Press Statement on Extrajudicial Killings

June 12, 2009

The United States expresses grave concern regarding the findings of the report which the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings recently delivered to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.   The report underscores the need for the coalition government to enact far-reaching reforms to strengthen the rule of law and, specifically, to implement key reforms of the police and judicial system.  

We acknowledge the constructive statement made by the Kenyan delegation to the Human Rights Council acknowledging the severity of the problem of extrajudicial killings and pledging concrete actions to address the concerns raised in the Special Rapporteur’s report.   We urge the recently-appointed Police Reform Task Force to examine seriously the concerns raised by the report of the Special Rapporteur when formulating its reform proposals.   The United States, as a strong friend and partner to Kenya, stands ready to consider assistance to serious efforts to reform of the police and judiciary.