Below is an article published by: UN Press Release Department

13 February 2009

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, will undertake a country visit to Kenya from 16 to 25 February 2009 at the invitation of the Kenyan Government.

Alston is scheduled to hold meetings with Government officials at both the federal and provincial levels and with members of the legislature. His visit will also include meetings with human rights survivors of and witnesses to killings, NGOs, academics and other civil society. His responsibilities include reporting on alleged killings and the underlying causes that might have prevented effective legal action to prosecute and punish those responsible.

Based on the information obtained during the visit, the Special Rapporteur will present a report containing his conclusions and recommendations, to a forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council.

Alston will visit Nairobi, the Rift Valley, Central, Western and Nyanza provinces.

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Philip Alston was appointed Special Rapporteur in 2004 by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. As Special Rapporteur, he is independent from any government and serves in his individual capacity. The Commission first decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur to examine questions relevant to summary or arbitrary executions in 1982. The mandate, since assumed under the UN Human Rights Council, covers all countries. Mr. Alston has extensive experience in the human rights field, including eight years as Chairperson of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, principal legal adviser to UNICEF in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and Special Adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He is Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law.


For further information on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, please visit the website: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/executions/index.htm