[kictanet] I stand by the helpless-PEACE CAMPAIGN

[Alex Gakuru]

Dear All,

In the same breath forwarding 23-odd Civil Society organisations'
signed views just received on ke-users list. We need everybody saying
something. All the is need and your opinion counts. Guys, it's your
opportunity to help fix your country. Say something.....

Regards,

Alex

----Begin forward ----

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Kenyans For Peace, Truth, Justice


We speak in the name of Kenya's governance, human rights and legal
organizations, as well as the concerned citizens who have contacted
and chosen to work with us over the last week.

We strongly condemn the violence that has erupted across the country
following the questionable outcomes of the counting and tallying done
under the electoral process. We express our deepest sympathy to all
those who have been injured, raped or killed, those who have lost
property, those who have been internally displaced as well as those
who continue to live in fear. We are only too acutely aware that the
survivors and victims continue to be those with the most to lose from
the violence as well as those who least deserve to experience it—
Kenya's impoverished women and men in both low-income urban areas as
well as in rural areas.

We are aware that the violence experienced has taken three primary
forms. First, disorganized protest at the supposed results of the
presidential tally. Second, instigated and organized militia activity
particularly in the Rift Valley, but also through the re-activation
of Mungiki in Central and Nairobi and, now,Chinkororo in Nyanza. And
third, extraordinary use of force by Kenya's Police Force and General
Service Unit to the extent of extrajudicial executions violating the
most fundamental of freedoms and human rights—the rights to life and
the safety and security of persons. We strongly condemn all three forms.

We note that the violence experienced is being used to legitimize the
curtailing of the most basic of freedoms and human rights—the
freedoms of expression, assembly and association. These freedoms and
human rights are guaranteed by international law, regional law and
our own Constitution. They must be upheld at all times—especially as
the exercise of these freedoms and human rights is the only way for
Kenyans to legally and legitimately express their protest at the
alleged presidential outcome of the electoral process. We believe
that the repression and suppression of legal and legitimate forms of
protest can only perpetuate further violence.

It is also clear to us that, at the heart of the violence now being
experienced, is a violation of other fundamental freedoms and rights
directly related to the electoral processes. It is clear that the
electoral anomalies and malpractices experienced during the counting
and tallying of our electoral process were so grave as to alter its
outcomes. Some of those electoral anomalies and malpractices were, in
addition, illegal—thus rendering the supposed presidential outcome
not only illegitimate but also illegal. We therefore consider Mwai
Kibaki to be in office still on his first term.

Our hope lies in Kenyans standing up against the travesty that has
been made of the electoral process. Our hope lies in Kenyans who
have, at great personal risk, and without regard to ethnicity, on
principle provided security, shelter and safe passage to those
Kenyans targeted by the militia activity in the Rift Valley and
elsewhere. We note the domestic humanitarian efforts coordinated by
the National Council of Churches of Kenya with statistical support
from the Catholic Relief Services—efforts to which many individual
Kenyans and Kenyan businesses have now associated themselves. We note
too the domestic peace initiatives being worked on by Amani Focus,
the 'Ibrahim group' (including Ambassador Kiplagat and General
Sumbweiyo) and Peacenet. And we now invite other concerned citizens
to join the 'peace through truth and justice' efforts being carried
out by domestic governance, human rights and legal organizations.

In particular, we would like to call on:

1. All efforts and initiatives to consistently stress that peace
cannot and will not be achieved without electoral truth and justice;

2. All Kenyans to stand up to be counted not just for peace but also
for electoral truth and justice;

3. The state to respect and uphold the rights to the freedoms of
expression, assembly and association so as to ensure Kenyans protest
only legally, legitimately and non-violently;

4. All politicians and political parties to immediately desist from
the re-activation, support and use of militia organizations such as
those active in the Rift Valley, Mungiki and Chinkororo;

5. The Ministry of Internal Security, the Police Force and the
General Service Unit to exercise their duties within the boundaries
of the Constitution and the law and desist from any extraordinary use
of force and, in particular, extrajudicial executions;

6. The Electoral Commission of Kenya to immediately resign for having
participated in and condoned a presidential electoral process so
flawed as to result in our nation's current crisis;

7. African states and the rest of the international community to
pressurize for mediation between the Party of National Unity and the
Orange Democratic Movement on addressing the electoral travesty that
has occurred;

8. The mediation process to, as its first priority, agree upon an
interim electoral oversight body to conduct a forensic audit into the
polling, counting and tallying process with a view to recommending,
depending on its findings, a re-count, a re-tallying or a re-run
within a specified time period;

9. African states and the rest of the international community to, in
the interim, deny official recognition to the man sworn in as President;

10. African states and the rest of the international community to
immediately revoke any and all visas for any and all of the PNU's and
ODM's leadership—as well as all of their immediate family members—to
ensure they remain in this country to resolve the electoral travesty
that has occurred;

11. The man sworn in as President to desist from announcing a Cabinet
and otherwise aggravating and inflaming the current violence.

Signed:

Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG)
Awaaz
Centre for Law and Research International (CLARION)
Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD)
Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness for Women (CREAW)
(CRADLE)
Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO)
East African Law Society (EALS)
Haki Focus
Hema la Katiba
Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU)
Innovative Lawyering
Institute for Education in Democracy (IED)
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya)
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Kenya Leadership Institute (KLI)
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
Kituo cha Sheria
Media Institute
Muslim Human Rights Forum
National Constitution Executive Council (NCEC)
Society for International Development (SID)
Urgent Action Fund (UAF)-Africa
Youth Agenda