Assaults Kenya

The National Organization for Women Foundation will mourn senseless violence against women at a vigil honoring 19 girls who were murdered and 71 others raped in a brutal attack by their male schoolmates last month at the St. Kizito boarding school in Kenya. Twenty-nine boys, ages 14 through 19, have been charged with manslaughter in the deaths.

In the first ruling of its kind in Kenya, a court has fined 20 parents for forcing their daughters to undergo genital excisions, a newspaper in Nairobi, the capital, reported. The parents pleaded guilty to assault charges. The parents were each fined about $25--Kenya's average monthly wage--or, if they failed to pay, two months in jail, the newspaper said. Female genital excision, legal in Kenya, is common practice in some of the nation's many tribes.

Criticism mounted against the government Friday after opposition figures and journalists reported being attacked by ruling party supporters and plainclothes police. The attacks took place Thursday in Nakuru, a city about 85 miles northwest of Nairobi. Renowned paleontologist Richard Leakey was whipped by several men and his car damaged outside the courthouse Thursday in full view of police officers, he said.

Marauders armed with rifles, machetes and bows and arrows attacked a church filled with refugees fleeing violence on the Indian Ocean coast. Two refugees were killed and a police guard wounded in the attack in Likoni, south of Mombasa. Dozens of gunmen tried to force their way inside the compound of a Roman Catholic church, where about 2,500 people had taken refuge, police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said. Archbishop John Njenga said the gunmen opened fire at police guarding the church.

Nairobi University, Kenya's largest campus, was indefinitely closed after two days of riots in which police beat students and foreign journalists. The closure order, broadcast on the official Voice of Kenya radio, did not say when the 5,000-student school would reopen. Students said the protests began after seven student union leaders were taken from their dormitories at gunpoint.

Police on Sunday beat and detained four Western journalists covering riots in which paramilitary forces fired tear gas at demonstrators protesting the arrests of five student leaders. Meanwhile, President Daniel Arap Moi said Sunday that he has ordered seven missionaries, believed to be Americans, deported for plotting against the government. Hundreds of students went on a rampage after five elected leaders of the university's student organization were arrested Saturday.

Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi attributed the arrest and beating of four foreign journalists to "illegal meetings" with students and subsequent acts of "discrediting the country" while the journalists were covering riots Nov. 15 at Nairobi University. The four were beaten and held for three hours by police, and the news agencies employing them and their embassies lodged formal protests with the Kenyan government.

Marauders armed with rifles, machetes and bows and arrows attacked a church filled with refugees fleeing violence on the Indian Ocean coast. Two refugees were killed and a police guard wounded in the attack in Likoni, south of Mombasa. Dozens of gunmen tried to force their way inside the compound of a Roman Catholic church, where about 2,500 people had taken refuge, police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said. Archbishop John Njenga said the gunmen opened fire at police guarding the church.

A statement from the U.S. Embassy expressed "concern." But in truth, foreign diplomats assigned to Kenya say they are plenty more than concerned. They are scared. This city's mean streets have engulfed the international diplomatic corps now. An employee of the United Nations was killed by carjackers last weekend. The same day, 10 armed hoodlums stormed the office of the Malawi High Commission and carried off $20,000 in cash and a stole a car. In just five days, from Dec. 10 to 15, the U.S.

In the first ruling of its kind in Kenya, a court has fined 20 parents for forcing their daughters to undergo genital excisions, a newspaper in Nairobi, the capital, reported. The parents pleaded guilty to assault charges. The parents were each fined about $25--Kenya's average monthly wage--or, if they failed to pay, two months in jail, the newspaper said. Female genital excision, legal in Kenya, is common practice in some of the nation's many tribes.

A statement from the U.S. Embassy expressed "concern." But in truth, foreign diplomats assigned to Kenya say they are plenty more than concerned. They are scared. This city's mean streets have engulfed the international diplomatic corps now. An employee of the United Nations was killed by carjackers last weekend. The same day, 10 armed hoodlums stormed the office of the Malawi High Commission and carried off $20,000 in cash and a stole a car. In just five days, from Dec. 10 to 15, the U.S.

Criticism mounted against the government Friday after opposition figures and journalists reported being attacked by ruling party supporters and plainclothes police. The attacks took place Thursday in Nakuru, a city about 85 miles northwest of Nairobi. Renowned paleontologist Richard Leakey was whipped by several men and his car damaged outside the courthouse Thursday in full view of police officers, he said.

The National Organization for Women Foundation will mourn senseless violence against women at a vigil honoring 19 girls who were murdered and 71 others raped in a brutal attack by their male schoolmates last month at the St. Kizito boarding school in Kenya. Twenty-nine boys, ages 14 through 19, have been charged with manslaughter in the deaths.

Gunmen attacked a group of American tourists viewing wildlife in southern Kenya, killing a woman, wounding a man and robbing others of money, a source said Friday. The attack Thursday was the second on tourists in Kenya this month. The incident occurred as 19 tourists were riding in three vans along the 40-mile road between the Amboseli and Tsavo national parks, the source said.

Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi attributed the arrest and beating of four foreign journalists to "illegal meetings" with students and subsequent acts of "discrediting the country" while the journalists were covering riots Nov. 15 at Nairobi University. The four were beaten and held for three hours by police, and the news agencies employing them and their embassies lodged formal protests with the Kenyan government.

Nairobi University, Kenya's largest campus, was indefinitely closed after two days of riots in which police beat students and foreign journalists. The closure order, broadcast on the official Voice of Kenya radio, did not say when the 5,000-student school would reopen. Students said the protests began after seven student union leaders were taken from their dormitories at gunpoint.

Gunmen attacked a group of American tourists viewing wildlife in southern Kenya, killing a woman, wounding a man and robbing others of money, a source said Friday. The attack Thursday was the second on tourists in Kenya this month. The incident occurred as 19 tourists were riding in three vans along the 40-mile road between the Amboseli and Tsavo national parks, the source said.

Police on Sunday beat and detained four Western journalists covering riots in which paramilitary forces fired tear gas at demonstrators protesting the arrests of five student leaders. Meanwhile, President Daniel Arap Moi said Sunday that he has ordered seven missionaries, believed to be Americans, deported for plotting against the government. Hundreds of students went on a rampage after five elected leaders of the university's student organization were arrested Saturday.