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ESCR / Reports and Publications / Kenya / 2008 / November

Kenya: Kenya: Alternative Report to the CAT 'Addressing the Economic, Social and cultural Root Causes of Torture in Kenya'

addressing the economic, social and cultural root causes of torture in kenya
44 pages / 341 KB

The purpose of this report is to help eliminate torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment in Kenya by making recommendations to address their economic, social and cultural root causes. It is based on documentation provided by national NGOs and on the information gathered during a preparatory mission that OMCT undertook in Kenya during the month of April 2008.  The mission also included a number of fora, which gave local communities and victims of violence the opportunity to express their views on and experience of these issues for transmission to the Committee against Torture. These fora are referred to in text boxes in this report.

The report describes the extensive violence deriving from deep poverty and inequality that is taking place in Kenya. In this respect, the particular case of Westlands is examined.
It provides information on how the poor, particularly those living in informal settlements, are regularly harassed, forced to pay bribes and arbitrarily arrested by the police. The report demonstrates that Kenyan prisons are predominantly populated by the poor, owing to the unaffordability and inaccessibility for them of justice, and analyses the impact of lack of financial means in terms of overcrowding and unhealthy and inhuman living conditions in Kenyan prisons. The report discusses land conflicts that generate violence and the Government’s inadequate response to address inequitable land distribution. In this respect, the report draws attention to the recent allegations of torture in Mount Elgon District. T
he strong linkages between denials of access to land and violence exacerbate ethnic divisions by increasing tensions, insecurity, dissatisfaction, poverty and powerlessness. Furthermore, the persistence of certain cultural norms, stereotypes and traditions perpetuates discrimination and violence against women and girls in Kenya, and lack of economic and social empowerment prevents women from enjoying their civil and political rights, including access to justice in the case of violence. Poverty is the main cause of the high levels of trafficking in women and girls and sexual exploitation in the country.

The report concludes that the
State is directly responsible for torture and ill-treatment committed against the poorest, for the economic, social and cultural policies that lead to such treatment and for violence against the poor by non-State actors in Kenya.

Properties

Date: November 3, 2008
Activity: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Type: Reports and Publications
Country: Kenya
Subjects: Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, Criminalisation of the poor, Development projects, Indigenous peoples, Justice system, Land and Housing, Minorities and marginalised communities, Police, Military and Paramilitary, Rights of the child, Rural poor, Summary executions, extrajudicial killings, Torture and violence, Urban poor, Women’s rights

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