"The Kenyan police have the duty to contain criminal violence and should protect people, but they must not use weapons against those people who protest peacefully”. This was said yesterday by Georgette Gagnon, in charge of the Human Rights Watch (Hrw) Africa. After the failure of the mediations and the leader of the African Union, Ghana’s president John Kufour, leaving Nairobi, three days of rallies have been announced in the country on the initiative of the opposition party led by Raila Odinga, which does not recognise the controversial election of president Mwai Kibaki. According to Gagnon, "the Government should clearly say that the police will have to account for the violence they use against those who simply voice their opinions" and should "defuse tension by repealing the ban on public rallies and letting people hold the planned ones", because "the right to hold peaceful meetings is the mainstay of every sound democracy". In addition, the Human Rights Watch criticises the Government for banning political TV programs and asks it to "immediately abolish any useless restriction of the freedom of the press", as well as asking it to "investigate on the deaths that occurred during the last rallies and in the Rift Valley".
