AMBASSADOR HIGHLIGHTS NEED TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST

UNCLAS NAIROBI 003675 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/E AND AF/PD FOR C. ANYASO AND G. GARLAND LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOVPHUMKPAO KE SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR HIGHLIGHTS NEED TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ¶1. A week ago, Flora Tera, a woman who is competing in Meru in central Kenya to be the candidate for Parliament for a pro-government party, was severely beaten by a gang of thugs. The circumstances make clear that the gang deliberately sought to intimidate her from campaigning. Her leg was broken, a back disk was fractured, and she was forced to eat excrement smeared into her hair. The gang made clear to her that they were not there to rob her. This incident appears to have been a follow-up to an attack one week before during which she was burned with cigarettes. ¶2. Tera is competing against David Mwiraria, the former Minister of Finance who resigned from that position in February 2006 amid public revelations that he was involved in the cover-up of the infamous Anglo-Leasing corruption cases. A close personal friend of President Mwai Kibaki, he was brought back into Cabinet as Minister for Environment in July 2007. Tera poses a serious challenge to Mwiraria because her family has substantial resources to back her campaign. While it is by no means clear that Mwiraria orchestrated this attack, at a minimum it was overzealous action by supporters. ¶3. Unfortunately, violence against women political candidates is widespread in Kenya, and has been so for many years. The U.S. Mission is active in the fight against such violence through an array of programs, including through USAID, electoral assistance programs, and public outreach. ¶4. On September 12, the Ambassador visited Tera in the hospital. She welcomed the visit and specifically asked that media accompany the Ambassador. She is defiant and has vowed to continue her campaign. The bedside visit was extensively covered by the media. The Ambassador strongly denounced such violence and made clear that there must be zero tolerance for election-related violence. He called on government leaders, including the President, and politicians across the spectrum to denounce the violence. He urged rapid action to investigate the incident and to bring the perpetrators to justice. The Ambassador also indicated that he will follow up during a previously planned visit to Meru the week of September 16. ¶5. Interestingly, when he learned of the Ambassador's visit, Mwiraria rushed to the hospital, arriving just as the Ambassador was leaving Tera's room. He elbowed his way into the room just as the Ambassador was concluding his visit to Tera. He subsequently appeared downstairs just as the Ambassador was finishing his press conference. When he sat down next to the Ambassador, the Ambassador told the press that Mwiraria's presence provided a timely opportunity to denounce the violence. Literally looking like a deer caught in the headlights, Mwiraria made the obligatory statement against violence, though not enthusiastically. Following the Ambassador's visit, Tera was visited by a parade of politicians from all major parties. ¶6. The Ambassador's visit received huge coverage on all local radio stations. Most visibly, the two major, private TV stations that evening devoted five minutes of their 30-minute news programs to the event, which generated a lot of public censure and demands for immediate investigation - to the point that the police investigator in Meru was dispatched to take Ms. Tera's statement in the hospital. ¶7. In a previously arranged program, the Ambassador will be visiting Ms. Tera's constituency in Meru during a swing through the Central Province, where he will ask further about the investigation into this extraordinary - or perhaps all too ordinary - occurrence. ¶8. Begin text of Ambassador's remarks at the Nairobi Women's Hospital on 09/12/2007: I came here today because I read about what happened to this woman candidate for Parliament, Flora Tera. What happened to her is outrageous, it is shameful, it is unacceptable in a democratic society. Period! I came here to make that clear and to express my support for her to be a candidate for office. I did not come to endorse her candidacy; I came to endorse her right to be a candidate, and to be free from violence and intimidation. No one, no women, no one at all should be subject to intimidation and violence in an electoral campaign. Now when I spoke on the elections in May, I laid out some principles that we thought should be followed in order to have free and fair elections. One of those principles was zero, zero tolerance for violence. That principle has been violated, and I indicated that on partial problems I would speak out. I said we would be strictly neutral, not favoring any candidate, but we were not neutral on the process and that if there were problems in the process, we would speak out, and so I am speaking out today. In my view, the leaders of this government, from the top down, and politicians of all stripes should be speaking out to denounce what happened to this woman; in fact they should have already done so. And if they don't speak out, then the Kenyan people ought to be asking questions about why they are not. The other point I would make, is that this incident must be investigated thoroughly, it must be investigated quickly, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice to make an example of people who tried to intimidate others. In Kenya, I am still very positive about the electoral process. I do believe it's going to be a positive process. But in order for it to be truly, free and fair and open, this kind of violence and intimidation has to be stopped immediately and quickly. This is a point where people can rally; they can use this tragic situation to ensure that it does not happen again. Let me just say this is not an isolated case. I have met with women parliamentarians and other women candidates for office and I am afraid that this sort of intimidation and violence is not isolated. This happens to be a case that has gotten lot of publicity, but it is not the first this sort of thing has happened. I have said that I consider the need to promote general equity of very important step in building democracy in Kenya. Women must be free to participate fully in the political and economic processes of the country, they must be free of intimidation, we have to have the rule of law. You cannot have democracy; you cannot have an open electoral process without respect for the rule of law. I am going to be going out to Meru and Embu on a previously planned trip. This is a trip I planned over a month ago, but I will be going up there and when I go up there I am going to be asking the provincial commissioner that I am going to be asking the police authorities what is the status of the investigation, have the perpetrators been caught, and if so, why not? If there was ever a case for urgent action should be taken it's this one, and any reporter who wants to join me in that trip is welcome to join me while I ask the questions, and wait for the response. So, this is an opportunity, I did not invite the minister, but am glad that he showed up, this is an opportunity for him to denounce this violence in the strongest possible terms. I am personally outraged by this, and on behalf of my government, I am outraged and angry about it. We will be waiting to see what steps to take to find the perpetrators. We will be waiting to see what the top levels of this government have to say condemning this kind of activity. Now the other thing I want to add, is that in view of this violence, we are going to be finding some extra assistance to provide for the electoral process, which will be aimed at combating this sort of violence and intimidation. We are still working out the details of that, so I can't tell you precisely how much it will be, but I can assure you, that we will be doing that, and we will continue to follow the electoral process very, very closely. Thank you. End text. RANNEBERGER