlawful killings and similar practices that had been designed to ensure the gathering of as much information as extra-judiial killings, and political assassinations); unlawful institutionalised under colonialism. To the citizens of a new free possible about gross violations of human rights. The Commission detentions, torture and ill-treatment; and sexual violence. While nation, independence meant the return to lands from which they undertook an initial statement taking exercise in Mt Elgon in May much of this volume is focused on violations directly committed by had been forcibly evicted and of which they had been dispossessed and June 2010. This was a pilot project which the Commission the state, it also includes descriptions of killings, severe injury and in order to pave the way for

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