Seeking justice for victims executive summary k enya s flawed december 2007 presidential election provoked a twomonth orgy of violence, which has been described as the countrys most severe human rights crisis. Internally displaced persons refugee consortium of kenya. While election violence had occurred in kenya during previous elections in 1992, 1997 and 2002, it had never reached such catastrophic levels, with over 1,200 people killed10 and over 600,000 displaced. Pdf the announcement of the disputed 2007 presidential election results in kenya on december 27th, 2007 led to what could be described as the worst. Reviews this book provides a powerful analysis of collective land narratives, and connects these narratives to elite and citizen coordination of electoral violence. December 2007, kenya was thrust into the worst civil unrest. December 2007 post election violence issue in kenya. Why do the first multiparty elections after authoritarian rule turn violent in some. The following are recommendations that should be taken into account when dealing with the issue of idps in kenya. The study causes for postelectionviolence 20072008 in kenya reconsidered. Postelection violence in kenya and its aftermath center. Seeking justice for victims the post election violence in kenya. The case of internally displaced people following the. The icc cases fundamentally changed the political dynamics of the country.
The media in africa are often indicted for being partly responsible for the conflicts and tensions in the continent, and the role of the radio in escalating the 1994 genocide in rwanda is frequentl. However, when crimes against humanity were alleged to have been committed in kenya during the 20072008 post election violence, a promising road map for criminal accountability was agreed upon alongside a political solution. Causes of electoral violence in africa written by ngah. In the spirit of this road map, the author analyzes the postelection violence in kenya from a legal point of view.
By examining locallevel variation during kenya s 20078 post election violence, klaus demonstrates how land struggles structure the dynamics of contentious politics and violence. Preventing postelection violence based on the kenyan experience. International idea publications are independent of specific national or political interests. The concept of internal displacement is not new to kenya, though the 20072008 post election violence brought the phenomenon to wider attention as it displaced more than 650,000 persons. According to the agreement, the final goal of that political dialogue is to achieve sustainable peace, stability and justice through the rule of law and respect for human rights.
The 2007 postelection violence in kenya, however, was of a different magnitude. Electoral violence and the legacy of authoritarian rule in kenya and. Multiparty elections in kenya have therefore been associated with ethnic tensions, bloodshed, and carnage. Elections and violent conflict in kenya united states institute of. The commission of inquiry on post election violence 2009 that investigated kenya s 200708 post election violence attributed the countrys history of electoral violence to a combination of longstanding conflict drivers. Organized political violence and kenyas crisis of governance. Though the 20 general elections were relatively peaceful, kenya is still deeply divided and ethnically polarised. Resilience in the face of postelection violence in kenya.
The international media looks at this crisis through the lenses of ethnic cleansing and a fight for tribal supremacy between the luo and the kikuyu. Lastly and most importantly, detailed recommendations concerning each of the topics listed above. The post election violence prompted a desire to secure a sense of nationhood and what it means to be kenyan and simultaneously to transform the political community to construct a new kenya that was a free, just and prosperous nation. Since the historic nuremberg trials in 1945, a principle of customary international law has been established that commits a major crime under international law war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and rape will not be punished. The study will focus on identifying the international legal principles applied by the international actors during the kenyan post election violence. Kenyatta and ruto joined forces to fight the icc charges and won the presidential elections in 20 and in 2017. Residence factor refers to where an individual lives i. However, many bloggers argued that the tensions had been consciously stoked by political parties, while the nation had been largely free of serious. Triggers and characteristics of kenyan electoral violence gov. Aug 06, 2009 view map of the post election violence hotspots in kenya. Pdf resilience in the face of postelection violence in kenya. In this paper, i perform an analysis of the conflict to examine why widespread violence erupted in. Determinants of postelection violence in kenya core. Kenya national dialogue and reconciliation, agreement establishing a commission of inquiry on post election violence pdf file 3 pages, 614 kb annex 3.
Ethnic politics and postelection violence of 20078 in kenya. The post election violence pev of 200708 in kenya left over 1,500 people dead and 660,000 displaced. On 10 december 2020, a high court orders the government to compensate four victims of sexual attacks by security agents during post election violence during violence following the 2007 kenyan general election. Background on the postelection crisis in kenya center. For instance, in kenya, there have been unresolved conflicts since the colonial period and the situation has been getting worse overtime following the five year electoral cycles of 199219972002, all which culminated to the post election violence pev in 20072008. Report from ohchr factfinding mission to kenya, 628. Post election political violence 2 joint mission to kenya to carry out research into the roots and repercussions of the violence. Feb 12, 2021 kenyan police have a long history of using excessive force against protesters, especially among the luo in western kenya. However, the 2007 election was unique because the political history of. Doc the 1992 1993 post election violence in kenya judy. Operational systems engineering is a methodology that identifies the important components of a comp. Ethnic politics and post election violence of 20078 in kenya opondo p. More than 250,000 people were internally displaced, made refugees in their own country.
The chapter discusses some scholarly works on contextual concepts, historical ethnic divisions in kenya and the origin of political parties. Kenya article 19 defending freedom of expression and. Sep 15, 2008 the kenya broadcasting corporation records that the chair of the knchr, florence jaoko who replaced maina kiai in july 2008, presented the report to the judicial commission of inquiry the waki commission investigating the post 2007 election violence on august 19th 2008. In addition, the political alliance of william ruto and uhuru kenyatta on a shared electoral ticket, the jubilee coalition, dramatically decreased the threat of. Following the announcement of presidential election results on december 30, 2007, kenya ex perienced the worst electoral violence since the inception of. The current situation of internally displaced persons in kenya.
Apr 29, 2015 influencing election violence in kenya posner, 2005 the remainder of this paper proceeds as follows. First is the perception of historic marginalization by certain ethnic groups as a consequence of. Kenya has experienced election violence since the introduction of multiparty politics. The role played by international law in ending the kenyan. Critical analysis of the discourse formation good governance and its implementation by the world bank deals with the impact of discourses and connected power structures on kenyan national politics. Full kenyan post election violence report 2008 wikileaks. Household environment and informal networks did not mediate. Jan 02, 2008 kenya s leaders came under increasing pressure from the international community on wednesday to end post election violence that has resulted in the deaths of at least 250 people, including dozens. Within the mentioned framework the parties have made. Immediately after the announcement of the re election of president kibaki on the evening of 30. Since the historic nuremberg trial of 1945 an international customary law principle has developed that commission of a core crime under international law war. This period of post election violence saw more than a thousand kenyans killed and between 300,000 and 500,000 internally displaced. The joint mission, which visited kenya between 29 march and 9 april 1998, had four main objectives. The kenyan commission of inquiry into postelection violence background the commission of inquiry into postelection violence cipev was the outcome of the kenya national dialogue and reconciliation accord of february 28, 2008, negotiated by kofi annan and the panel of eminent african personalities, and its sister agreement of.
Ethnicity, corruption and violence in urban land conflict. Its considered one of the darkest chapters in kenya s h. By midjanuary, six hundred kenyans lay dead in an unprecedented orgy of post election violence. Nov 22, 2017 however, in countries like kenya before 2010, zimbabwe, nigeria, ivory coast and ethiopia, which have quasiindependent judiciaries opposition candidates use post election violence to create. We find no systematic evidence that peace messaging and voter consultation made a dif ference in the 2017 elections in kenya or liberia. Aug 11, 2009 nature of the violence the majority of kenya s postelection violence took place in january and february, 2008. Background on the postelection crisis in kenya center for. For nearly three months, the country was unsettled by a wave of ethnopolitical violence. Ongoing abuses several incidents that occurred after the post election violence suggest that in. Seeking justice for victims executive summary k enya s flawed december 2007 presidential election provoked a twomonth orgy of violence, which has been described as. The 2007 presidential election was in essence a contest between the incumbent president kibaki, a kikuyu, and the opposition candidate odinga, of luo origin. Ethnic violence, elections and atrocity prevention in kenya. The 2008 post election violence played out largely on ethnic lines, and ethnicity continues to play an inordinate role in kenyan political life.
Although the newspapers analysed did not provide any forewarning about the impending crisis, they relentlessly published news stories and house editorials that addressed peacebuilding in the country. Background to the postelection violence springerlink. The case against president uhuru kenyatta relates to the countrys 2007 2008 post election violence. Trial chamber ii granted the prosecutions request and an investigation was initiated thereafter. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the. Simply dangled ethnic violence by both kenyan and international media, the violence that almost brought kenya to a standstill after the 2007 general election is a. The postelection violence in kenya domestic and international. Many kenyan bloggers were critical of the role of the mainstream media. Kenya experiences displacement as a result of various factors. Ongoing abuses several incidents that occurred after the post election violence suggest that in spite of. The government and the opposition have agreed on a political framework to address the post election violence. Nov 09, 2011 this paper examines how the kenyan police responded to the 200708 crisis of post election violence.
The independent variable is the nature of political mobilization. Commission of inquiry into the post election violence. A coalition government headed by the former president mwai kibaki and raila odinga the two candidates claiming that each had won the presidential election. Of the over 1,100 people killed during the 2007 post election violence, over 400 were shot by police in the nyanza region. An analysis of the post 2007 general election conflict. Political violence in kenya united states international. According to government records, some constituencies were not recorded however therefore the number is set to be higher. Also aft er the coming of independence in 1963, kenya s political history was marked by violent uprising and repression. Post election violence pev the political violence experienced in kenya after disputed 2007 general elections. The fighting resulted in 1,3 casualties, at least 350,000 internally displaced persons idps, approximately 2,000 refugees, significant, but unknown, numbers of sexual violence victims, and the destruction of 117,216 private properties and 491 governmentowned. According to the agreement the final goal of that political dialogue is to achieve sustainable peace, stability and justice through the rule of law and respect for human rights. Ethnicbased violence has a long history in the country, fueled by grievances over land, privilege, and inequality.
Pdf older people in slum settings are a vulnerable subgroup during crises, yet have received minimal attention in the development discourse. There were limited books about the issue this being a recent event, but most information was gotten from the onli ne news and reports. First is the perception of historic marginalization by certain ethnic groups as a. Newspaper coverage of post political election violence in. This article examines newspaper reports of the post 2007 presidential election violence in kenya and finds a contrast to the rwandan model.
Ruto, who were allegedly the antagonistic masterminds behind the post election violence. The media in africa are often indicted for being partly responsible for the conflicts and tensions in the continent, and the role of the radio in escalating the 1994. In this study, the dependent variable is the election related political violence. It has also been a time when the actions of kenyans and their political leaders have shown clearly that tribalism in kenya is real and is one of the significant issues. The role of kenyas private sector in peacebuilding. Conflict analysis of 2007 postelection violence in kenya.
Status factor the social position of an individual in society based on hisher influence, wealth, ability, education, etc. Preventing postelection violence based on the kenyan. Pdf postelection crisis in kenya and internally displaced. Roberts september, 2009 abstract kenya has been riddled with conflict and violence throughout its brief history as a nation. The specific objectives were to explore the causes of the post election violence, to establish the extent to which media escalated andor deescalated violence, and to assess the impact of media reports on post election violence. It provides a critical reevaluation of the wellknown argument of the police being political instruments of the regime of the day. Susan stigant is a senior program officer in usips center for governance, law, and society. The african union and kenyas constitutionbuilding process. About the authors the lead author, claire elder, worked as a consultant with international crisis groups horn of africa project in nairobi, kenya, where she monitored and researched the 20 kenyan general elections. The result of the outbreak of violence was loss of life, destruction of property and displacement of populations. Newspaper coverage of post political election violence in africa. Department of peace and conflict research, uppsala university. The kenyan postelection violence had negative impacts on older slum dwellers wellbeing.
A moi university, department of history and political science, p. Accepted 3 may, 20 based on primordial and essentialist theories of ethnicity, the paper critically interrogates the trajectory. The kenyan commission of inquiry into postelection violence. In the aftermath of the elections held in december of 2007, kenya burst into flames.
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