IV

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 410

Condemning the assassination of Father John Kaiser and others who worked

to promote human rights and justice in the Republic of Kenya.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 26, 2000

Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PORTER, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. MINGE, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. LUTHER, Mrs.

MALONEY of New York, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. RUSH, and Mr. GUTKNECHT) submitted the

following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Condemning the assassination of Father John Kaiser and

others who worked to promote human rights and justice

in the Republic of Kenya.

Whereas Father John Kaiser, a Catholic of the Order of the

Mill Hill Missionaries and a native of Minnesota who

served as a missionary in the Kisii and Ngong Dioceses

in the Republic of Kenya for 36 years advocating the

rights of all Kenyans, was shot dead on August 23, 2000;

Whereas Father Kaiser was a frequently outspoken advocate

on issues of human rights and against the injustice of

government corruption in Kenya;
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Whereas fellow priests have stated that Father Kaiser had

told them the night before he was killed that he feared

for his life;

Whereas the brutal murders of Father Stallone, Father

Graiff, and Father Luigi Andeni, all of the Marsabit Diocese, and the circumstances of the murder of Brother

Larry Timons of the Nakuru Diocese, and that of Father

Martin Boyle of the Eldoret Diocese have not yet been

satisfactorily investigated nor have the perpetrators of

the murders been brought to justice, raising growing concern over the rule of law and the justice system in Kenya;

Whereas Father Kaiser’s death is one more example of the

hostile actions being directed against Kenyan civil society

and in particular human rights groups and advocates;

Whereas the report of a Kenyan governmental commission,

known as the Akiwumi Commission, on the investigation

into the politically motivated ethnic violence between

1992–1997 in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, has not yet

been released, in spite of several requests by numerous

church leaders and human rights organizations to have

the Commission’s findings released to the public;

Whereas documents were found on Father Kaiser’s body that

he had intended to hand over to the Akiwumi Commission;

Whereas the Kenyan Human Rights Commission has expressed the fear that the progress in the struggle for democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, and

the basic needs of all Kenyans achieved during the last

few years is jeopardized by the current Kenyan Government;
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Whereas the Kenyan Human Rights Commission has expressed concern over the continued blatant violations of

the rule of law and the constitution, acts of torture, and

murder and rape by the Kenyan security forces;

Whereas private armies that work with the police are known

to exist in Kenya and the Government of Kenya encourages informal repression as a means of intimidating and

denying citizens their rights; and

Whereas the human rights movement in Kenya is in need of

international support and solidarity for the important

work they are doing: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) condemns the violent deaths of Father John

4 Kaiser and others who worked to promote human

5 rights and justice in the Republic of Kenya and ex6 presses its outrage with respect to such deaths;

7 (2) calls for an independent investigation of

8 such deaths, in addition to the initiatives of the Gov9 ernment of Kenya;

10 (3) calls on the Secretary of State, acting

11 through the Assistant Secretary for Democracy,

12 Human Rights, And Labor, to prepare and submit

13 to the Congress, not later than December 15, 2000,

14 a report on the progress of the independent inves15 tigation and initiatives of the Government of Kenya

16 described in paragraph (2);
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1 (4) calls for the findings of such independent

2 investigation to be made public; and

3 (5) calls on the President to support such inde4 pendent investigation through all diplomatic means.

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