By Korir, Chief editor, API

The prosecution has just implicated former President Daniel arap Moi in the chaos that took many lives in Kenya during the post-election violence.

African Press International Video: Uhuru Kenyatta arrives ICC for Day 2 hearings

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Telling the court that Uhuru has been a member of Mungiki, the prosecution claimed that the former president mandated Mungiki to help Uhuru Kenyatta ascend to power by all means possible.

The prosecution was hard on the defence today. They chose a different approach. If the evidence is to be believed, then one can say they scored points in cleverly putting their details across. The problem, however, is the questionable credibility of the witnesses they are referring to when putting their points across. These are anonymous witness and according to the defence, they are people who have misled the prosecution for the sake of money and other favours.

They were detailed in their presentation which started at 14.30 hours Hague time. They will also proceed with the same tomorrow.

<Ambassador Francis Muthaura.

They told the court that Mr Francis Muthaura and Uhuru Kenyatta created an organization using the money that they had and that the organization was used  to infringe people’s rights.

The prosecution stated that Mr Muthaura created an environment for committing crimes. They told the court that suspect number 3, Hussein Ali in an earlier statement written in Nairobi stated that he was reporting to Mr Muthaura when he was the commissioner of Police.

This is something that the defence reacted to yesterday by stating that the police is under the Internal Security Ministry and not Muthaura’s office. The prosecution wants the court to believe that Muthaura had the full control over the police while Uhuru Kenyatta had power over Mungiki.

<General Mohammed Hussein Ali

By saying Ali was reporting to Muthaura, they are also insinuating that the same Ali was receiving orders from him, a calculated move to tie Mr Muthaura to the murders.

According to the prosecution, Muthaura gave orders that the police should not interfere with Mungiki who according to the same prosecution were sent out to kill and displace the Kalenjins, Luos and Luhyas living in Naivasha and Nakuru areas.

The prosecution did not stop there. She continued to say that the Mungiki militia forcefully circumcised Luos in Kabati area. The prosecution witness told according ot the prosecutor narrated how he was forced to seek refuge in Naivasha police station while others went o the Naivasha prison because they feared for their lives.

This point is a very interesting one. How can the same police purported to be under orders from Mr Muthaura and Ali to kill, give refuge to the witness and others from a tribe that was supposed to be killed. This is a clear mix up far from the truth that indicates the statements are not genuine, thus the need by the defence and the court to cross-examine such a witness.

< Hon. Mr Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta

According to one anonymous prosecution witness, Mr Kenyatta distributed 3.3 million Kenya shillings to each person that attended a meeting to plan the murders, rape and eviction of non Kikuyus particularly the Kalenjins and the Luos in the said regions.

The accusation is out of proportion. If the Chief prosecutor Mr Ocampo wants to be a dignified man, he should instruct the prosecutors presenting the evidence to shed more light into the witnesses they are using, and enable the court and the defence to cross-examine them.

By not helping to discover the whole truth, the prosecution is abusing its powers. And that serves no justice to the suspects in this case.

End

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uhuru kenyatta, anonymous witness, election violence, commissioner of police, and president daniel.

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By Korir, Chief editor, API

His lawyers, during their opening statements wanted to know why the General has been brought to court since Ocampo has been mean in disclosing the real charges and witnesses against Ali. John Philpot wanted to know why the prosecutor had dragged Ali to court to answer false charges.

African Press International video: General Hussein Ali arrives at the ICC to face Ocampo

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The lawyers Monari and Philpot told the court that Ali did not contribute to killings in Kenya. Instead, he did what he could to stop the violence when it erupted. According to the prosecution, Ali was neglected to his duties after being requested to do so by Ambassador Francis Muthaura, the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service. He is accused by the prosecution of allowing criminals to kill and displace people without ordering his men and women to stop them.

However, The lawyers disagree with the prosecution. They told the court that Ali gave instructions to his men and women to provide safety to the people and to safeguard their property, noting that no police force in the world can stop all the violence at once when it erupts spontaneously as it did in the case of Kenya.

Ocampo has been accused of malice having brought this case and by relying only on written statements by anonymous individuals whose interest is to destroy the lives of the suspects, without regard for justice.

The court heard that Ali is a man who has served his country in pride and with dedication. 

He should not even be here at all, counsel Philpot told the court in an emotional tone.

End

Photo: Natalie Bailey/IRIN

Kathmandu Valley is largely unprepared for earthquakes

KATHMANDU,  – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake on 18 September in northeastern India which also caused deaths in parts of Nepal and China, serves as a stark warning to the earthquake-prone region, experts say.

“This is a wake-up call for many, for all of those indifferent to earthquakes,” Amod Mani Dixit, executive director of Nepal’s National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET), told IRIN in Kathmandu.

“I am happy the earthquake took place, though I am sorry for the loss of life. I feel earthquakes are being forgotten. Now they are saying, ‘Don’t forget me’.”

Reports say dozens of people were killed in the region – including 16 in India, six in Nepal and seven in Tibet. Scores more were reportedly injured by the quake, which was felt as far away as Delhi and parts of Bangladesh. The tremor was felt across 20 districts of Nepal.

The main affected districts included Sankhuwasabha, Taplejung, Ilam, Dhankuta, Pachthar, Sunsari, Okhaldhunga in the Eastern Region, and Bhaktapur in the central region, Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Centre within the Ministry of Home Affairs reported on 19 September.

The tremor in Kathmandu, though relatively mild, brought people onto the capital’s streets, 272km west of the epicentre in India’s mountainous Sikkim State.

Some residents leapt from windows, a reaction experts say reinforces the need for greater preparedness – in particular what to do and what not to do before, during and after an earthquake.

“This generation has never experienced an earthquake like this before,” said Umesh Prasad Dhakal, executive director of the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRC), urging the need for increased earthquake preparedness and awareness.

Kathmandu Valley has a history of major earthquakes every 70-80 years. The last big quake (8.1 on the Richter scale) was in 1934 and killed 10,700 people. Scientists say major seismic activity is inevitable; the city has been bracing itself for “a big one” for years.

According to NSET, if an earthquake of the same magnitude that struck Haiti in January 2010 were to hit Kathmandu, some 200,000 people would die, 200,000 would be severely injured, some 1.5 million would be made homeless, and 60 percent of homes would be damaged beyond repair.

And while some experts believe the 18 September quake was a seismic energy release which could help avoid such a scenario, others warn against complacency.

“At the moment we are not very sure whether or not this will be repeated,” said Rita Dhakal, humanitarian affairs specialist with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “Regardless, this is a signal for Nepal to be prepared.”

Nepal’s most recent big earthquake was 6.8 on the Richter scale in 1988 and killed 721 people.

“We were lucky this time the tremor was mild. If it was a stronger earthquake the destruction could have been massive,” the NRC’s Umesh Prasad Dhakal said.

Over 16 major earthquakes have struck Nepal since 1223, the last occurring in 1988, according to the 2009 Nepal Disaster Report by the government of Nepal and the Disaster Preparedness Network-Nepal (DPNET).

nb/ds/cb source www.irinnews.org

NAKURU,  – Health officials are on high alert after three cases of the Wild Polio Virus Type 1 were recently recorded in western Kenya.

“Even if one case is detected, it is considered an outbreak as the virus can spread really fast,” Shahnaaz Sharif, the Director of Public Health and Sanitation, told IRIN.

The virus, detected in three children in the Kamagambo area of Rongo District, Western Province, is similar to one found in Uganda’s Bugiri District in 2010, according to Sharif.

The virus is most commonly associated with paralysis, and on average, one person in every 200 infected develops irreversible paralysis usually of the lower limbs, said Sharif.

Though polio is targeted for eradication in Kenya, there have been sporadic outbreaks, with cases reported in the northern Garissa and Turkana districts in 2006 and 2009, respectively.

The outbreaks were linked to ongoing polio circulation in neighbouring Somalia and Southern Sudan, according to the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation.

In 2009-2010, 23 previously polio-free countries were re-infected due to imports of the virus, according to the UN World Health Organization.

“Polio is big to fight against but the government and other stakeholders will do all [they] can in a bid to eradicate this deadly virus,” said Sharif.

A massive immunization campaign is planned in Rongo and neighbouring Homabay, Kisii, Kisumu, Nyamira, Migori and Transmara districts.

“We are targeting at least 1.8 million children aged below five years as we do not want to take [the] chances of letting the virus spread even further,” he said. “There are 200 carriers in every one case detected.”

Epidemiologists have also been dispatched to the region to sensitize health workers about the virus, with parents being urged to seek medical care for children with symptoms such as fever, fatigue, vomiting and stiffness in the neck.

Polio is preventable through a vaccine given multiple times.

rk/aw/mw source www.irinnews.org

BANGKOK,  – Australia’s resumed push to swap asylum-seekers arriving by boat with refugees from Malaysia is the government’s most recent policy response to an issue that has preoccupied officials and the public for years.

Under the so-called “Malaysia Solution”, Australia would exchange the next 800 refugees to arrive by boat for 4,000 mostly Burmese, in Malaysia. On 31 August, the High Court ruled against it, declaring the proposal invalid, a decision welcomed by rights groups such as the Refugee Council of Australia.

According to government figures, since 1976, more than 27,000 people have boarded boats and attempted to emigrate to Australia, a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. 

IRIN considers how the debate has developed:

27 April 1976: The first boat arrivals – five refugees from Vietnam – land in Darwin. Over the next five years, more than 2,000 Vietnamese boat arrivals are reported and the term “boat people” enters the Australian vernacular;

24 May 1977: The first comprehensive policy for refugees, rather than just migrants, is announced in Parliament;

1977-1978: The government increases the number of Indochinese refugees accepted for resettlement from camps in Southeast Asia, to discourage people from arriving by boat. Federal-funded services for new arrivals, such as language classes and resource centres, are expanded;

1981: The government introduces a resettlement programme for people who are not strictly refugees under the UN convention. The Special Humanitarian Programme provides resettlement for people living outside their home country who are subjected to human rights violations and who have family or community ties to Australia;

11 March 1983: Australian Labor Party (ALP) leader Bob Hawke becomes the 23rd prime minister;

1983: The Hawke government endorses UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) proposal for the Indochinese refugee situation: voluntary repatriation; social integration in the country of first asylum; and as only the last resort, resettlement in third countries such as Australia;

June 1989: Australia and 77 other countries endorse a new regional approach, the Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indochinese Refugees. It requires the first asylum countries in Southeast Asia to grant temporary refugee status to all asylum-seekers before screening them against internationally recognized criteria for refugees. Those accepted as refugees are resettled in third countries;

November 1989: Second wave of boat arrivals begins. An average of 300 people per year, mostly from Cambodia, Vietnam and southern China, arrive in Australia over the next nine years;

20 December 1991: ALP leader Paul Keating becomes 24th prime minister;

6 May 1992: Mandatory detention is introduced for non-citizens arriving to Australia without a visa;

1 September 1994: Mandatory detention is broadened, under the Migration Reform Act 1992;

11 March 1996: Conservative leader John Howard becomes 25th prime minister;

1999: Third wave of asylum seekers, mostly from the Middle East, begins arriving in larger numbers and usually with help from smugglers;

Photo: Lynn Maung/IRIN

Most refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia are from Myanmar

13 October: Refugees who arrive in Australia without authorization can no longer apply for permanent residency. Instead, they are granted temporary protection visas (TPVs) valid for three years, and then must apply for refugee status again. TPVs, which provide less access to government services, are criticized as creating two classes of refugees;

February and June 2000: Protests at Curtin and Woomera detention centres over slow processing and poor conditions. In 2001, protests and violence occur at Port Hedland and Curtin detention centres, while detainees escape from Villawood detention centre;

26 August 2001: Canberra denies permission for a Norwegian cargo ship – the MV Tampa – carrying 438 mainly-Afghan refugees it rescued, to enter Australian waters, prompting international condemnation. Most of the refugees are eventually taken to detention camps on Nauru, in what would become known as “The Pacific Solution”;

27 September: The controversial Pacific Solution is introduced by the Howard government. It excises Christmas Island, Ashmore Reef, Cartier Island and Cocos Islands from the migration zone, meaning unauthorized arrivals at these places can no longer apply for a refugee protection visa. Australian authorities have increased powers to intercept and refuse boats carrying asylum-seekers to Australian waters. After interception, asylum-seekers can be taken to processing centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea;

6 October: A boat carrying 223 passengers and crew sinks after Australian officials try to turn it back to Indonesia. It becomes known as the “children overboard” affair when the government falsely claims that refugees, in an attempt to persuade officials to bring them to Australia, were throwing infants into the water. A Senate Select Committee later finds that “deliberate deception motivated by political expedience” was a factor in the fabrication of the story;

19 October: An Indonesian fishing boat carrying mostly Iraqis and Afghans sinks en route to Australia, killing 353 passengers including 146 children;

24 January 2002: Government lifts a freeze on processing applications from about 2,000 Afghans seeking asylum, after riots and protests that include hunger strikes and detainees sewing their lips together;

24 October: A UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention strongly criticizes Australian detention centres, citing concern over indefinite detention, prison-like conditions, and no real access to court challenges;

May 2004: The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission publishes a report criticizing mandatory detention of children without valid visas; 

6 August: The High Court rules that detention of non-citizens is lawful whether detention conditions are harsh or inhumane. The court also rules that failed asylum-seekers with nowhere to go and who pose no danger can be kept in detention indefinitely;

29 June 2005: The Migration Amendment Act 2005 becomes effective. While preserving the principle of mandatory detention, changes include the release of families with children into community detention arrangements and an extension of the immigration minister’s discretionary power to grant visas;

3 December 2007: Kevin Rudd, leader of the ALP, becomes 26th prime minister.

8 February 2008: Pacific Solution formally ends, with the departure of the last refugees detained in an offshore processing centre on Naura. The Rudd government calls the Pacific Solution “cynical, costly, and ultimately unsuccessful”;

13 May: TPVs are abolished, with the immigration minister calling them punitive and ineffective at preventing unauthorized boat arrivals;

22 May: The UN Committee Against Torture praises the end of the Pacific Solution but calls for an end to mandatory detention; 

29 July: Government announces the overhaul of mandatory detention. The new policy, which was not passed into law, stipulates that people will be detained long term only as a last resort, and children will not be held in immigration detention centres. (Despite the changes, 25 percent of the detainees, as of 3 December 2010, had been detained for between three and six months, and 40 percent for between six and 12 months, according to government figures);

16 April 2009: Five Afghan refugees are killed, and dozens injured, when their boat (SIEV 36) explodes near Christmas Island after an act of sabotage;

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

Many Rohingya have made their way to Australia

8 September: Parliament votes to end detention fees for refugees. Previously, detainees were expected to pay back about US$100 a day;

10 October: Indonesian authorities intercept a boat with more than 250 Sri Lankan Tamils at the request of Australian authorities. A six-month stand-off ensues at the Indonesian port of Merak after they refuse to disembark;

18 October: Australian vessel, the Oceanic Viking, rescues 78 Sri Lankan Tamils and tries to take them to an Indonesian detention centre. The men refuse to leave the ship for a month, sparking a stand-off with Indonesia;

9 April 2010: Government suspends processing of asylum applications from Sri Lanka for three months and Afghanistan for six months. The backlog puts pressure on the immigration detention system;

24 June: Julia Gillard, leader of the ALP, becomes 27th prime minister;

6 July: Gillard announces the ALP government’s intention to build a regional protection framework in the Asia-Pacific, which includes establishing a processing centre in Timor-Leste;

15 December: The SIEV 221 goes aground off the coast of Christmas Island. Up to 50 asylum-seekers drown and 42 people are rescued;

7 January 2011: Government announces changes to the refugee determination system for asylum-seekers who arrive in excised territories in response to a High Court decision. Now, failed asylum-seekers have access to legal review when there is a legal reasoning error or denial of procedural fairness. Unlike those who arrive on the mainland, they still lack access to the Refugee Review Tribunal or the mainland status determination process;

17 January 2011: Australia, Afghanistan and UNHCR sign Memorandum of Understanding allowing for failed Afghan asylum-seekers to be involuntarily returned home;

18 March: The Australian Federal Police take control of a Christmas Island detention centre after a week of protests, rioting and escapes. The unrest is sparked by frustration over slow processing and long stints in detention;

April: In detention centres across Australia, there are protests, hunger strikes, and unrest over spikes in long-term detention. The immigration minister proposes changes to the Migration Act, so that any detainee convicted of a crime would be denied permanent protection on character grounds (currently the conviction must involve a sentence of 12 months or longer);

25 July: In what is dubbed the Malaysia Solution, the government signs a deal with Malaysia to exchange the next 800 refugees it would receive by boat for 4,000 refugees, mostly Burmese, in Malaysia;

19 August: Canberra signs Memorandum of Understanding to re-open a new refugee processing centre on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island;

31 August: The High Court stops the Malaysian Solution, declaring the proposal invalid in a six to one decision. The court finds that certain legal protections required under the Migration Act are not in place in Malaysia, and therefore offshore processing cannot occur;

12 September: Government announces it will introduce legislation to Parliament amending the Migration Act, so that the Malaysian refugee swap can go ahead.

es/ds/mw source www.irinnews.org