International human rights and state management of internal conflict: a case study of the ethnic clashes in Kenya, 1991 - 1997

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between human rights observance and conflicts. It also examines the role of government officials in conflict situations as well as how this impacts on human rights of the citizen. The study has relied mainly on secondary data, with the central assumption being that non-observance of human rights impacts negatively on conflict management. Both academic and legal materials have been used to arrive at the findings - that non-observance of human rights not only fuels outbreak of conflicts, but also prolongs it, thus making its management extremely difficult.

The study found out that governments, despite being signatory to vanous international instruments protecting human rights, would still proceed to violate the same rights. The study has also found out that when government agents violate citizens rights, individual violation either individuals rights become quite '" common and difficult to handle.

The study also makes the case that inadequate infrastructure, poverty, dispute over natural resources- all impact negatively on human rights and may lead to conflict situations. Finally, it is established that the Government through its agent is the major violator of individual rights and freedoms. At Least this is what has been seen in the case of Kenya.