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{
    "id": 721019,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/721019/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 614,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ababu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 108,
        "legal_name": "Ababu Tawfiq Pius Namwamba",
        "slug": "ababu-namwamba"
    },
    "content": "subjected to torture in any manner whether physical or psychological, corporal punishment, treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading manner. That is the Constitution under Article 29. We know that the Bill of Rights contains provisions that are non-derogable meaning that you cannot deviate from those provisions. Even in instances where the Constitution permits a level of limitation because it acknowledges that some of these provisions in the Bill of Rights could be limited, the Constitution is very clear. It is very unambiguous in terms of setting the limits as to how exactly a right may be limited in Article 24. Again, it is very clear that a right to a fundamental freedom in the Bill of Rights shall not be limited except by law and then only to the extent that the limitation is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom taking into account a number of factors that the Constitution clearly sets out in Article 24. Therefore, this is a progressive Bill in so far as it seeks to bring to life, to give meaning, to amplify the provisions of the Constitution, including Article 29, which very specifically outlaws any form of torture, degrading or inhuman treatment. This law should particularly be seen in the context of a very sad history that this country has. Our country has had a very unfortunate history regarding the challenge of torture. We have had many instances where security enforcement agencies have misused, misapplied the law and the authority vested in them to brutalise people, harm people and cause deaths of people. Last week on this Floor, I remember mentioning the case of a young man by the name Titus Adungosi, a one time student leader at the University of Nairobi, who lost his life in the hands of the police merely because of rightfully, constitutionally agitating for the rights of students and expansion of civil liberties in this country. The full story has never been told as to what exactly happened to Titus Adungosi. All the pointers confirm that he was a victim of brutal brutality. He was a victim of torture in police custody. The late Titus Adungosi, a fine son of my county of Busia, is just one among very many Kenyans who paid the ultimate price because of police brutality and because of illiberal application of the law. Therefore, this law is good. Of course, we have to be careful to ensure that we do not allow any of those old relics to sneak back. I want to agree with the Member for Rarieda that the provision that makes reference to role of chiefs should be looked into. We know previously that chiefs have been used as agents of the State to advance some of the bad manners that we have since outlawed under the new Constitution. May this law not provide any loophole for us to return some of these very unfortunate relics of the law and of practice from the past. Let this law be a platform where this country can proudly join the league of countries that have truly declared total war on torture. In a society that prides itself on the rule of law, a society that believes in a functioning judicial system, you have no reason to apply brutal force that would not distinguish you in any manner from the cave man, to extract any information or to brutalise a person into submission. We are investing in an effective judicial system. We need to show faith in the effectiveness of that judicial system and subject suspects to a process that is not only civil, but one that truly does exemplify and epitomise our commitment to the rule of law. Suspects have to be treated with dignity. We know the pressures and the difficulties in enforcement of the law, but at the same time, we have to be alive to the fact that the only thing that distinguishes a civilised society from the anarchy you witness in the animal kingdom is the rule of law. The distinction between democracy, mobocracy, civility and anarchy is the rule. 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."
}