Crisis in Kenya

[Stan]

Looks like the opposition MP was shot and killed.

If typical of other African Countries... then

Slaughter to follow.. Source

[Stan]

MP's killing sparks more violence in Kenya

Updated Tue. Jan. 29 2008 8:51 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A doctor in Kenya was beheaded in the street Tuesday, an apparent retaliation to the shooting death of an opposition MP.

[Dr. Shane]

It does look like the government is doing something to try and curb the violence. Let's pray that their efforts are successful.

[Stan]

They are..

and

They are the ones viewed as the problem.

[CyberGuy]

Yeah expect a bloodbath as one tribe tries to kill as many of the other tribe as possible. This is tribal warfare at its worst. This could turn into another Rwanda very quickly.

[Dr. Shane]

From what I have read, it is a he-said/she-said issue.

In a statement issued Sunday, Odinga [the loser of the election that may have been rigged] condemned the violence, and blamed the Kibaki government.

"What is now emerging is that criminal gangs, in a killing spree, working under police protection, are part of a well-orchestrated plan of terror, [and] spread and escalate the levels of violence," he said.

But Human Rights Watch last week accused opposition party officials and local elders of organizing the ethnic-based violence, which has targeted mostly Kikuyu and Kisii people.

"Opposition leaders are right to challenge Kenya's rigged presidential poll, but they can't use it as an excuse for targeting ethnic groups," said Georgette Gagnon, the group's acting Africa director.

Human Rights Watch called on ODM leaders "to take immediate steps to stop its supporters from committing further attacks."

(Source:CNN)

So the government is blaming the opposition and the opposition is blaming the government. I haven't a clue which one is right but I highly suspect the government has the greatest ability to do something to stop the violence. I pray that happens.

[james423]

Most of these African countries have at least two tribes. If and when the government of the country lifts their controls in the slightest way, bloodshed usually follows. Even among our own Adventist people, these tribal ties are stronger than the ties to the church; some of our pastors in Rwanda, for example, are in the process, I understand, of being put on trial for killing members of other tribes.

[John317]

Most of these African countries have at least two tribes. If and when the government of the country lifts their controls in the slightest way, bloodshed usually follows. Even among our own Adventist people, these tribal ties are stronger than the ties to the church; some of our pastors in Rwanda, for example, are in the process, I understand, of being put on trial for killing members of other tribes.

Was the following story one you have reference to? Elizaphan Ntakirutimana was found guilty, served time, was released, and died in January of 2007.

Are there other SDA pastors going to trial for the same kind of thing? If so, I'm unaware of them.

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Genocide conviction of Rwanda clerical welcomed

afrol News, 16 December - The genocide sentences against pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son were confirmed by the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) this week. This final confirmation beyond appeal was today welcomed by Rwandan rights groups, saying it "brings closure to the survivors' painful struggle for justice in what has been a difficult case."

Pastor Ntakirutimana of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and his son, Doctor Gerard Ntakirutimana, in February 2003 first were convicted by the special UN tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania. The clergyman and his son however maintained they were innocent of the genocide charges and appealed the sentence. On Monday this week, the Appeals Chamber of the Arusha court confirmed the convictions and sentences against the two.

The Rwanda-based human rights groups Africa Rights today welcomed that the case finally had come to an end, more than ten years after the Rwandan genocide. "It took a long time, hard work and patience to prosecute Ntakirutimana in Arusha," commented African Rights director Rakiya Omaar, but now the survivors could finally rest....

Here's the announcement of the pastor's death:

Arusha, January 23 2007 (FH) – The Adventist Church minister, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, released on December 7th by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) after he had completed his 10 year prison term, died in the night of Monday to Tuesday, an official source has reported on Tuesday.

According to the ICTR’s spokesperson, Everard O’Donnell, the minister passed away in a hospital of Arusha. The ICTR is waiting for « instructions » from the deceased’s family, he added.

Ntakirutimana, 82, had been the first condemned of the ICTR to be liberated at the end of his prison term. After his release, the old man, exhausted, had briefly called on the Rwandan population to « not make false allegations against innocents, like him ».

He had been condemned on March 19 2003 to ten years of imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity. The verdict had been confirmed in appeal.

The minister had been captured on September 29 in the United States and transferred to Arusha on March 24 200 at the conclusion of a long judicial battle against extradition.

In 1994, he was at the head of the Mugonero Adventist Church complex located in the region of Kibuye (west) which comprised a church, a hospital and a secondary school. Thousands of Tutsis died there in the month of April 1994.

The minister, who had pleaded not guilty, had been judged alongside his son, Gérard Ntakirutimana who worked as a doctor at the hospital of Mugonero and who was condemned to 25 years of imprisonment...

[james423]

It may well be the case I am refering to. The case I remember seeing in the news was that of an Adventist minister who had fled from Rwanda to Texas and who had allowed the killing of members of the opposition tribe.

Unfortunately, that is all I remember of the case. Malawi, where we were located and south of Rwanda, had two tribes that were supposedly at peace with each other, but one tribe and its language dominated the government. I often wondered what would have happened if the government relaxed its controls or had a disputed election.