[JURIST] The violence that wracked Kenya after the nation's disputed 2007 presidential election [JURIST report] was carefully organized by "local leaders, politicians, and businessmen from all sides," according to a report [HRW materials; press release] released Monday by Human Rights Watch [advocacy website]. Based on over 200 interviews with witnesses and perpetrators of the violence, the report found that attacks on supporters of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki [official profile], largely members of the Kikuyu tribe, were planned and organized by local leaders. Reprisal attacks by Kikuyu militias were similarly organized:

The Kikuyu militias who struck in late January were organized, paid, and directed by local leaders, businessmen, and, in some cases, [Party of National Unity (PNU)] councillors and mobilizers. The extent to which the local organizers were in touch with senior PNU politicians or members of the government is unclear. But circumstantial evidence suggests that senior members of the government may have been aware of what was going on.