S. Con. Res. 146 Agreed to October 24, 2000

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,

the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand

Concurrent Resolution

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

Hill Missionaries and a native of Minnesota, who for 36 years

served as a missionary in the Kisii and Ngong Dioceses in the

Republic of Kenya and advocated the rights of all Kenyans,

was shot dead on Wednesday, 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;

Whereas fellow priests report that Father Kaiser spoke to them

of his fear for his life on the night before his assassination;

Whereas the murders of Father Stallone, Father Graife, and Father

Luigi Andeni, all of Marsabit Diocese in Kenya, the circumstances

of the murder of Brother Larry Timors of Nakaru Diocese in

Kenya, the murder of Father Martin Boyle of Eldoret Diocese,

and the murders of other local human rights advocates in Kenya

have not yet been fully explained, nor have the perpetrators

of these murders been brought to justice;

Whereas the report of a Kenyan governmental commission, known

as the Akiwumi Commission, on the government’s investigation

into tribal violence between 1992 and 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, after Father Kaiser’s assassination, documents were found

on his body that he had intended to present to the Akiwumi

Commission;

Whereas the nongovernmental Kenyan Human Rights Commission

has expressed fear that the progress achieved in Kenya during

the last few years in the struggle for democracy, the rule of

law, respect for human rights, and meeting the basic needs of

all Kenyans is jeopardized by the current Kenyan Government;

and

Whereas the 1999 Country Report on Human Rights released by

the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the

Department of State reports that the Kenyan Government’s

‘‘overall human rights record was generally poor, and serious

problems remained in many areas; while there were some signs

of improvement in a few areas, the situation worsened in others.’’:

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That Congress—

(1) condemns the violent deaths of Father John Kaiser

and others who have worked to promote human rights and
S. Con. Res. 146—2

justice in the Republic of Kenya and expresses its outrage

at those deaths;

(2) calls for a thorough investigation of those deaths that

includes other persons in addition to the Kenyan authorities;

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

Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights,

and Labor, to prepare and submit to Congress, by December

15, 2000, a report on the progress made on investigating these

killings, including, particularly, a discussion of the actions

taken by the Kenyan Government to conduct an investigation

as described in paragraph (2);

(4) calls on the President to support investigation of these

killings through all diplomatic means; and

(5) calls for the final report of such an investigation to

be made public.

Attest:

Secretary of the Senate.

Attest:

Clerk of the House of Representatives.