NAIROBI, Kenya July 5-Amnesty International wants government officials who failed to prevent the Shakahola massacre held responsible for the deaths of more than 300 people whose bodies have been exhumed.
The organisation’s Executive Director Houghton Irungu said tyhe Senate ad-hoc committee investigating the matter should make tough recommendations to ensure guarantee justice for the victims and prevent a repeat of the same.
“The Senate must recommend clear recommendations that hold Government officers and civilians who are responsible for the system’s human rights lapses in Shakahola directly accountable. With government local leadership and intelligence agencies, the Shakahola massacre should not have occurred,” he said when he appeared before the Senate team on Wednesday.
He also urged the Senate Adhoc Committee to avoid a knee-jerk reaction to the ongoing investigation of the Shakahola massacre urging them to frame their recommendations within the international legal framework.
The lobby group emphasized that the far-reaching recommendation should not infringe on the realization of freedoms and rights enshrined in the constitution.
More than 300 bodies have been exhumed from shallow graves in Shakahola forest where people were forced to starve to death so as to “meet Jesus” in the worst religious cult activities in Kenya linked to Paul Mackenzie.
“Amnesty International Kenya does not call for further limitation of the freedom of conscience, belief, religion, and opinion,” Amensty’s Irungu Houghton, the Executive Director said.
However, he said, “Should this committee decide to explore legal measures, they should observe, promote, protect, respect, and fulfill the right to the widest extent.”
He blamed the government for failing to protect the citizenry and prevent the violation of human rights calling for an investigation into the state lapses with criminal culpability instituted.
Amnesty told the Senator Danston Mungatana-led committee that security agencies should foster to build their capacities to ensure early detection and timely response to such vices.
The Executive Director pointed out that premature dropping and abandonment of trials that contravene the law have led to catastrophic incidences.
“State agencies should also utilise existing criminal laws to lawfully initiate prosecution of religious leaders who go beyond lawful limits in exercising freedom of religion. These cases should be prosecuted in accordance with the law and constitutional principles on fair trial to the end,” Irungu said.
The civil society group encouraged the government to fund civic education saying civic intelligence is an effective way of countering prejudice and religious extremism.
“The country has left civic education and CVE programming to non-Kenyan donors to fund. We have now suffered catastrophically for this.Balancing the right to life and safety with the freedom of worship,” he noted.
While the Shakahola deaths triggered the whole process, the terms of reference of the Adhoc committee will go beyond what happened in Shakahola.
Senators have the mandate to address the entire gamut of issues surrounding the registration and regulations of religious organizations
Questions have been raised about how Mackenzie, a father of seven, managed to evade law enforcement despite a history of extremism and previous legal cases.
The horrific saga has stunned Kenyans and led President William Ruto to set up a commission of inquiry into the deaths and a task force to review regulations governing religious bodies.
Efforts to regulate religion in the majority-Christian country have been fiercely opposed in the past as attempts to undermine constitutional guarantees for the division of church and state.
