{"id":806162,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/806162/?format=json","text_counter":225,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Wako","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":366,"legal_name":"Amos Sitswila Wako","slug":"amos-wako"},"content":"Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I rise to support this petition of the Abasuba People. It is called historical human rights violations, but I would rather term it as the rights of the minorities because the Abasuba are a minority within the Luo Community and minorities have rights everywhere. Although they have quoted Article 44(1) which is the correct article, they should also have referred to Article 56 of the Constitution which talks about minorities and marginalized groups; this would have helped fortify their petition. Article 56(b) talks about the minority groups having their cultural values, languages and practices protected. Kenya has ratified the International Covenant on civil and political rights, which also recognizes the rights of minorities to have their languages protected. When I was a member of the Human Rights Committee of the UN, the Minority Leader of the Gypsies brought a case before us and we ruled in their favour because most of the countries in Europe were trying to marginalize them and make sure that they learn the dominant language be it English or French, and yet they wanted to communicate in their own language. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"}