It’s more than 2 years since Kenya’s disputed elections, where at least 1500 people were killed and more than half a million displaced. The victims of the post election violence are yet to receive justice. It’s even worse for the foreigners who were affected.
By Kassim Mohamed Holding the holly Quran in her right hand, Amina adjusts her veil. She appears like any other ordinary woman on the streets of Nairobi but Amina has had a recent past full of emotional turmoil. “A gang of 12 men raped me in turns on January 15, 2008. I passed out. That’s a day I’ll never forget in my entire life,” Amina bitterly says adjusting her veil. Amina was born and brought up in Mogadishu but moved to Kenya along with her husband and five months old son in 2005. When life became too hard to cope in Nairobi, they relocated to Narok, a small town 200 km west of Nairobi. With the help of relatives living abroad, the young family started a business: money came in and life appeared rosy. Kenya became a safe heaven and they considered it a home away from home but just until Kenya’s disputed election results were announced. In front of her maid and three-year old son, Amina was gang raped. “My husband was not around, he left just before the Kenyan election for Mogadishu to see the other two wives and children back there. After the incident I didn’t inform him about what happened. I was too scared; he might consider me as an infidel. He doesn’t know up to now”. In July 2008, the family left for Mogadishu and settled there for a while. However, the constant violence in the Horn of Africa country saw them back to Nairobi, Kenya. She went for an HIV test in October 2009 and tested positive and because of the high levels of stigma attached to HIV/AIDS in her community, this 26 year old has not revealed her status to anybody. According to her, the Kenyan elections turned her world upside down. Medical authorities at Nairobi Women Hospital, say more than 300 women were raped during the post-election violence. When Radio Netherlands informed Amina about the presence of the Chief Prosecutor of The International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo in Nairobi, Amina sighed in relief. But was soon heartbroken to learn that Moreno Ocampo has categorically stated after his first press briefing on Saturday that he will deal only with the “big fish” – those who bear the most responsibility in fanning the violence “I am here in Kenya illegally because my country is unstable. If the International Court can not heal my wounds and bring those who raped me and other women to book, I have little hope that local courts in Kenya will deliver me justice”. Mr Moreno Ocampo is viewed by many Kenyan’s as the only avenue of punishing those who perpetuated the now infamous post-election crisis in the country. On his part, Moreno Ocampo has assured the public that Kenya’s case will serve as an example. He further asked the government of Kenya to protect witnesses who appear forward to give evidence. In the meantime Amina says she will rather go back to Mogadishu than stay in Kenya during the 2012 general election.
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