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Inculcating gendered monitoring on human rights among WHRDs
Defenders Coalition conducted a capacity enhancement for WHRDs from different counties: Nairobi, Lamu, Vihiga, Wajir and Elgeyo Marakwet in between july 27 -30 on gendered monitoring, documentation and reporting of human rights violations.
The training was supported by an ongoing partnership with the Embassy of Norway in Kenya under a project dubbed Ni Mama.
Through the project, the Defenders Coalition seeks to support WHRDs through solidarity networks, women specific protection support that include support to families of WHRDs, skills building in the management of physical and digital security as well as monitoring and documentation, wellness and visibility of their role in the promotion and protection of human rights.
Being the second year of implementation of the project, the Defenders Coalition is positive that the partnership has contributed to the reclaiming the space for WHRDs to promote human rights, protest injustices and demand good governance in a safe and secure environment through; undertaking collective safety and security approaches that localize existing national level protection practices through established and upcoming community based human rights defenders’ networks and justice centres; enhancing local urgent protection fund to WHRDs and human rights organizations championing women’s rights and aligning and coordinating strategies of various advocacy groups in Kenya for the protection of women human rights defenders and an enabling environment for civic engagement.
Further, the visibility to WHRDs and their work at county and national level has been enhanced.
Defenders Coalition has begun processes of putting in place mechanisms to ensure an accurate account of the situation of human rights in Kenya during the period leading up to the 2022 primaries.
Through a partnership with the Embassy of Germany in Kenya, the Defenders Coalition has begun a process of enhancing the capacities of human rights defenders(HRDs) in conducting an objective monitoring, documentation and reporting on human rights violations.
The HRDs are also equipped with a skill set for safety and security while conducting the monitoring, documentation and reporting activities to protect themselves, the victims and to avert possibilities of causing more harm to the victims.
The partnership also consolidates the role that Defenders Coalition play in documenting human rights violations and abuses related to the electoral process, including by identifying grass-root and national trends and patterns of violations and abuses, and taking preventive and corrective measures on specific human rights issues through advocacy and intervention during the electoral process.
Approaching the last twelve months until the polls day, it is imperative that the field presence be strengthened. During this first phase, 75 monitors from all the 47 counties in Kenya were dispatched to monitor human rights issues related to the electoral process.
This type of monitoring is distinct from general electoral observation and verification, which focuses on technical issues during elections. In fact, monitoring during elections does not differ significantly from regular human rights monitoring, but requires heightened attention to specific issues or groups of people such as key populations, indigenous people, the youth, persons with disabilities etc.
Monitoring human rights during this electioneering period will serve a number of purposes:
The overall goal of this engagement is to have genuinely free and fair elections to constitute sustained efforts to protect and promote human rights.
In the past elections in Kenya have raised political temperatures which give an unsecure working environment marred by violence. This has escalated which has been fronted from ethnic lines by the political elite. The last three general elections have recorded violence and destruction of property as a result of political differences being used to push ethnic political agendas. The 2007 election is the most memorable as there was two months of bloodshed where over 1,000 people died and up to 500,000 internally displaced persons in a country viewed as a bastion of economic and political stability in a volatile region.
As the country gears towards the August 2022 General Election, the human rights community is keen to play a critical role in ensuring the elections credible, free and peaceful and that the outcome represent the aspiration of people living in a democratic state. The traditional contribution of Human Rights Defenders in such a process is to ensure that citizens are sufficiently sensitized to play their civic duty to elect their leaders, monitor the election process ensure it meets international standards and document malpractices and human rights violations to facilitate timely intervention and hold violators to account. This role is more critical in Kenya where elections are hotly contested, often violently resulting in massive human rights violations. During such periods, Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) who empower citizens to elect leaders that drive their aspirations become target for threats, personal injury, loss or damage of their equipment or their work is inhibited by restrictive laws, policies and practices. Despite the risks, HRDs remain committed to advance human rights, respect for laws and citizen rights freely choose their leaders without inhibition.
Conscious of the critical role of HRDs in the election process and risks that they face when they work to promote and protect human rights, the Defenders Coalition and in partrnership with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Nairobi has established a support project for human rights defenders that will monitor human rights situation and situation of HRDs during the 2022 Elections. The role of the Defenders Coalition in the context of elections would be to document human rights violations, including by identifying local and national trends and patterns of violations and abuses to HRDs, and taking preventive or corrective measures on specific human rights issues through advocacy partnerships during the electoral process.
Defenders Coalition plans to deploy human rights monitors in different parts of the country, especially in areas where there has been a history of violence to document human rights violations and violations of rights HRDs violations but also offer monitors critical skills to manage their personal and information safety as well as skills in quality monitoring and documentation of violation.
Defenders’ coalition seeks to conduct one training for Human rights defenders from all the 47 counties to equip them with skills on monitoring, documenting and reporting. The trained HRD monitors will then conduct monitoring which will commence immediately after the training so as to map out potential hotspots and areas which will need attention the coming year during the general elections. The project will initially target 65 monitors, men and women HRDs drawn from all parts of the country for skills building in monitoring, documentation and reporting.
Eight (8) activists from Taita Taveta County in the coastal region of Kenya are now facing the risk of serving three (3) months of jail time based on a ruling delivered on Monday 2 August 2021 by a Taveta Law Courts magistrate.
The ruling criminalizes the work of defending human rights by rights defenders who, despite the many challenges in their communities, stand tall in mobilizing and organizing communities to stand against violations.
The criminalized Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) are Charles Vetaro Mwanzia, Ramadhan Mathenge Kamosu, Justus Munyao, Fabian Ngure, Julius Kimondio, Frank Mbomani, Ambrose Hamadi, Msafiri Mkilo.
The judgement was delivered on Criminal Case Number. 381 of 2016.
The 8 HRDs who were arbitrarily arrested in 2016 had been detained and charged with the offense of ‘taking part in unlawful assembly contrary to section 79 of the Penal Code.’ This is contrary to the provisions of Article 37 of Kenya’s 2010 Constitution which states that every person has the right, peaceably and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket, and to present petitions to public authorities.
At the time of their arrest on 31 October 2016, the eight were alongside 2 others who were not present in the court at the time the ruling was delivered earlier this week. Charges against the two were dropped with the prosecution citing “mistaken identity.” One of the remaining accused, Msafiri Mkilo has since died.
The Defenders Coalition understands that there is a high likelihood that eight were persecuted for organizing community members to stand against an unpopular adjudication of land by the national government.
Defenders Coalition, which is the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders in Kenya is gravely concerned by this ruling as it criminalizes the very existence of human beings who must interact from time-to-time to exchange ideas and organize within their communities.
The ruling is punitive, unreasonable, and unjustifiable as it goes against open and democratic society that is based on human dignity and freedom. It sets a bad precedence for other hundreds of HRDs who have been similarly criminalized for assembling to promote human rights or express their discontentment with the actions of the government of the day.
“The criminalized HRDs were accosted from their own office and charged with a trumped up charge of unlawful assembly. These are members of a non-governmental organization that is registered by the same government that is prosecuting them. Building Africa were running civic awareness programs in Taita Taveta County and maintained an office in Taveta,” noted Kamau Ngugi, The Executive Director of Defenders Coalition.
Detained for hours without recording a statement
According to our investigations conducted by the our protection and legal team supported by the Defenders Coalition, One of the arrested HRD Mr. Ramadhan Mathenge Mwanzia noted that he was in their office conducting a regular meeting of members of the group when the police arrived and arrested them. He asked the police why they were being arrested but the question fell on deaf ears.
Their mobile phones were confiscated together with a camera. Consequently, they were detained at the Taveta Police station, with no statement whatsoever taken from them against the obvious dictates of natural justice.
“I am convinced that my work of mobilizing the community through a petition before the High Court on land allotment related to LR 5865/2 Taveta may have made some powerful government individuals unhappy,” Mr, Mathenge noted in one of the interviews.
Public order Act; the new criminalization frontier
This case against the #Taveta8 is not a solitary one. But it sets a dangerous precedent against other HRDs battling malicious cases in various courts of law across the country.
On 27 July 2021, Njeri Migwi, Ruth Bange, Wambui Ochieng, Moses Okoth, Rodgers Ochieng, Innocent Onyango, Julius Otieno were arrested in Kayole for calling to justice for an 8 year-old girl who was killed by a teacher in school.
Malicious charges including that of unlawful assembly were preferred against them. Although, they were released on bail, they have a date with the court and we are concerned that they may face the same fate as the #Taveta8.
On 7 July 2021, nine (9) HRDs Wilfred Olal, Erick Omuono, Erick Andati, Julius Kamau, Bosire Micheka, Mohammed Ismael, Kennedy Onyango, Wendy Wakesho, Boniface Muranda were incarcerated at the Nairobi Business District for taking part in a peaceful assembly to commemorate Sabasaba March themed #SabaSabaMarchForOurLives and #JobsOrRevolution.
The nine now face trumped up charges including contravening the Public Order (State Curfew) Order 2020 and are to appear in court for the mention of their cases on 25 August 2021.
In January 2021, HRDs Mr. Khalid Hussein (Executive Director of HAKI Africa), Ms. Beatrice Waithera and Mr. Ojiro Odhiambo were arrested for organizing a press conference at Uganda House to call on the Ugandan Government to denounce Ugandan police brutality, electoral injustice, to respect international Human Rights law and laws of Uganda during the presidential ballot in Uganda. The three were charged with unlawful assembly.
On 7 July 2020, 63 HRDs from various social justice centres across Nairobi who had staged a commemorative event of the Sabasaba and to reflect on the dissident conduct of the government towards the adoption of one of the most progressive constitutions in the world were similarly violently arrested and charged with contravening public order regulations.
It is no secret that the state is determined to silence, by intimidation or punish HRDs, through misusing the Public Order Act.
Defenders Coalition appeals to the The National Police Service and the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) respects provisions pertaining to Article 37 of the Constitution of Kenya and the 1998 UN Declaration on HRDs.
While the Defenders Coalition mulls over appealing the ruling at the appellate court, the ODPP must be reminded and be guided by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act, No. 2 of 2013, which requires the ODPP to pay due regard to the fundamental principles comprising impartiality, rules of natural justice and the promotion of public confidence in the integrity of the office while delivering its mandate.
Have you read our May-June 2021 Newsletter? Have a read on what we have been up to ensure the safety, security and wellbeing of Human Rights Defenders in Kenya.
Have a read here
Read all terms of reference here
Introduction and Background
The Defenders Coalition is the national Coalition of Human Rights Defenders in Kenya. It is a national membership organization established in 2007 and registered under Kenyan law as a Trust. The Defenders Coalition works primarily for the protection of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in Kenya. Among others, the NCHRD-K strengthens capacities of HRDs to work more effectively, besides advocating for favourable legal, policy and institutional environments in order to reduce their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and or harm.
In 2019, the Defenders Coalition received project funding support from the Embassy of Norway for a two-year project titled Ni Mama. The project’s expected effect on society (impact) is an improved operating space for Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) to promote human rights, protest injustices and demand good governance in a safe and secure environment. The Expected outcomes are;
An end term review of the project focusing on results achieved by the project is now due. It is on this basis that the Defenders Coalition is seeking the services of a consultant/consulting firm to undertake a project review of the Ni Mama project.
PRESS RELEASE: OBSTINATE VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHT TO PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY PERSISTS, OPENING A NEW FRONTIER OF SAFETY RISKS TO HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN KENYA
Nairobi, 7 th July 2021
Defenders Coalition strongly condemns the arrest and incarceration of nine (9) Human Rights Defenders (HRDs)- Wilfred Olal, Erick Omuono, Erick Andati, Julius Kamau, Bosire Micheka, Mohammed Ismael, Kennedy Onyango, Wendy Wakesho, Boniface Muranda in the morning of 7th July 2021 at the Central Business District of Nairobi.
The five were arrested by arrest-and-violence-thirst police officers who took them to different police stations. five (5) were taken to City Hall Police station, One (1) to Kamukunji Police Station and three (3) to Central Police Station. The nine were picked from hundreds of other human rights defenders who were taking part in a peaceful assembly to commemorate Sabasaba March themed #SabaSabaMarchForOurLives and #JobsOrRevolution.
Worryingly, is the manner in which the gatherings to commemorate the day were dispersed. Violence in the form of tear gas was meted at other peaceful assemblers who had to scamper for safety.
Defenders Coalition in partnership with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and Kenya Commission on Human Rights have ensured the release of the arrested HRDs. Defenders Coalition provided both legal representation and cash bail for all, KHRC supported the legal representation of those arrested and detained at City Hall and KNCHR offered legal representation for those who were detained in Central Police.
The arrested HRDs now face trumped up charges including contravening the Public Order (State Curfew) Order 2020 and are to appear in court for the mention of their cases on 25 August 2021. Two of the three HRDs detained at Central Police have been released after paying cash bail and are expected to report back to the said police station on 8 July 2021. The HRD detained at Kamukunji was released without any charges preferred against him. However, Boniface Muranda (Detained at Central Police station) will remain detained due to “orders from above” and by the virtue of providing a vehicle that provided public address and roadshow services to the HRDs.
The Executive Director of the Defenders Coalition Mr. Kamau Ngugi has noted that the Public Order (State Curfew) Order 2020 is now the most preferred tool for arbitrarily arresting human rights defenders to intimidate, harass and delegitimize their work of promoting human rights in Kenya.
“The unprovoked arrest and violent dispersion of peaceful arresters has become a norm among security agencies in recent months. Similar arbitrary arrests of HRDs were witnessed in January where four HRDs were arrested in the middle of reading a press statement on the situation of human rights in Uganda elections”
Defenders coalition also notes that security officers have blatantly refused to give security to peaceful protestors even after notifying them of upcoming peaceful assemblies and as required by the law.
In January 2021, HRDs Mr. Khalid Hussein (Executive Director of HAKI Africa), Ms. Beatrice Waithera and Mr. Ojiro Odhiambo were arrested for organizing a press conference at Uganda House to call on the Ugandan Government to denounce Ugandan police brutality, electoral injustice, to respect international Human Rights law and laws of Uganda during the presidential ballot in Uganda. The three were charged with unlawful assembly.
on 7 July 2020, 63 HRDs from various social justice centres across Nairobi who had staged a commemorative event of the Sabasaba and to reflect on the dissident conduct of the government towards the adoption of one of the most progressive constitutions in the world were similarly violently arrested and charged with contravening public order regulations.
On June 9 2020, Collins Ochieng and Samuel Gathanga of Ruaraka Social Justice Centre, were arrested and detained at the Central Police Station. They were arrested by police officers shortly after delivering a petition to Parliament regarding police brutality within informal settlements in Nairobi. The two were booked in with charges of failure to keep social distance and failing to wear face masks contrary to the directives given for managing spread of COVID-19.
Sabasaba is a day from 31 years ago when gallant Kenyas brazed teargas, beatings, injuries, torture to say no to dictatorship by Marching to Kamukunji grounds to call for liberation from the then ruling regime. The charges were later dropped as they were malicious.
Defenders Coalition is concerned that intimidation and harassment of rights defenders is becoming the norm in Kenya despite assurances by senior police and government officials of cordial engagement between police carders, ordinary citizens and rights champions.
Defenders Coalition calls on :
DEFENDERS COALITION
*ENDS*
Photos Courtesy @IMLU
To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (Geneva, Switzerland)
12 May 2021
Multilateral action is needed to address the human rights crisis in Cameroon.
Excellencies,
We, the undersigned civil society organisations, are deeply concerned over ongoing grave human rights violations and abuses in Cameroon. Ahead of the Human Rights Council’s (“HRC” or “Council”) 47th session (21 June-15 July 2021), we urge your delegation to support multilateral action to address Cameroon’s human rights crisis in the form of a joint statement to the Council. This statement should include benchmarks for progress, which, if fulfilled, will constitute a path for Cameroon to improve its situation. If these benchmarks remain unfulfilled, then the joint statement will pave the way for more formal Council action, including, but not limited to, a resolution establishing an investigative and accountability mechanism.
Over the last four years, civil society organisations have called on the Government of Cameroon, armed separatists, and other non-state actors to bring violations and abuses1 to an end. Given Cameroonian institutions’ failure to deliver justice and accountability, civil society has also called on African and international human rights bodies and mechanisms to investigate, monitor, and publicly report on Cameroon’s situation.
Enhanced attention to Cameroon, on the one hand, and dialogue and cooperation, on the other, are not mutually exclusive but rather mutually reinforcing. They serve the same objective: helping the Cameroonian Government to bring violations to an end, ensure justice and accountability, and fulfil its human rights obligations. In this regard, the establishment of cooperation between the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Government of Cameroon, following High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s May 2019 visit to Yaoundé,2 and building on the capacity of the OHCHR Regional Office for Central Africa (CARO),3 is a step forward.
However, since a group of 39 States delivered a joint oral statement to the HRC during its 40th session (March 2019), and despite the High Commissioner’s visit, the holding of a national dialogue, and OHCHR’s field presence, violations have continued unabated. Some of the violations and abuses committed by Government forces and non-state armed groups may amount to crimes under international law. Impunity remains the norm.
In the English-speaking North-West and South-West regions, abuses by armed separatists and Government forces continue to claim lives and affect people’s safety, human rights, and livelihoods. The grievances that gave rise to the “Anglophone crisis” remain unaddressed.4 In the Far North, the armed group Boko Haram continues to commit abuses against the civilian population. Security forces have also committed serious human rights violations when responding to security threats. In the rest of the country, Cameroonian authorities have intensified their crackdown on political opposition members and
To nominate online lick here Nominate a HRD Now
To download the nomination form click here Nominate a HRD Now
INTRODUCTION
Civic space in Kenya continues to be under pressure as a range of actions is being directed against the work of Human Rights Defenders (HRD) and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in Kenya. Physical attacks, criminal and administrative actions, reprisals, legislative restrictions, negative rhetoric and limitation of human rights have undermined the constitutional and international protections available to HRDs.
It is against this backdrop that the Working Group on Human Rights Defenders in Kenya, which brings together CSOs, the UN and development partners concerned with the protection of HRDs, is organizing the fifth edition of the HRD Awards on the 26th of November 2021. The aim of the ceremony is to honor and publicly recognize the important work of HRDs in Kenya, by giving out awards to men and women who have demonstrated courage, innovation and impact in the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The awards are presented in three categories: the Munir Mazrui Lifetime Achievement Award, the Human Rights Defender of the Year Award, the Upcoming Human Rights Defender of the Year Award.
THE OBJECTIVES
The objectives of these awards are to:
SELECTION PROCESS
The Working Group on Human Rights Defenders in Kenya develops a call for nominations, which is then widely circulated by the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders in Kenya (also referred to as Defenders Coalition) and other partners. This call outlines the criteria for eligibility for nomination. Individual HRDs can be nominated in the three categories.
A panel comprised of missions and organizations involved in the planning of the HRD Awards then shortlists five individuals per category within the set-out guidelines for shortlisting candidates.
The panel verifies the HRD’s human rights work through field visits, and interviews with the nominators, the nominees and their references.
The Independent Selection Panel, which comprises of eminent individuals in the human rights sector, makes a final decision, from the names submitted, on the recipient of the three awards and the runner up.
Will be held on the 26th of November 2021 in the presence of CSOs, the UN, the government, selected HRDs, representatives from the international missions, and the media who will cover the event.
SELECTION CRITERIA
The following will be taken into consideration:
AWARD
The winners will receive:
WITHDRAWAL OF AN AWARD
The Selection Panel can revoke an award given to past winners if they violate human rights or go against the selection criteria of the HRDs Awards after being awarded.
To nominate your favorite HRD, download the nomination form here
All nomination forms should be sent back to the Defenders Coalition via advocacy@defenderscoalition.org with a clear subject line “HRD AWARD NOMINATION” by the 31st of July 2021, 11.59 P.M
DEFENDERS COALITION SOLIDARITY STATEMENT ON THE 2021 IDAHOBIT CELEBRATIONS
17th May 2021
The 2021 IDAHOBIT celebrations have come at a time where SOGIE HRDs and organizations are mourning and alarmed of their safety and security. Defenders Coalition is concerned about the recent killing of a respected human rights defender in the coast region, Joash Mosoti. We condemn this act and witnessed rising insecurity amongst SOGIE HRDs and organizations in the country. We pass our condolences to the immediate family, friends, HAPA Kenya and all organizations affiliated with Joash. We extend our solidarity and support to you during this difficult moment.
Since 17th May 2020, Defenders Coalition has responded to more than ten cases comprising of SOGIE organizations office break-ins, home break-ins, physical injuries, negative profiling forced evictions and threats to HRDs across the country. These paints a gloomy picture in the recognition of the important work carried by HRDs to respond to the needs of their community members.
The effects of COVID 19 have also affected individual HRDs family life. In our monitoring of the situation of HRDs during the pandemic, there has been reported domestic and gender-based violence that has resulted to family disintegration and targeted attacks to HRDs. COVID 19 has also seen some organizations miss out on funding for their projects and activities. This has seen some of the organizations close down, scale down their interventions and also delay in responding to human rights cases reported to them. We have also noted with the rising scapegoating instances both physical and online platforms.
The witnessed delay by the government to acquire and disburse ARVs has been an up hill task for SOGIE organizations and HRDs who have been at the forefront to support people living with HIV/AIDS. This has created a mistrust between the organizations and their clients, something that has affected service delivery in this sector.
However, despite all this challenges, we cannot fail to celebrate the successes and good practices witnessed in the past year. We recognize the agility of organizations and individual HRDs rise to occasion to mitigate the effects of COVID 19 in their communities. Whereas some out of the way to do personal donations and humanitarian support for the SOGIE community, some went online to fundraise and highlight the situation of their communities.
We celebrate organizations that went ahead to organize webinars, entertainment and online games that kept their staff, volunteers and supporters engaged during the lockdown, curfews and restrictions to in person gatherings. We also recognize organizations that initiated income generating incentives for their members and other social-economic activities that kept them engaged and also creating community ownership.
In addition, we cannot forget the great work done by organizations who initiated a free toll number for counselling and wellbeing activities in their area of work. We appreciate your support, solidarity and hospitality to colleagues, peers and community members who are suffering repression in their countries. This affirms your commitment to ensuring a safe and conducive environment for the LGBTQ+ communities across board.
These successes indicate that we care about each other and are willing to stand in for our communities. In line with this year’s theme: “Together: Resisting, Supporting, Healing, Defenders Coalition wishes to affirm our support to the noble work done by SOGIE HRDs and organizations through strategic engagements/interventions, rapid response and advocacy initiatives led by the movement. We are just a call away in fulling the mandate you have bestowed on us of ensuring safety, security and wellbeing of HRDs in Kenya. VIVA!