February 11, 2010
Rt. Hon. Mwai Kibaki, CGH, MP, President
Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, EGH, MP, Prime Minister
Republic of Kenya
Re: Please Cancel Police Disarmament Operations and Institute Community-Based Disarmament Process in Northern Kenya
Your Excellencies:
The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, Africa’s highest human rights body, issued a landmark ruling February 4th in favor of the Endorois, an Indigenous group, that the Kenyan government forced off their land in the 1970s to create a game reserve. The decision establishes two key international law precedents. This is the first time any international human rights body recognized the “right to development" that is included in the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
"On behalf of the Pastoral Nomadic Indigenous Samburu Community of Northern Kenya: the local leaders, the elders, the counselors, the mothers, the children and our Member of Parliament, The Hon Raphael Letimalo, please accept our heartfelt indigenous greetings: Supa! We convey our gratitude to you and your team of experts for your visit to our pastoral region of Samburu East.
On March 15, the United Nations General Assembly voted 170–4 to create a new Human Rights Council, effectively dissolving the oft-criticized Commission on Human Rights. Candidates for the Council will need to be elected by an absolute majority of 96 votes in order to secure a position, and once elected members can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
