Kenya truth commission ‘will recommend prosecutions’

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NAirobi— A long-awaited report investigating violence and human rights abuses in Kenya will recommend some prosecutions, one of its authors has said.

NAirobi— A long-awaited report investigating violence and human rights abuses in Kenya will recommend some prosecutions, one of its authors has said.

—BBC News

Ahmed Sheikh Farah said the Truth Reconciliation and Justice Commission had looked at past injustices going back to independence in 1963.

It was set up following deadly post-election clashes five years ago. Farah said the report would be published once it was formally handed over to new President Uhuru Kenyatta (pictured).

Kenyatta, who won elections in March, has himself been charged by the International Criminal Court with orchestrating some of the violence in 2007/8 when some 1 500 people were killed and more than 300 000 forced to flee their homes. He denies the charges.

The mandate of the commission has been to investigate and recommend appropriate action on human rights abuses committed between Kenyan independence in December 1963 and the end of February 2008 — including politically motivated violence, assassinations, corruption and land disputes.

Farah said the report had been ready to be handed over to the president since May 2 — but the commission had been unable to get an appointment at State House owing to Kenyatta’s busy schedule.

“I’m told by the attorney general that so long as our report is dated 2 May it can be handed over even next week or any other time,” Farah said.

He said he could not reveal details about the recommendations until its formal publication.

But the commission’s mandate meant there had to be an element of justice “to satisfy the victims”, he said.

“It was a victim-centred process, so I think that the victims will be happy with this,” Farah said.

“Some will [face prosecution], we have recommended some people for that, but remember also that we have been centred on reconciliation — healing, unity that kind of focus.”

Farah, who said the report’s recommendations were mandatory, is one of five Kenyans on the commission; three other members come from Ethiopia, the US and Zambia.

The deadline for submitting its report to the country’s president has already been extended once by six months.