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KNCHR report indicts top Kenya officials

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 17 – The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has published a final report which names seven Cabinet Ministers, and 10 Members of Parliament as perpetrators of the post election violence that rocked Kenya last year.

KNCHR chairperson Florence Jaoko said on Friday that the report would be presented to the government.

"It is now a document that is available at the Commission and we will give to the Kenyan government and other organisations interested in the report," she said.

She said the report – whose contents we cannot disclose in detail due to legal bottlenecks – is the same that the Commission handed over to the Waki Commission during its hearings. A copy was also sent to the government at the time.

Ms Jaoko said she was unable to confirm whether those listed by the Commission were the same individuals in the Waki envelope that is now with the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

"We don’t know whether it is the same list because we only gave our evidence and other people too gave their evidence.  So we don’t know who is on the Waki list," she said.

Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta has already moved to the High Court to have his name expunged from the list.

In the documents lodged in court, Mr Kenyatta complained that the KNCHR compiled its report without according him a hearing, which goes against the principles of natural justice.

Also listed in the report released on Friday are top security officials, police officers, religious leaders, chiefs, several vernacular radio stations who are accused of engineered of the post election violence.

In total, there are 219 persons and organisations named in the report.

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Ms Jaoko said they came up with the list following thorough investigations based on interviews collected from the members of public especially in the most affected areas like Rift Valley and Nyanza Provinces.

Due to the big number of perpetrators, KNCHR said it was important for Kenya to form a Local Tribunal to ensure all those named face the law.

Nairobi Lawyer Betty Murungi told Capital News on Wednesday that the debate of choosing between The Hague and a Local Tribunal was futile.

"It’s neither or not, a Local Tribunal is the solution.  The Hague will only deal on a handful of perpetrators leaving many others to go free, we also don’t know when Kenya’s case will be acted upon,"

She said it would add value if Kenya builds an institution to deal with impunity more intensively.

The Cabinet remains divided over the tribunal and possible prosecution of the suspects at the ICC.

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