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{
    "id": 720020,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/720020/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 51,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Maanzo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2197,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Kitonga Maanzo",
        "slug": "daniel-kitonga-maanzo"
    },
    "content": "Constitution of Kenya and international conventions which Kenya has signed in the past, so that we could be working in unison with other countries in the world to deal with the issue of torture. In fact, this Bill also outlines the many crimes one could be extradited for, one of them being in the event that one has tortured or even when torture has occurred in a scenario where there is civil disobedience in a country or political situation. This law is going to be very useful in this country. Situations where torture, cruelty, inhuman or degrading treatment arise are punishable in the country. The offences are defined. I would like to support the Bill. The victims could be compensated. In the previous years, there has not been a law of this nature. Ordinarily, people who had gone through torture or inhuman treatment would sue through the normal court systems. At times, enforcement against the State could be a challenge. In fact, some people would take a long time or a lifetime before they are compensated, or end up being beneficial to members of their family while those people have gone to rest. This is a very good law. It outlines what should happen in a situation like that, and what happens in the event somebody is tortured in a different country and they happen to have come back home, or if a person is tortured in a country and does not belong to that country, or if a foreigner tortures people in our own country and then disappears to their country. There are extradition processes which could follow and that person could come back to the country to stand trial. Mainly also, it is when the State has participated and that compensation is not given. Also, in the event somebody is prevented, without using existing law, from enjoying their liberty, unless there is a law which provides that somebody is detained without trial or prevented from moving or fails to have freedom because of a political situation--- Therefore, it covers part of our history. In the 1980s and 1990s, people went to detention without trial and there was no legal remedy for them. This law has covered that. I want to support it and urge Members to support it. It is very important for the country. It puts us into an international regime where we can co-operate with other nations. Thank you, Hon. Speaker."
}