E/CN.4/2000/9/Add.4
page 3
Introduction
1.
Following a request by the Special Rapporteur in January 1996, the Government of
Kenya invited him in 1998 to undertake a fact-finding mission to the country within the
framework of his mandate. The objective of the visit, which took place from 20 to
29 September 1999, was to enable the Special Rapporteur to collect first-hand information from
a wide range of contacts in order to better assess the situation of torture in Kenya. The Special
Rapporteur can therefore recommend to the Government a number of measures to be adopted in
order to comply with its commitments with a view to putting an end to acts of torture and other
forms of ill-treatment.
2.
During his visit the Special Rapporteur held meetings with the following authorities in
Nairobi: President Daniel arap Moi; the Attorney-General, Mr. Amos Wako; the Minister for
Internal Security; the Minister of State in the Office of the President in charge of Security and
Provincial Administration, Mr. Marsden Madoka; the Minister of State in charge of Defence; the
Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sheldon Muchilwa; the Chief Justice,
Mr. Bernard Chunga; the Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service,
Dr. Richard Leakey; the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Philemon Abongo; and the Commissioner
of Prisons, Mr. Edward Lepokoiyot. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Permanent
Secretary of the Minister of Health, Prof. Julius Meme, could not receive him on the occasion of
the appointment scheduled for the purpose. Finally, he also met with several members of the
Standing Committee on Human Rights.
3.
The Special Rapporteur visited the following cities in Kenya besides Nairobi: Nakuru
and Garissa. In both cities the Special Rapporteur met with the provincial authorities, including
the Provincial Commissioner, District Commissioner and the Provincial Police Officer, and
visited police lock-ups. He also visited Nakuru and Garissa GK Prisons, but was denied access
to Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in Nairobi.
4.
The Special Rapporteur also met persons who themselves or whose relatives had
allegedly been victims of torture or other forms of ill-treatment and he received verbal and/or
written information from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the following: the
Independent Medico-Legal Unit, the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, People Against
Torture, and the Commission on Ethnic Violence of the Law Society of Kenya. Finally, he also
met lawyers and medical doctors.
5.
The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the Government of Kenya for having invited him
and for extending full cooperation during his mission, thus making his task much easier. He also
wishes to express his gratitude to the Acting Coordinator of the United Nations Development
Programme and his staff for their logistic and other support.
I. THE PRACTICE OF TORTURE: SCOPE AND CONTEXT
A. General issues
6.
During the course of the past few years (see E/CN.4/1996/35/Add.1, paras. 414-425;
E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.1, paras. 289-307; E/CN.4/1999/61, paras. 426-435), the Special Rapporteur