The new coalition government has been urged to bring to justice individuals responsible for the past episodes of the political violence, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released on March 17. The new coalition government can help stabilize the country by bringing to justice the organizers of violence on all sides.

The 81-page report, “Ballots to Bullets: Organised Political Violence and Kenya’s Crisis of Governance,” documents how hundreds of lives were lost due to organised political and ethnic violence sparked by irregularities in the December 2007 presidential election. The report also describes unlawful killings by the Kenyan police, who used excessive force in responding to demonstrations, killing hundreds of people.

“For the new government to function well and earn the people’s trust, it needs to first heal the wounds by prosecuting those behind the violence,” said Georgette Gagnon, African director at Human Rights Watch. “Inciting violence along ethnic lines almost destroyed Kenya. The government now has a chance to repair those fractures.”

The election- related violence shocked Kenyans and the world leaving more than 1,000 people dead and 500,000 people displaced from their homes. On February 28, 2008, an agreement between the ruling party and the opposition paved the way for a coalition government, a commission of inquiry into the violence and a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission looking at historical injustices.

The report documents serious abuses in the worst affected areas of Kenya- Nairobi, Nyanza, Western, and Rift Valley provinces-during the clashes in January and February 2008. Residents of Rift Valley communities loyal to opposition attacked perceived pro-government supporters when victory was announced for the incumbent President Mwai Kibaki, says the report. It states further that Kikuyu militia later retaliated.  Much of the ethnic-based violence, the report quoting eye witness accounts, says the violence was organised by leaders, politician, and businessmen from all sides.

The rights watchdog also investigated the use of excessive force by police that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of protesters and innocent bystanders. In one instance says the report, police admitted using lethal force to control crowds in Kisumu, resulting in the deaths of more than 30 people.

The causes of the skirmishes is attributable to systematic problems of governance such as corruption, arbitrary land-seizure, and organised political violence, the report notes, although many observers were surprised by the speed and scale of the violence.

Human Rights Watch called on the new coalition government to support the various inquiries established under the February 2008 mediation process to investigate abuses by state forces and those responsible for the violence.

“Kenya’s leaders, Kenyan civil society, and international actors deserve praise for uniting and bringing the country back from the brink,” said Gagnon. “But the hard work starts now. Confronting long-ignored human rights violations and historical injustices means and prosecution.”