E/CN.4/2000/9/Add.4 page 7 violence during the first semester of 1999.3 It was alleged that this form of violence was carried out with the tacit approval of the police and that the police were reluctant to investigate such cases. 19. Finally, the Special Rapporteur was informed that since January 1998 there had been a resurgence of politically motivated “ethnic clashes”, especially in the Laikipia and Nakuru districts of the Rift Valley province, areas where large numbers of persons were said to have voted against the current Government in the December 1997 general election. Over 120 people were said to have been killed and thousands displaced. It is reported that for the first time members of the Kikuyu community, the largest (21 per cent of the Kenyan population) of the more than 40 ethnic groups living in Kenya, retaliated to attacks in an organized manner, justifying this by claiming that the government forces had failed to protect them and to take the necessary measures to punish the perpetrators. According to the information received, local ethnic divisions and disputes appear to be deliberately inflamed for political purposes. 4 In June 1998 a judicial commission of inquiry was set up to look into the causes of ethnic clashes that had affected the country since 1992. B. Information concerning the police 20. During his mission, the Special Rapporteur visited the following police stations: in Nairobi, Kikuyu and Thika; in Nakura, Menengai and Njoro; and in Garissa, the police headquarters. The first visit of a police lock-up took place in the evening of 22 September at Kikuyu police station. The Special Rapporteur was first given access to the cells and was allowed to speak with detainees by police officers of junior rank who had attempted without success to contact the officer-in-charge of the station and had verified the credentials of the Special Rapporteur’s delegation. After approximately one hour, the Special Rapporteur was interrupted and prevented from continuing his visit by the officer-in-charge of the police station (OCS). Despite previous assurances by the Minister of State in charge of Internal Affairs and the Commissioner of Police that the Special Rapporteur would be allowed full access to all police lock-ups and would be able to conduct confidential interviews with detainees, the OCS denied the Special Rapporteur the right to pursue his visit after consulting by telephone with the officer-in-charge of the Police District (OCPD). The OCS said that the OCPD had not received any order from his superiors regarding this visit and its terms of reference. However, the OCS invited the Special Rapporteur to come back the following morning. On the morning of 23 September, the Special Rapporteur’s team returned to Kikuyu police station and was again refused access by the same police officer. After this incident, the Commissioner of Police appointed a Senior Assistant Commissioner to accompany the Special Rapporteur during his mission in order to ensure access to all police stations and lock-ups. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the Assistant Commissioner, whose cooperation greatly facilitated his work. 21. In most of the police lock-ups visited by the Special Rapporteur, there existed a serious problem of overcrowding. Detainees complained about the lack of space and of ventilation. In Kikuyu police station, the problem of overcrowding was manifest at the time of the Special Rapporteur’s visit. In one of the three cells, which measured approximately 15 square metres, 13 men were being detained. According to one detainee, who had been held in this cell for 12 days, more than 40 people had been detained in this cell at the same time a few days before. Owing to the fact that the three cells were completely filled with men, nine women and