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{
    "id": 720966,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/720966/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 561,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Okoth",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12482,
        "legal_name": "Kenneth Odhiambo Okoth",
        "slug": "kenneth-odhiambo-okoth"
    },
    "content": "Commission on Human and People’s Rights two years ago, Kenya was scrutinised very critically and asked why we had not passed the Prevention of Torture Act and the Coroners Bill, which I am happy last we passed in the Second Reading. Articles 25 and 28 of our Constitution mention freedom from torture and cruel treatment and the dignity of all persons. I think we are setting a standard for the continent. I would like to comment on a couple of clauses of this Bill. The first part of it is that the Victims Protection Act will provide many remedies and protections to victims of torture. During trial, they will have access to medical support, psychological support and legal aid through the Legal Aid Act that we passed. That is important. When cases are completed, the remedies that must be done, apart from the remedies that can be fined from the accused and convicted offenders, there are also remedies that can be provided through the Victims Protection Act. So, we are in the right step to try and make sure that victims of torture become whole again as much as possible. I am happy that this Bill gives a critical and central role to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) as one of the agencies that will monitor the status of torture and related crimes and implementation of steps to eliminate torture within Kenya. The Act will apply to and protect any Kenyan who is a victim of torture. It will also apply to any Kenyan who participates in acts of torture. So, even Kenyans who are employed in international corporations, security agencies in places like Afghanistan, if they were to involve themselves in acts of torture, just by being citizens of Kenya, they could find themselves liable to the provisions of this Act. Anybody who is resident in Kenya, be they foreigners, British Army, US Army or the French, participating in acts of torture within our jurisdiction will also be subject to this Act. Any Kenyans who are tortured on vessels flying the Kenyan flag or victims tortured aboard boats or ships or aeroplanes or aircraft that belong to the Kenyan Government or that are listed as Kenyan will also be protected under this law. This is important. It is a very broad jurisdiction and territoriality. I like the definition of “torture” in Clause 4 of the Bill. It tells us what torture is. Torture is an official crime: it is not just a personal crime. It is the kind of crime that is committed through severe pain or suffering, physical or mental, intentionally for the purpose of obtaining information or confession from that person or punishing a person for an act they are suspected to have committed instead of taking them through the legal process and the Judiciary before a judgment and proper punishment can be given. So, agents of the State decide to punish you through pain without taking you through the legal process. It is intimidation or coercion to stop you from doing something that you want to do. Those types of things are what are called torture. I would say that this is a very good international standard of torture. There are details and examples to clear any ambiguity. This is an area in which we can improve the Bill. The Schedule of the Bill, on Page 1,036, refers to Section 4, which gives us a full schedule of the acts constituting torture. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am sure that as a Member from Nairobi County, you have seen these things happening through our security agencies. Regarding the Nairobi City County askaris, there was a very good expose by the Kenya Television Network (KTN) recently. The KTN broadcast a feature story titled “Kanjo Territory”, in which they highlighted some of the acts that they commit against people trying to do businesses and earn a living in the city. People are criminalised for just being poor and they are not given justice. They are maltreated terribly. Those are the kinds of things I am talking about. We have seen places where there is human-wildlife conflict because of climate change. Sometimes the perpetrators would be the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) officers and at other times, The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}