[DEBATE] : Fwd: Please Act to Stop Election Violence Against Kenyan Women

[Firoze Manji]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Shailja Patel" <shailjapatel at gmail.com>
> Date: 15 September 2007 07:48:34 am BDT
> To: "Firoze Manji" <firoze at fahamu.org>
> Subject: Please Act to Stop Election Violence Against Kenyan Women
> Reply-To: shailjapatel at gmail.com
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> Forgive my second mailing this month. This is an emergency.
>
> It's election year in Kenya. Kenyan women running for electoral  
> office face a barrage of tactics designed to intimidate and  
> terrorize them into withdrawing. The tactics range from threats and  
> verbal intimidation, to harassment and obstruction as they  
> campaign, to brutal violence.
>
> Last Friday, Flora Igoki Tera, Parliamentary Candidate for the  
> North Imenti Constituency in the Meru district of Kenya, was  
> attacked and tortured by a gang of 5 men, near her Meru home.
>
> They choked her. Scored her wrists with thorns. Beat her with iron  
> bars, dislodging a disc in her spine. Shaved and tore her hair from  
> her head, mixed it with feces, stuffed it into her mouth, and  
> forced her to swallow it.
>
> All the while, they repeatedly warned her against running for the  
> North Imenti seat in the forthcoming elections. Before this, Ms.  
> Tera had suffered another assault, a few weeks ago, by unknown  
> assailants who burned her knuckles with cigarettes.
>
> Of 222 Members of Parliament in Kenya, only 18 are women.
>
> WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW
>
>
> (1)
>
> Send just ONE EMAIL. To Flora Tera, cc'd to the Electoral  
> Commission of Kenya, whose job it is to ensure peaceful, free and  
> fair elections.
>
> Here's how:
>
> A) Press REPLY.
>
> B) In the cc box, type, or copy and paste:
>
> eck at nbnet.co.ke
> This is the email address of the Electoral Commission of Kenya.
>
> Your email [SUGGESTED TEXT BELOW] will come to me. I will print it  
> out and personally deliver it to Flora Tera, at the Gender Violence  
> Recovery Unit of Nairobi Women's Hospital. These messages will be  
> vital fuel for her healing and her courage, as she continues her  
> campaign.
>
> Your email will also go to the Electoral Commission of Kenya,  
> putting international heat on them to take action.
>
> Finally, I will forward the emails to John Michuki, Minister of  
> Internal Security, here.
> http://www.provincialadministration.go.ke/contact_us.php
>
> You can also post further messages at this site. The greater the  
> volume of response, the better.
>
> C) SUGGESTED TEXT [Feel free to substitute your own words, and add  
> whatever else you'd like. But please include the info about groups  
> cc'd and about the Electoral Commission of Kenya]:
>
>
> Dear Ms. Tera,
>
> I want to express my deep outrage and sadness at the terrible  
> attack you have suffered. Please know that you are not alone, and  
> this atrocity will not go unchallenged. People around the world are  
> sending you their support.
>
> [ADD YOUR OWN WORDS]
>
> I am a member of  the following groups / international listserves /  
> online communities / networks, to whom  I have circulated this  
> information, and appeal for justice.
>
> [LIST GROUPS]
>
> I have copied this email to the Electoral Commission of Kenya.  We  
> call upon Mr. Samuel Kiviutu,  chair of the Commission,  to  
> allocate resources IMMEDIATELY to security for women candidates in  
> the run-up to the elections.
>
> We salute your courage, your political vision, and your  
> determination to make a difference for the people of Kenya.
>
> With heartfelt wishes for your recovery,
>
> Signed:
> Organization or Affiliation:
> City and Country:
>
>
> (2)
>
> Post this mailing on all groups / listserves / online communities  
> you belong to, that are concerned with global human rights, peace  
> and justice.
>
>
> Thank you for listening. For being out there.
>
> In community,
> Shailja
> www.shailja.com