- KNCHR said the self-regulation should be similar to that of the one establishing the Media Council of Kenya and the Law Society of Kenya.
- It further asks parliament to request the state to make public all the data and information it has that relates to the Shakahola tragedy.
Image: COURTESY
The Kenya National Commission of Human Rights now wants the Parliament to pass a law where churches will self-regulate.
In its report dubbed "Mashaka ya Shakahola" KNCHR said the self-regulation should be similar to that of the one establishing the Media Council of Kenya and the Law Society of Kenya.
"Enact an effective self-regulatory legal regime of the religious sector similar to the Media Council of Kenya and the Law Society of Kenya. Freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right, but like other rights, it is not absolute," reads part of the commission's three recommendations to Parliament.
It further asks Parliament to request the state to make public all the data and information it has that relates to the Shakahola tragedy.
KNCHR also called for the full implementation of the National Coroners’ Service Act 2017, without any further delay.
The lobby group in its final report said that the state should also resume the pending exhumation of bodies in Shakahola, Kilifi.
The commission also wants Interior CS Kithure Kindiki to bring to account all security officers and national administration officers whose acts of omission and commission abetted and aided the Shakahola massacre.
"This should include charging them with criminal negligence and individual responsibility," KNCHR said.
Between April 25, 2023, and October 2023, the government conducted a search and rescue operation while simultaneously exhuming bodies from various mass graves.
At the end of the exercise, 429 bodies were exhumed, and 67 adults and 25 children were rescued.
KNCHR noted that pursuant to its constitutional mandate of promoting and protecting human rights, it embarked on a monitoring exercise from March 2023 to date on the Shakahola tragedy.
It followed the discovery of shallow graves found within Shakahola Forest, part of Chakama Ranch in Kilifi near Malindi.
The commission said its objective in monitoring the tragedy was to ensure transparency, accountability, and justice for the survivors and victims' families.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights now wants the Director of Public Prosecutions to accelerate the trial of those responsible for the massacre.
“The suspects were charged after being held on no charge for approximately nine months, in four different courts with varied offences in eight days," the report states.
"This raises questions about their rights to a fair hearing."
The delay, the commission noted, has continued to cause severe anxiety and distress to the suspects and their families.
It has, however, expressed its support and appreciation for the efforts by the State to hold the 95 suspects to account for their actions and ensure justice is served to the survivors.