Kenya: Courts Far From a Safe Haven

''The low rate of convictions is very worrying...We continue to see violators of women's rights being released and cases of violence against women being quashed,'' said Anne Njogu, executive director of the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness, an organisation based in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that champions women's rights.

{styleboxjp}''I do not think impunity will end if the justice system behaves how it is behaving.''{/styleboxjp}

A recent court case has thrown the concerns of activists into sharp relief.

The accused in the proceedings was sentenced to four and a half years in jail, three strokes of the cane and hard labour after being convicted of rape. However, the verdict was overturned on apeal on grounds of insufficient evidence, with judges questioning why the accuser had not promptly informed her mother or church minister of the alleged crime. She reported the incident in April 1998, four months after the rape had supposedly taken place.

''Of course, the sooner one reports the better, as evidence is much easier to collect then -- as the matters are still fresh in one's mind. However, to imagine that three months after the event is too long as stated by the judges in this matter is not only in bad taste, but also (enables) the miscarriage of justic,'' Njogu, who is challenging the appeal ruling, told IPS. Campaigners maintain that there is no time limit withing which rape has to be reported.

{styleboxjp float=left}There is also concern at reports that magistrates are continuing to give lenient sentences to rapists in contravention of the new sexual offences law{/styleboxjp}.

The 2006 law stipulates a minimum sentence of ten years and maximum punishment of life imprisonment for rape: previously, legislation only stipulated a maximum sentence, leaving the minimum sentence at the discretion of magistrates, who were free to give an offender prison time of just days, or even community service.

''There is no awareness creation among judicial officers. As we speak, the law is not being fully utilised. Copies of the law are not even available in courts, particulary those in remote places,'' Jane Onyango, executive director of the Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya (FIDA-Kenya), told IPS.

Activists argue that the bench's failure to punish rape severely will simply allow the crime to become more widespread.

Reported cases of rape, attempted rape, defilement and incest, and assult against women rose bz 1.4 percent from 11,867 in 2004 to 12,036 in 2005, according to the 2006 Kenya National Human Development Report. The document was released last week in Nairobi by the United Nations Development Programme.

Source: IPS - Inter Press Service News Agency

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