The Samburu people of Kenya have suffered no more police attacks on their villages since Cultural Survival’s visit there in January. While Samburu people remain fearful that the police may resume their assaults, they credit Cultural Survival’s visit and advocacy for the current respite.
Hon. Raphael Letimalo, Samburu East Member of Parliament, wrote:
“I appreciate the good work your Organization is doing to highlight the atrocities the Kenyan authorities is doing to the people of Samburu. Indeed the police have stopped harassing locals following your letter of protest and other friends of Samburu. Thank you so much once more.”
Jane Naini Meriwas, Project Coordinator of the Samburu Women for Education & Environment Development Organization, wrote:
“Greetings and thanks for the good work which has enabled the Kenya government to stop human rights violation in Samburu and created a space for dialogue both by the Kenyan authorities and the affected communities.”
In January, a Cultural Survival delegation to Samburu East and Isiolo districts conducted in-depth interviews with Samburu victims and witnesses of police attacks in five Samburu villages between February 2009 and January 2010. The team found that hundreds of Samburu women, children, elders and men suffered extra-judicial killings, rape, beatings, theft, arson and intimidation at the hands of police forces. The police attacks were carried out in the context of a government disarmament program. Police forces brutalized Samburu people at random, punishing entire communities. The attacks terrorized the Samburu, impoverished them, and rendered them vulnerable to famine and disease when they were already suffering through a severe drought.
In February, Cultural Survival called on the Kenyan government to withdraw the police forces, authorize community elders to carry out a voluntary disarmament program, and investigate and prosecute police human rights violations against the Samburu people. See Cultural Survival’s letter to Kenyan authorities HERE.
Cultural Survival’s full report will be released in late March.
