Genocide expert asks Kenya to end violence

The post-electoral crisis in Kenya has taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent days with violence claiming many more lives and hampering relief efforts by United Nations agencies and their partners, further worsening an already dire situation.
In the last four days, at least 19 people have been killed in Naivasha and 12 people had been killed in Nakuru following violent massacres and the torching of houses. Nearly 700 people are believed to have been killed in the violence, which first began a few weeks ago after last year’s disputed presidential results declaring President Mwai Kibaki over opposition leader Raila Odinga.
The Lake Naivasha Country Club hotel’s front lawn has been a refugee camp for a group of Luo families who have not eaten anything since they arrived. In the meantime, out front, a large gang of Kikuyus gathers around the clock with makeshift weapons, aiming to kill those Luos hiding inside. It was terrifying to see such a thing and recalls harrowingly the scenes in the movie Hotel Rwanda.
And yesterday there were reports that leaflets had been dropped in the estates along the road from Naivasha to Nairobi, ordering all non-Kikuyus to leave immediately. Later in the day violence erupted in Kikuyu township a predominantly kikuyu area in the outskirts of the capital, Nairobi where a number of mungiki followers who were terrorizing the residents were arrested.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in Kigali on Tuesday that he was deeply concerned by the situation in Kenya, the mounting death toll, and the ethnic clashes.
Responding to questions in a joint press conference with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Mr. Ban said he had discussed the situation that morning by telephone with former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is leading the mediation effort in Kenya as part of the African Union (AU) Panel of Eminent Personalities.
The Secretary-General added that he is going to meet tomorrow on recent developments in Kenya with African leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the AU summit.
Earlier on, The United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide had called for an immediate halt to the destructive cycle of attacks and revenge attacks in Kenya, where post-electoral violence continues to claim lives, and announced plans to dispatch a staff member there.
Francis Deng urged national and local leaders on all sides to publicly call for an end to the violence and to statements inciting violence.
Mr. Deng is dispatching one of his staff members to Kenya as soon as possible to examine the situation, Ms. Okabe added.
Noting that political and community leaders may be held accountable for violations of international law committed at their instigation, Mr. Deng urged them to meet their responsibility to protect the civilian population and prevent the violence.
Mr Deng echoed High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour in calling on the Kenyan Government to abide by its international human rights obligations in responding to demonstrations, including holding police accountable for their actions.
Security hindering assistance
But as different organizations make an effort to provide humanitarian assistance, it has been reported that the security situation continues to hinder the delivery of aid to assist those affected. Though local and internation NGOs continue to distribute food to displaced Kenyans and slum dwellers, many of them have cancelled food distribution in the slum areas of Nairobi because of security concerns.
The distribution of food, which began last Thursday, was targeting over 73,000 people in 13 sites around Nairobi but according to World Food Programs, WFP’s, Christiane Berthiaume, said the situation was “grave” in the slums areas as most people had lost their houses as well as their work.
Humanitarian organizations are facing a similar challenges in the Rift Valley Province, where a planned food distribution to Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, that began on Friday was also interrupted. Insecurity was also threatening the transport of food supplies, with truck drivers refusing to leave Mombasa.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the worsening security situation in various parts of Kenya’s Rift Valley province has hindered access to IDPs. Only on Tuesday UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called off a planned evacuation of up to 400 people from Timboroa, an area some 60 kilometres from the town of Eldoret, where some 11,000 fresh IDPs have fled following weekend attacks on their homes.
“UNHCR had expected to work with IOM and other agencies to register IDPs wishing to leave the area and explain to them their options regarding evacuation,” UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond told reporters. He added that a similar evacuation of IDPs from Naivasha was also shelved for now owing to the security situation.