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Joint Press Statement on the need to prevent Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the runup to the August 2022 Presidential Elections in the Republic of Kenya

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission), through its Country Rapporteur for the Republic of Kenya Honourable Commissioner Solomon Ayele Dersso, and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa Honourable Commissioner Janet Ramatoulie Sallah-Njie, are following human rights issues relating to the electoral process in the Republic of Kenya.

The African Commission commends the preparations that are under way towards ensuring that the national elections scheduled for 9 August 2022 are free, fair and credible, and also notes the enthusiasm of the electorate for exercising their sovereign right through participation in the electoral campaign process and balloting. 

The African Commission is however alarmed by reports of increasing political tension and risks and incidents of violence, hate speech and the production and circulation of content for inciting division and violence during the electoral campaign.   

We particularly underscore the urgency and need to prevent the incidence of acts of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women, to prevent the recurrence of such violence reported during earlier electoral disputes in the Republic of Kenya.

The perpetration of brutal acts of sexual violence and rape that is weaponized in the context of electoral disputes in Kenya involving in particular, law enforcement personnel constitute serious breaches of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter), the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance which it has severally reiterated to Member States. These include the rights to dignity, personal security, bodily integrity, personal liberty, peace and security, the right to participate in political and decision-making processes, as well as freedom from discrimination, torture, and inhumane or degrading treatment

During the last 2007 and 2017 Presidential Elections in Kenya, the Commission received several reports about the perpetration of brutal acts of violence and rape, weaponized in the context of electoral disputes in Kenya, involving in particular, law enforcement personnel engaged in dispersing election protesters, with a very low record of accountability accorded in justice to the victims. The African Commission notes that such acts constitute a serious breach of the rights, and freedoms guaranteed by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter), the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance which it has severally reiterated to Member States. These include the rights to dignity, personal security, bodily integrity, personal liberty, peace and security, the right to participate in political and decision-making processes, as well as freedom from discrimination, torture, and inhumane or degrading treatment.

The African Commission also notes that trust issues relating to the integrity of the electoral process, the electoral management institution and the judiciary can affect not only confidence in the electoral process but also, as previous experiences show, can create the conditions that precipitate violent contestations.

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