Press statement by Paul Muite on threats to his life over extrajudicial executions

Last Sunday 5 April 2009, I received specific information from credible sources that members of the 'Kwekwe squad' responsible for carrying out extrajudicial executions had been given instructions to get rid of me.

The question you will ask and the one that jumped to my mind when I received the information is, what have I done, and why now? This is the question my mind that has been grappling with me since Sunday.

My conclusion is that the consistent public stand which I have taken on extrajudicial executions may have something to do with it. Some of you ladies and gentlemen of the media will recall that I was amongst the very first public figures to condemn extrajudicial executions and to point fingers at the government. I attended the funeral services of both Oscar Kamau King'ara and Paul Oulu at which I spoke strongly on government involvement in the killings. In so doing, I was aware that intelligence officers would be present wanting to know who was saying what. It is their work.

Recently, Professor Philip Alston handed over his report on extrajudicial executions in Kenya to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, and requested the ICC take action.

Behind the scenes, I have myself been urging the ICC through emissaries to take action since this issue is grave and serious. The documented cases are over 600. Thousands more are listed as missing. It is possible that the intelligence agencies are aware of my behind-the-scenes efforts for the ICC to take action. They listen to phone conversations and hack emails, as we all know.

I have accordingly decided to write formally to ICC Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo, drawing his attention to the imminent threat to my life and urging him to open investigations into extrajudicial executions in Kenya with a view to prosecuting those involved. I am making available to you copies of my letter to Mr Moreno-Ocampo. You will see from the contents of my letter to Mr Moreno-Ocampo that under Article 28 of the Rome Statute, I finger criminal responsibility for these extrajudicial executions on the president himself, as well as the Honourable John Michuki, who was the minister of state in the Office of the President in 2006 when this policy of extermination through extrajudicial executions appears to have been formulated and its implementation commenced, the commissioner of police, the director of intelligence, the commanders of these squads and at the bottom, those officers who carry out the executions.

It is possible however that the last straw might well have come from the latest spat with H.E. the president over the criminal raid on KTN and The Standard and with his then minister of state in charge of internal security, the Honourable John Michuki. It will be recalled that the president himself issued a coded threat 'or whereever else we might meet. It is the only way.' My lawyers' letter to the president in which this coded threat was taken up is a matter of public record and I make available to you copies of that letter.

The Honourable John Michuki, too, sent a demand letter which was responded to. The last paragraph of my lawyers' response reads:

'Thirdly and finally, we have been instructed to state that our client will take the suit your client files as [an] invitation to disclose and adduce evidence of the meeting at which the decision to carry out the criminal operations was made, who was present and in particular who presided over that meeting and gave the go ahead, including the fake articles on an alleged visit by 'someone' to Southern Sudan back in 1997 to visit 'someone' there. Your client will bear responsibility for [the] disclosure of that evidence including the implication and consequences.'

This too I suspect might have contributed towards the final straw.

If a government which is supposed to protect the lives of its citizens is the one taking those lives in extrajudicial executions and political assassinations, there is very little a citizen can do to escape execution.

I have called this press conference to let Kenyans know that if anything does indeed happen to me, let no one be fooled that it was 'ordinary thuggery or car jacking'. It will have been pre-meditated political assassination and extrajudicial execution.

It would pain my soul wherever it might be to hear Erick Kiraithe and Dr Alfred Mutua telling the public that the government/police are investigating with a view to bringing to book those who might have been involved.

Equally, it is pointless reporting to the police. They are the suspects who should be investigated. To report to them will only give them the opportunity to probe from where the leak might have occurred so that they deal with the 'msaliti' (traitor) the way they dealt with Kiriinya.

* A signed copy of this press statement is available for download from download.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.