Ngugi Wa Thiong'o
Denis Salter
denis.salter at MCGILL.CA
Mon Feb 7 11:40:42 EST 2005
From: Tiziana Morosetti [mailto:morosetti_tiziana at hotmail.com]
Sent: 31 January 2005 15:17
Subject: Ngugi Wa Thiong'o: important
Dear Friends,
As you may already know, world renowned Kenyan playwright,
novelist and social critic Ngugi Wa Thiong'o and his wife Njeeri Wa Ngugi
were brutally attacked on August 11, 2004, in an apartment in
Nairobi, Kenya.
Ngugi was severely beaten and burned with cigarettes, and his
wife,Njeeri, was raped in the ordeal. Subsequently, several people were arrested in conjunction with the attack, and it is becoming increasingly clear that this was a politically motivated assault on a leading international
intellectual and his wife. It was the first time that Ngugi had returned to
his home country after 22 years of political exile.
We are writing to ask you to take a few minutes of your time to
send a letter to the addresses appended below to encourage the Kenyan
courts and government to take this attack seriously, and to prosecute
not only the direct attackers, but all those involved in the attack.
This is not only an issue of paramount importance for political liberties
and the rights of intellectuals. It is also a critical test case for
overcoming a culture of silence and impunity surrounding violence against
women in Kenya (and, in many ways, the world at large).
We have included a letter in the body of this mail that exemplifies the spirit of the pressure that we
believe it is necessary to put on the Kenyan government to insure that
these attacks are treated in the most appropriate and deliberate
matter. We fear that without this pressure, the political forces behind
this attack may go unpunished, and the issue of rape glossed over. A letter
of any length, either in your own words or borrowing from the language
of theone included here, would make an immense difference. Please
send your letters to as many of the appended addresses as you wish and
also forward our call to others who might want to join our efforts.
If the Kenyan government in compelled to see the overall importance of
this trial, we will win an overwhelming victory in our struggle
against violence against women and for the rights of public
intellectuals. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
The Ngugi and Njeeri Solidarity Committee
Please write to one or more of the following contacts:
1. Kiraitu Murungi
>Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
>State Law Office, Harambee Avenue
>P O Box 40112, Nairobi
>Tel: +254 20 227461Minister:
>Minister's email: minister-justice at skyweb.co.ke
>
>Permanent Secretary: Dorothy Angote
>PS Justice & Constitutional Affairs
>Please use fax: 254 20 316317
>psjustice at africaonline.co.ke
>
>2. Attorney General
>State Law Office
>P O Box 40112-00100, Nairobi
>Tel: 254 20 227411
> no email address. Please use fax: 254 20 315105
>
>3. First Lady Lucy Kibaki
>State House
>P O Box 40530-00100, Nairobi
>Tel: +254 20 227436
>oafla at statehousekenya.co.ke
>
>4. John Githongo
>State House
>P O Box 40530-00100, Nairobi
>Tel: +254 20 227436
>contact at statehousekenya.co.ke
>
>5. Office of President
>State House
>P O Box 30510-00200, Nairobi
>Tel: +254 20 227411
>pps at statehousekenya.co.ke
>
>6. Hon. Ayang Nyong'o
>Minister
>Ministry of Planning & National Development
>Treasury Building
>P O Box 30007-00100, Nairobi
>Tel: +254 20 252299
>mopnd at treasury.go.ke
>
>7. Phillip Murgor
>Director of Public Prosecution
>State Law Office
>P O Box 40112-00100, Nairobi
>Tel: 254 20 227411
>no email address at DPP but personal through his law firm
>murgor at nbi.ispkenya.com
>
>
>Please forward a copy of all letters you send to the following
addresses
>as well:
>
>1. Federation of Women Lawyers - Kenya
>Amboseli Road off Gitanga Rd.
>P.O. Box 46324 Nairobi, Kenya
>info <mailto:info at fida.co.ke> @fida.co.ke
<mailto:info at fida.co.ke>
>
>Jane Onyango, Executive Director:
>jonyango <mailto:jonyango at fida.co.ke> @fida.co.ke
><mailto:jonyango at fida.co.ke>
>
>Hellen Kwamboka
>hellen <mailto:hellen at fida.co.ke> @fida.co.ke
<mailto:hellen at fida.co.ke>
>
>
>2. The Ngugi and Njeeri Solidarity Committee
>ngugisolidarity <mailto:ngugisolidarity at gmail.com> @gmail.com
><mailto:ngugisolidarity at gmail.com>
>
>
>3. Kenya Human Rights Commission
>P.O. Box 41079-00100
>Nairobi, Kenya
>admin at khrc.or.ke
>
>
>---Thank You,
>The Ngugi and Njeeri Solidarity Committee
>
>
> Sample Letter:
>January 31, 2005
>
>To Whom It May Concern:
>
>We are writing to appeal to the Kenyan government to react
appropriately and with all deliberate speed to the brutal attack on Ngugi Wa
Thiong'o and Njeeri Wa Ngugi and the rape of Njeeri. We write to stress
the urgency of an appropriate response that will hold accountable
not only the direct attackers, but all those responsible for what we see
as a politically motivated attack by enemies of what Professor Ngugi
Wa Thiong'o stands for in Kenya, Africa and the world.
The world community continues to watch this case closely, first
and foremost because we are shocked by the brutality of this attack
and rape, but also because of the grave implications impunity for
the perpetrators would have. International organizations, including
women's groups, civil liberties organizations, and organizations of
writers and intellectuals are but a few of the members of the international
community deeply invested in how the present administration
will respond to this attack.
It is critical for the Kenyan government to rebuff this grave
attack against an internationally celebrated public intellectual whose
commitment to his country and the empowerment of ordinary
people has been unwavering. If this attack on the occasion of his first
return to his home country, after 22 years in forced exile, is not
condemned, and all those responsible pursued for their crimes, a chilling blow
to intellectual liberty will have been dealt. Such blows have
impact the world over. This one, in particular, would send a sad message
regarding Kenya's capacity to overcome its political past. This
government must respond firmly to demonstrate a commitment to the political
future of the country. It is equally critical to demonstrate a willingness on the
government's part to respond to the full gravity of the rape of Njeeri Wa
Ngugi. The culture of silence around violence against women in Kenya
fosters repeated and widespread abuses against the human rights of
women. A full length Amnesty International report on violence against women
in Kenya (March 8, 2002) cites several national and international
instruments that hold governments responsible for failures to prosecute
with "due diligence" any violence against women. We want to express our
unconditional solidarity with Njeeri Wa Ngugi in her ongoing struggle to
stand publicly against the epidemic of violence against women.
We believe that the government of Kenya has both the opportunity
and the responsibility to meet the challenge of supporting her. This
challenge consists in bringing all those responsible for this attack on
Njeeri Wa Ngugi and Ngugi Wa Thiong'o to justice. But steps must also be
taken toend the conditions that foster this culture of silence. Systems
must be put in place, as in other countries, for women to anonymously
identify their attackers. Every form of sexual violence against women
must be treated as a crime of the gravest consequence. The victims
cannot be left to fight alone. To that end, we hope that this
administration will not set the precedent of allowing Njeeri Wa Ngugi to stand
alone. At a time like this, when we are seeing political violence
erode so many countries in Europe, North America, Africa, and indeed on every continent, it is doubly important for people in positions of
power to stand against the impunity of perpetrators. We hope that with
your actions, you will set an example for Kenya and the world.
Thank you for attention
(Signature)
__________________________________________________
"To celebrate this award, and the work it recognizes of those around the world, let me recall the words
of Gandhi: My life is my message. Also, plant a tree."--Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel
Peace Prize.
________________________________________________________________________________________
" . . . and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks:
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
Isaiah 2.4
___________________
Denis Salter
Professor of Theatre
McGill University
853 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, QC
H3A 2T6
(514) 487 7309
d.salter at videotron.ca
denis.salter at mcgill.ca
__________________
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