[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 55 (Monday, April 22, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2853-S2854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STANDING WITH THE PEOPLE OF KENYA
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 42, S. Res. 90.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 90) standing with the people of Kenya
following their national and local elections on March 4,
2013, and urging a peaceful and credible resolution of
electoral disputes in the courts.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign
Relations with an amendment and an amendment to the preamble and an
amendment to the title.
(Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in
italic.)
(Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic.)
S. Res. 90
Whereas the Governments of the United States and Kenya have
long shared a strong bilateral partnership, and Kenya plays a
critically important role as a cornerstone of stability in
East Africa and as a valued ally of the United States;
Whereas Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election
threatened the country's stability and its democratic
trajectory, triggering an explosion of violence that resulted
in the deaths of some 1,140 civilians and displaced nearly
600,000, some of whom have still not returned home;
Whereas a mediation effort by former United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and an African Union Panel of
Eminent African Personalities, supported by the United
States, led to the signing of the National Accord on February
28, 2008, which led to a series of constitutional, electoral,
and institutional reforms to address underlying causes of the
crisis;
Whereas, as part of that reform process, the citizens of
Kenya participated in a national referendum in August 2010,
approving a new constitution that mandated significant
institutional and structural changes to the government;
Whereas those constitutional changes have led to important
reforms in the judicial sector and the electoral system in
Kenya that aim to build greater public confidence in
government institutions, and which demonstrate meaningful
progress;
Whereas Kenya's Independent Commission of Inquiry into the
Post-Election Violence (the ``Waki Commission'') concluded
from its investigation in 2008 that there had been ``no
serious effort by any government'' to punish perpetrators of
previous incidents of ethnic and political violence, leading
to a culture of impunity that contributed to the crisis that
followed the 2007 elections, and, since then, despite
laudable judicial reforms, few perpetrators or organizers of
that violence have been held accountable for their crimes in
Kenyan courts;
Whereas, based on the findings of the Waki Commission,
mediator Kofi Annan submitted a list of key suspects to the
Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
(ICC) in 2009, and several have been subsequently charged at
the ICC with crimes against humanity;
Whereas the Department of State's 2011 Human Rights Report
on Kenya notes, ``Widespread impunity at all levels of
government continued to be a serious problem. The government
took only limited action against security forces suspected of
unlawful killings, and impunity in cases of corruption was
common. Although the government took action in some cases to
prosecute officials who committed abuses, impunity . . . was
pervasive'';
Whereas President Barack Obama's Strategy on Sub-Saharan
Africa, released in June 2012, states that the United States
will not stand by while actors ``. . . manipulate the
fairness and integrity of democratic processes, and we will
stand in steady partnership with those who are committed to
the principles of equality, justice and the rule of law'';
Whereas, in a February 2013 message to the people of Kenya,
President Obama highlighted the power Kenyan communities have
to reject intimidation and violence surrounding the upcoming
election, resolve disputes in the courts as opposed to the
streets, and ``move forward towards prosperity and
opportunity that unleashes the extraordinary talents of your
people'';
Whereas, five years after Kenya's post-election crisis, the
country held its first general elections under the new
constitution on March 4, 2013, which were largely peaceful;
Whereas Kenya's presidential candidates and their political
parties committed themselves to a peaceful electoral process,
and to resolving any resulting disputes through the judicial
process;
Whereas the Kenyan Supreme Court ruled on March 30, 2013,
that Uhuru Kenyatta was validly elected, and his opponents
pledged to respect and honor the decision of the Court;
Whereas the White House issued a statement on March 30,
2013, stating, ``The electoral process and the peaceful
adjudication of disputes in the Kenyan legal system are
testaments to the progress Kenya has made in strengthening
its democratic institutions, and the desire of the Kenyan
people to move their country forward. Now is the time for
Kenyans to come together to fully implement the political,
institutional, and accountability reforms envisioned in the
Kenyan constitution. . ..We welcome and wish to underscore
the importance of Kenya's commitment to uphold its
international obligations, including those with respect to
international justice.''; and
Whereas in his inauguration speech on April 9, 2013,
President Kenyatta said, ``I will lead all Kenyans - those
who voted for me - and those who voted for our competitors -
towards a national prosperity that is firmly rooted in a rich
and abiding peace in which unity can ultimately be realized.
. .Indeed, national unity will only be possible if we deal
decisively with some of the issues that continue to hinder
our progress. Achieving peace and strengthening unity will be
the goal of my Government. This work begins now. We welcome
all Kenyans to hold us to account.'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
That the Senate--
(1) congratulates the people of Kenya on their commitment
to peaceful elections, as demonstrated on March 4, 2013;
(2) calls on Kenyans to come together to fully implement
political, institutional, and accountability reforms
envisioned in the Kenyan constitution;
(3) calls on the people of Kenya to continue their efforts
to end intimidation, impunity, and violence;
(4) notes that many of the underlying grievances that have
underpinned ethnic divisions and fueled the 2007-2008
violence remain largely unaddressed;
(5) affirms that accountability for the 2007-2008 post-
election violence is a critical element to ensure Kenya's
democracy, peace, and long-term stability;
(6) calls on the Government of Kenya to respect commitments
to seek justice for the victims of political violence,
including by honoring its obligations under the Rome Statute
to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court with
regard to the three cases that remain before the Court slated
to go to trial in 2013;
(7) calls on the Government of Kenya to ensure the
International Criminal Court witnesses are fully protected
and not subject to interference but afforded the protections
they deserve to ensure justice is served;
(8) recognizes that, while the Government of Kenya has made
important progress since the 2007 election, aspects of the
Kenyan reform agenda specified in the National Accord and
2010 constitution remain unfinished, particularly with regard
to police reform, devolution, land reform, and security;
(9) encourages the people and Government of Kenya to
support ongoing implementation of constitutional reforms,
rule of law, the establishment of county level government and
efforts to strengthen governance, security, and judicial
institutions that respect the dignity and rights of all the
people of Kenya and ensure protection for judges;
[[Page S2854]]
(10) supports the devolution process in order to enable
constitutional reform to be fully implemented;
(11) encourages the Government of Kenya to respect and
protect the freedom of civil society organizations and
activists which have historically led the process of
political reform in Kenya;
(12) expresses hope that newly elected members of
government will herald a new generation of responsible
leadership in Kenya; and
(13) reaffirms that the people of the United States will
continue to stand with the people of Kenya in support of
democracy, partnership, and peace.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I further ask that the committee-reported
amendment to the resolution be agreed to; the resolution, as amended,
be agreed to; the committee-reported amendment to the preamble be
agreed to; the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; the committee-
reported title amendment be agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be
made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment to the resolution was agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 90), as amended, was agreed to.
The committee-reported amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads as
follows:
S. Res. 90
Whereas the Governments of the United States and Kenya have
long shared a strong bilateral partnership, and Kenya plays a
critically important role as a cornerstone of stability in
East Africa and as a valued ally of the United States;
Whereas Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election
threatened the country's stability and its democratic
trajectory, triggering an explosion of violence that resulted
in the deaths of some 1,140 civilians and displaced nearly
600,000, some of whom have still not returned home;
Whereas a mediation effort by former United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and an African Union Panel of
Eminent African Personalities, supported by the United
States, led to the signing of the National Accord on February
28, 2008, which led to a series of constitutional, electoral,
and institutional reforms to address underlying causes of the
crisis;
Whereas as part of that reform process, the citizens of
Kenya participated in a national referendum in August 2010,
approving a new constitution that mandated significant
institutional and structural changes to the government;
Whereas those constitutional changes have led to important
reforms in the judicial sector and the electoral system in
Kenya that aim to build greater public confidence in
government institutions, and which demonstrate meaningful
progress;
Whereas Kenya's Independent Commission of Inquiry into the
Post-Election Violence (the ``Waki Commission'') concluded
from its investigation in 2008 that there had been ``no
serious effort by any government'' to punish perpetrators of
previous incidents of ethnic and political violence, leading
to a culture of impunity that contributed to the crisis that
followed the 2007 elections, and, since then, despite
laudable judicial reforms, few perpetrators or organizers of
that violence have been held accountable for their crimes in
Kenyan courts;
Whereas based on the findings of the Waki Commission,
mediator Kofi Annan submitted a list of key suspects to the
Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
(ICC) in 2009, and several have been subsequently charged at
the ICC with crimes against humanity;
Whereas the Department of State's 2011 Human Rights Report
on Kenya notes, ``Widespread impunity at all levels of
government continued to be a serious problem. The government
took only limited action against security forces suspected of
unlawful killings, and impunity in cases of corruption was
common. Although the government took action in some cases to
prosecute officials who committed abuses, impunity . . . was
pervasive'';
Whereas President Barack Obama's Strategy on Sub-Saharan
Africa, released in June 2012, states that the United States
will not stand by while actors ``. . . manipulate the
fairness and integrity of democratic processes, and we will
stand in steady partnership with those who are committed to
the principles of equality, justice and the rule of law'';
Whereas, in a February 2013 message to the people of Kenya,
President Obama highlighted the power Kenyan communities have
to reject intimidation and violence surrounding the upcoming
election, resolve disputes in the courts as opposed to the
streets, and ``move forward towards prosperity and
opportunity that unleashes the extraordinary talents of your
people'';
Whereas five years after Kenya's post-election crisis, the
country held its first general elections under the new
constitution on March 4, 2013, which were largely peaceful;
Whereas Kenya's presidential candidates and their political
parties committed themselves to a peaceful electoral process,
and to resolving any resulting disputes through the judicial
process;
Whereas the Kenyan Supreme Court ruled on March 30, 2013,
that Uhuru Kenyatta was validly elected, and his opponents
pledged to respect and honor the decision of the Court;
Whereas the White House issued a statement on March 30,
2013, stating, ``The electoral process and the peaceful
adjudication of disputes in the Kenyan legal system are
testaments to the progress Kenya has made in strengthening
its democratic institutions, and the desire of the Kenyan
people to move their country forward. Now is the time for
Kenyans to come together to fully implement the political,
institutional, and accountability reforms envisioned in the
Kenyan constitution. . ..We welcome and wish to underscore
the importance of Kenya's commitment to uphold its
international obligations, including those with respect to
international justice.''; and
Whereas in his inauguration speech on April 9, 2013,
President Kenyatta said, ``I will lead all Kenyans - those
who voted for me - and those who voted for our competitors -
towards a national prosperity that is firmly rooted in a rich
and abiding peace in which unity can ultimately be realized.
. .Indeed, national unity will only be possible if we deal
decisively with some of the issues that continue to hinder
our progress. Achieving peace and strengthening unity will be
the goal of my Government. This work begins now. We welcome
all Kenyans to hold us to account.'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) congratulates the people of Kenya on their commitment
to peaceful elections, as demonstrated on March 4, 2013;
(2) calls on Kenyans to come together to fully implement
political, institutional, and accountability reforms
envisioned in the Kenyan constitution;
(3) calls on the people of Kenya to continue their efforts
to end intimidation, impunity, and violence;
(4) notes that many of the underlying grievances that have
underpinned ethnic divisions and fueled the 2007-2008
violence remain largely unaddressed;
(5) affirms that accountability for the 2007-2008 post-
election violence is a critical element to ensure Kenya's
democracy, peace, and long-term stability;
(6) calls on the Government of Kenya to respect commitments
to seek justice for the victims of political violence,
including by honoring its obligations under the Rome Statute
to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court with
regard to the three cases that remain before the Court slated
to go to trial in 2013;
(7) calls on the Government of Kenya to ensure the
International Criminal Court witnesses are fully protected
and not subject to interference but afforded the protections
they deserve to ensure justice is served;
(8) recognizes that, while the Government of Kenya has made
important progress since the 2007 election, aspects of the
Kenyan reform agenda specified in the National Accord and
2010 constitution remain unfinished, particularly with regard
to police reform, devolution, land reform, and security;
(9) encourages the people and Government of Kenya to
support ongoing implementation of constitutional reforms,
rule of law, the establishment of county level government and
efforts to strengthen governance, security, and judicial
institutions that respect the dignity and rights of all the
people of Kenya and ensure protection for judges;
(10) supports the devolution process in order to enable
constitutional reform to be fully implemented;
(11) encourages the Government of Kenya to respect and
protect the freedom of civil society organizations and
activists which have historically led the process of
political reform in Kenya;
(12) expresses hope that newly elected members of
government will herald a new generation of responsible
leadership in Kenya; and
(13) reaffirms that the people of the United States will
continue to stand with the people of Kenya in support of
democracy, partnership, and peace.
Attest:
The committee-reported title amendment was agreed to, as follows:
Amend the title so as to read: ``A resolution
congratulating the people of Kenya on their commitment to
peaceful elections, as demonstrated on March 4, 2013, and
calling on Kenyans to come together to continue to implement
political, institutional, and accountability reforms
envisioned in the Kenyan constitution.''.
____________________