Leaders failed Kenyans in 2013, report says

A Kenyan anti-riot policeman wrestles with an opposition supporter during post-election demonstrations in Nairobi's Mathare slum on January 17, 2008. Photo/FILE 

In Summary

• The New York-based NGO says there has been “no move toward justice for victims of longstanding patterns of human rights violations by police, including extrajudicial killings, 'enforced disappearances,' torture and other abuses.”

By KEVIN J. KELLEY
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New York

Kenya's new leaders failed to seize opportunities to implement “core reforms” last year, a report has said.

The World Report 2014 released by the Human Rights Watch on Tuesday noted that the year should have been positive for Kenya after the relatively peaceful general election in March.

“But the new government hasn’t taken a single step to make the police and politicians more accountable to the public or even to stop extrajudicial killings by police, and its move to restrict media and independent groups is ominous,” said Daniel Bekele, the group's Africa director.

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The New York-based NGO says there has been “no move toward justice for victims of longstanding patterns of human rights violations by police, including extrajudicial killings, 'enforced disappearances,' torture and other abuses.”

However, HRW does acknowledge “progress in reforming the judiciary, the electoral system and Parliament.”

The report also notes that US-Kenya relations “appeared to warm” following the Westgate attack in September and President Obama's earlier exclusion of Kenya from his second tour of Africa.

Human Rights Watch attributes the thaw to “increased attention to Kenya’s counterterrorism concerns and role in the region.”