NCHRD News « Defenders Coalition

Introduction

10^th December 2018 marks the 70^th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which recognises the inherent dignity of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’. As we mark this special milestone, we cannot forget to mention the individuals who play a critical, yet highly risky, role in the realisation of the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the UDHR, and echoed within the Kenyan Constitution 2010.

Groups and individuals who engage themselves on this road are the preferred targets of authorities and private groups who make use of various forms of repression to silence these individuals. These groups and individuals are defined as human rights defenders within The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which was adopted in December 1998. [1]

Despite these challenges, HRDs continue to show resilience in their work towards the realisation of human rights in Kenya. It is on this premise that the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders – Kenya (NCHRD-K) in partnership with the Working Group on Human Rights Defenders in Kenya, that comprise of CSOs and development partners in Kenya, concerned with the protection of human rights defenders endeavour to publicly recognise the work of HRDs in Kenya through a HRD award ceremony. The inaugural HRD awards ceremony was launched in December 2016.

Background of the HRD Awards

As we celebrate the 20^th Anniversary of the Declaration on HRDs, the NCHRD-K and the working group on human rights defenders continue to play a pioneering role in the protection and recognition of human rights defenders through the HRD award of the year to:

Honour the extra ordinary work of HRDs in the promotion and protection of human rights, profiling the work of HRDs and challenges they face as agents of social change and transformation.
Recognise and appreciate the human rights work of young and upcoming HRDs in Kenya.
Enhance the safety and protection of all HRDs in Kenya.

The awards are classified in three categories;

Upcoming HRD of the Year Award
Human Rights Defender of the Year Award
Munir Mazrui Lifetime Achievement Award

The process of selecting the winner is initiated by sending out a call for nominations, which outlines the criteria for eligibility for nomination. A shortlisting panel reviews the nomination and shortlists five HRDs per category. A verification process thereafter commences identifying the veracity of the work of the HRDs and the impact on their community. The selection of the winners is done by a Judging Panel that comprises eminent individuals, chaired by the former Chief Justice of Kenya, Dr. Willy Mutunga.

The 2016 and 2017 HRD awards were hosted by the Ambassador of the Royal Netherlands Embassy, H E Frans Makken.

About HRD Awards 2018 Ceremony

The 2018 HRD of the year award ceremony will be held on 30^th November 2018, from 3pm to 6pm. The award ceremony will bring together over 300 guests drawn from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), government, private sector, Human Rights Defenders (from 47 counties), missions and media.

For further details and booking of media slots, kindly contact:

Francis Ndegwa, Communications Officer, National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders – Kenya

Email: francis@hrdcoalition.org; Tel; 0721443397),

[1] The Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

7TH NOVEMBER 2018

TO ALL NEWS EDITORS PRESS RELEASE

CALL FOR INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY OF OFFICERS FOUND CULPABLE OF VIOLATING THE SIXTH SCHEDULE OF THE NPS ACT 2011

We the Police Reforms Working Group-Kenya (PRWG-K), the Social Justice Centre Working Group (SJCWG) and human rights defenders pass our deepest condolences to police officers and civilians who have been victims of acts of crime in the recent past, and wish the surviving ones quick recovery.
We are well aware that Kenyans are increasingly experiencing violent crime. We therefore cannot under any circumstances underestimate the trauma that our society is living through, due to the increase in cases of violent crime, and the apparent inability of the National Police Service to reduce these incidences and, or successfully prosecute these cases.
We stand with Kenyans, especially victims of violent crime who are extremely frustrated by the increased number of suspects who continue to roam freely intimidating and threatening victims and witnesses, eliminating witnesses, and in some cases committing new crimes, mainly due to botched investigations and police corruption.
However the Police Reforms Working Group- Kenya (PRWG-K) wishes to express grave concern over increasing incidences of deaths from police use of lethal force in the country. Over the past one month, incidences of torture and extrajudicial executions implicating police officers are on an all- time high. This is especially regrettable at a time when the country is embracing the new police reforms initiatives to transform our police force to a civilian-centered police service.

In particular, the PRWG-K strongly condemns the alleged summary executions of 24 young men in Mathare, Majengo, Kayole and Dandora in the last 3 weeks, by officers believed to be attached to the Huruma and Dandora Police Stations.
A case in point is the shooting of a twenty year old man who was walking home in Mathare North Area, after arriving from his place of work on Friday, October 26th, 2018. Incidentally, there had been a robbery at a supermarket in the area (Family Choice). In the process of police pursuing the “suspected thugs”, he was shot in the thigh. A Good Samaritan rushed him to Mathare North Health Centre. He then called his wife but her phone was off forcing him to call a neighbor. The neighbor then informed the deceased’s wife and they rushed him to the health Centre where they found him. They were advised to take him to Mama Lucy Hospital prompting the neighbor to make a call to arrange for transport. Immediately after the call, a group of over 10 officers allegedly arrived brandishing guns and asking where the ‘thug’ was and that he had their “property”. They picked him from where he was lying and bundled him into the boot of a white probox car. They then drove off with the deceased not informing the wife and neighbor where they were heading. The next day, the deceased’s employer led a search party from one police station to the other, health facilities and morgues. It was then at City Mortuary that they found his corpse with seven gunshot wounds.
The actions of the police officer on the night of 28th and 29th October 2018 point to a clear contravention of Article 26, every person has the right to life. A person shall not be deprived of life intentionally, except to the extent authorized by the Constitution or other written law. Further, the National Police Service Act 2011 Schedule 6 (B) provides that ‘Firearms may only be used when less extreme measures are inadequate, and for the following purposes: a) saving or protecting the life of the officer or other persons; and b) self-defense or in defense of other person against imminent threat of life or serious injury.

We are greatly dismayed by the impunity displayed by the police officer in this incident and many more, and call for the following action:

1. The Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) expedite investigations into the apparent summary execution of the 20 young men and forward the report to the director of public prosecution’s office for prosecution

of the officers found culpable.

We appeal to all eye witnesses and anybody else with evidence on this killing to come forward and present their information to the IPOA;
The National Police Service Commission should institute disciplinary actions against the police officer;
The need to speedily implement in full the National Coroners Service Act 2017 to provide for independent forensic investigations of questionable deaths;
We call for the formation of a judicial inquiry into cases of extrajudicial killings in the country;
We urge the government to allow the request by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to visit the country to assess the situation of extra judicial killings and make appropriate recommendations;
We commend all police officers who have embraced the ongoing reforms and urge those officers with information on these killings to liaise with IPOA to ensure thatthat we rid the force of those not willing to change;
Lastly, we continue to firmly believe that failure to hold the officers individually responsible and accountable will only continue to undermine the ongoing reforms under the central command of the Inspector General, and entrench a culture of impunity within the National Police Service.

Finally we urge the IG, IPOA, the IAU and the NPSC to enhance mechanisms of bringing to end indiscriminate executions of people without due process of the law. It is our considered view that the police cannot be investigators, prosecutors, judges and executioners at the same time.

Signed:

National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders-Kenya (NCHRD-K)

Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)

International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ-K)

International Commission of Jurists –Kenya (ICJ-K)

Legal Resources Foundation (LRF)
International Justice Mission (IJM)
Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU)

Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
Rights Promotion and Protection Centre (RPP)
Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-K)
Coalition on Violence against Women (COVAW)
Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice (KPTJ)

Usalama Reforms
Amnesty International – Kenya
Transparency International Kenya
Katiba Institute (KI)
Social Justice Centre Working Group (SJCWG)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Based on key findings, some issues emerged in the report. First, majority of the Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in Nairobi County have tertiary education, most are engaged in self- employment, and 80% are affiliated to organisation which are pro-human rights defenders and 69% do not have regular income.

Secondly, the work of human rights defenders is important to promote and protect human rights and the rule of law. This can be achieved through regular training on the rights of HRDs. The report identified that 85% of the human rights defenders need support on human rights and advocacy, support further training on human rights, support on
self-care, support on medical care and employment opportunities.

Finally, there is need for National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders-Kenya and other stake holders to organize regular human rights training workshops for HRDs. Training for human rights defenders should include training on professionalizing their work as well as on relevant security precautions.Training should involve capacity building that equip human rights defenders with practical knowledge and skills that can enable them acquire gainful employment besides being human rights defenders. Training on practical skills like report writing, data entry technique and analysis, investigative research are recommended.

Click Here to Download the Report.

63^rd Ordinary Session of the Africa Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Banjul, Gambia

Public Session; Human Rights Situation in Africa

25^th October 2018

Statement by NATIONAL COALITION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS KENYA (NCHRD-K)

Madame Chairperson, distinguished Commissioners, State Delegates, representatives of NHRIs and NGOs.

On behalf of the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders -Kenya (NCHRD-K), I would like to thank the Commission for this opportunity to raise some of the key human rights concerns from Kenya.

We are particularly concerned that the legitimate role of protection and promotion of human rights carried on by human rights defenders and Civil Society Organizations is criminalized and target for reprisal by both state and non-state actors. Below are a few incidences of violation of human rights fundamental freedoms of human rights defenders in Kenya:

Freedom of Association: Kenyan police have continued to harass and threaten HRDs that demand justice for victims and advocate for accountability for serious injuries, death and destruction of property by security agents following unrest that took place post 2017 general elections. Most of the incidents reported by HRDs include threats of arrest, warnings against posting information about police brutality, home and office raids, and confiscation of laptops and other items. The National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders documented up to 15 cases where activists suffered these intimidation tactics.^[1]The protection of HRDs should be adhered to as prescribed by law.

Freedom of Expression: On 29 May 2018, The High Court in Nairobi temporarily suspended 26 sections of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Bill, which was signed into law by the President on 16 May 2018, after an appeal by the Bloggers Association of Kenya, among others.^[2] While the objective of the law was to address issues including cybercrime, cyber bullying, phishing, and fake news, the law contains provisions which threaten the freedom of expression, right to privacy, the right to a fair trial. On 3 July, the suspension of the 26 provisions was extended when the Court will hear an application by the Attorney General to have the suspension lifted on the basis that it was erroneously issued.

On 31 July, during a parliamentary session, two journalists with the privately-owned People Daily newspaper were threatened with being barred from covering future parliamentary proceedings and summoned to a legislative committee. The summons was allegedly in connection to stories published on 30-31 July accusing MPs of taking and soliciting bribes from organizations and individuals they were meant to be investigating.^[3]Such threats and intimidation tactics affect on the freedom of journalists to carry out their legitimate work.

Freedom of Information: In October 2018, the Kenya government introduced a 15% excise duty tax on internet services through a new Finance bill, effected on 15^th October. The Bill restricts Kenyans’ access to internet services which plays a major role in promoting access to information.

Freedom of Peaceful Assembly: Police arrested two environmental activists on 25 May 2018 during a protest against plans to set up a coal-fired power plant at Kwasasi, Lamu County. The group had sought permission to peacefully assemble and demonstrate but their request was rejected by police who deemed the protest “unlawful.”^[4]

The fact that the individuals were arrested while peacefully protesting raises concerns regarding the Kenyan government’s respect for the constitution, Article 11 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights and international law standards that safeguards the right to peacefully assemble.

In light of these updates and observations, we urge the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to:

Call on the Kenyan Government to provide a conducive legal environment that will ensure that Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) carry out their work without fear of reprisal.
Call on the Kenyan government to cease the harassment of journalists who work towards providing information including on the status of human rights in Kenya
Call on the government to remove exercise duty tax being charged on internet tariffs to ensure that Kenyans from all walks of life can access the Internet.
Urge Kenya to Develop a policy/law for the protection of Human rights Defenders
Urge Kenya to revise sections of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Bill that seeks to limit freedom of expression and privacy.

I thank You

^[1] https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/04/kenya-police-threaten-activists-reporting-abuse

^[2] http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/ea/Court-suspends-portions-of-Kenya-cybercrime-law/4552908-4586250-1kaa55/index.html

^[3] https://cpj.org/2018/08/kenyan-parliamentarians-harass-journalists-followi.php

^[4] https://www.nation.co.ke/counties/lamu/Police-arrest-2-anti-Lamu-coal-plant-protester/3444912-4579706-ymfm8l/index.html

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

In parallel to the legislative process initiated by the Kenya Senate in July 2018, a Task Force constituted by the Ministry of Information, Communication and Telecommunication developed a draft Data Protection Bill which it published for consultation in May of this year.

The National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders – Kenya (NCHRD-K) and our partners Privacy International and the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology (CIPIT) are pleased to have had the opportunity to take part in the open consultative process of the Ministry to seek feedback on the proposed Bill.

We welcome the effort by the Government of Kenya to give life to and specify the right to privacy, already enshrined in Article 31(c) and (d) of the Constitution of Kenya by proposing a draft Data Protection Act.

However, the Data Protection Bill proposed by the Taskforce has a number of significant shortcomings. We recommend that to effectively protect privacy and to meet international standards in protecting personal data, that full consideration be given to the areas of concern and improvements outlined below under each Part of the Bill, which include:

Reviewing some of the definitions outlined in Part 1 and in particular clarify the definition of ‘sensitive personal data’.
Reviewing the material and territorial scope of the law, in particular with the aim of ensuring that the law applies to public entities including law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Guaranteeing that all data protection principles are included and revised clearly to provide for principles of fairness and transparency, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality, and accountability.
Guaranteeing that data subjects are provided with rights including the right to suppress or block (restrict), the right to data portability, as well as the protection and enjoyment of their rights in relation to profiling and automated decision making.
Reviewing the current scope of the obligation to notify a data subject about the processing of their personal data.
Providing clarity as to what the legal grounds for processing may be including by defining concepts such as ‘public interest’ and ‘legitimate interest’, and in particular reviewing the legal grounds for processing ‘sensitive personal data’ to strengthen the protection of such data.
Ensuring that any exemptions relating to the different data protection principles and the rights of data subjects must be provided for in the law in a form which is clear, precise and limited to specific necessary and proportionate exceptions rather than broad blanket exemptions, particularly for government authorities.
Reviewing the grounds for processing including ensuring that processing of data which is available to the public or deemed publicly available is not free for all to use without requiring further involvement of the data subject.
Reviewing the clause on the storage of data in Kenya and focus on ensuring the data is protected with the highest safeguards rather than demanding data localisation which may not achieve the purpose of providing a higher level of protection as intended.
Guaranteeing that a strong process is in place to regulate the transfer of personal data including developing a process for assessing adequacy of protection in the receiving country, not only in terms of data protection but also protection of human rights and rule of law.
Ensuring that the protection of the data subject and their data as well as their right of privacy is balanced with freedom of expression under Article 33 of the Constitution for the media, artistic or literary work.
Guaranteeing that the independent authority established by the law, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, has sufficient resources to undertake its mandate, and also that data subjects are given access to an effective remedy and ensuring that the Commissioner has the power to impose penalties, and ensure effective remedies.

Our priority is to ensure that the highest data protection safeguards are encoded in law and effectively enforced so that people in Kenya are protected from undue harm and they are able to fully exercise the enjoyment of their fundamental rights and freedoms.

Access the Submissions here: Submission of Comments on the Data Protection Bill_MinistryTaskForce

13 September 2018

Amnesty International, National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders and Independent Medico-Legal Unit and Mathare Social Justice Centre have provisionally welcomed the announcement of far reaching reforms to increase police accountability, discipline and effectiveness by harmonizing policing operations. Placing the Administrative, Regular Police Service units and other security agencies under one command structure will go a long way to creating public accountability and the efficient deployment of personnel and resources in the public interest. The above reforms should ensure centralized investigation, detention and service delivery.

“Holding all police and security officers operating in the same area under a central chain of command accelerates their accountability to the Constitution. Article 238(2) b provides for national security to be pursued within the rule of law, democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms. The police power to use force and firearms comes with obligations and responsibilities that must not be abused,” says Peter Kiama, Executive Director, Independent Medico-Legal Unit.

The organisations also welcome the promise of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate unlawful police killings in Mombasa county.“This declaration is in line with the proposed reforms. It sends a clear message to all Police Officers and Security agents that they will be held personally responsible for acts of police brutality, abductions and extra-judicial killings in future. The taskforce must also review incidents and cases from all over the country with a view of investigating and prosecuting and investigating all unlawful actions by the Police and security agencies,” says Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director Irũngũ Houghton.

Kenya urgently needs radical police reforms that hold individual officers and their commanders accountable for past unlawful deaths, police brutality, torture and forced disappearances. Eliminating extra-judicial executions and excessive use of force is a pre-condition for restoring public confidence, police morale and creating safety for all Kenyans. The Director of Public Prosecutions must investigate every case and prosecute those found culpable in fair trials. The Attorney General must also now initiate legislation to explicitly criminalize extra-judicial executions and enforced disappearances in line with international human rights standards.

“The reforms must also ensure that police oversight mechanisms work as provided for in the constitution. The National Police Service, Independent Police Oversight Authority, Kenya National Commission for Human Rights, National Police Service Commission, Director for Public Prosecutions, Internal Affairs Unit must be sufficiently resourced, be independent and must work with human rights organizations to ensure accountability”, says Kamau Ngugi, Executive Director, National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders.

The organisations reiterates that lawful and effective policing and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms are two sides of the same coin. The new reforms must not undermine the positive approaches of most Administration Police Officers to mediate between community members and protect them. Protecting the right of police officers to life, adequate conditions and effective equipment is also critical. Police officers are a vital part of the Kenyan society. They too deserve all the rights and protection accorded by the constitution.

Notes:

The Police Reforms Working Group intends to study the new strategy and will make a substantive reaction once this is done.
While the strategy is not publicly available, it is expected that the reforms will see agencies co-located under the command of an Officer Commanding Station (OCS) who will be reporting to one Officer Commanding Police Department (OCPD) and Commandants; AP camps converted into police posts with every ward having at least one post; streamlining APS to focus on border security, livestock theft, critical Government infrastructures, VIP protection, armed violence and rapid response; and, reduction of the number of officers assigned to VIP security.

For more information, please call Francis on + 254721443397 or email francis@hrdcoalition.org

An Overview of NCHRD-K’s Report on the Effects of Evictions to Women Human Rights Defenders and Women Rights

Margaret Chesir was born in Embobut forest and for over 50 years has known no other home. She is a member of the indigenous Sengwer community, often evicted by the government in a bid to conserve the forest. An agonised Chesir was evicted in 2014, and since then, she has been in and out of the forest, struggling to get back to the hunter-gatherer life that defines her community.

Sengwer WHRDs and leaders during the launch of the Interim Report.

“Life outside the forest is unbearable and we often return to the forest as soon as security agencies burn down our structures,” Chesir told the Star, holding back tears.Chesir and other women grew up in an environment where colobus monkeys chattered, jackals howled and crickets chirped. They are fond of natural fruits and vegetables found in Embobut and nearby forests.

“We don’t cut down trees because we live inside thick forests, and we rely on the forest for food and medicines,” she says.Other communities listed as indigenous include Boni (Bajuni), El Molo, Malakote, Ogiek, Sanya, Waata, Wagoshi and Yaaku.But as the world commemorated the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9, Chesir and company were wondering what their future holds.

LEFT BY HUSBANDS

Mary Komen, a Sengwer community women leader, says the community is now joining the list of internally displaced Kenyans after a series of evictions. The National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders Kenya recently conducted a research titled “Race against eviction. The plight of Sengwer women and human rights defenders in Embobut forest”.

The NCHRD-K report, launched in Iten, shows a community that has lost its traditions and language during successive evictions. According to the report, Sengwer were forcibly evicted every year since 2007. The community has lived in Embobut forest since the 1890s, and they were given permits by the British colonial government to stay in three glades, including Kapkok, Kaptirbai and Koropken. Its members also occupy parts of West Pokot and Trans Nzoia and consist of 21 clans. The 2009 census put the Sengwer community population at 33,187.

The NCHRD-K further established that the evictions depressed the community, while frequent displacements and disruption of livelihoods have denied the community’s children the right to education. Early marriages and disintegration of Sengwer family units have also been threatened by the evictions. NCHRD-K executive director Kamau Ngugi said researchers spoke to women of the indigenous deep inside the forest.

“The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights had previously conducted a study on human rights violations. We found out that women’s views were not put into account, and that is why we decided to look into the situation of women inside the forest,” Ngugi said.

It was also discovered during the study that Sengwer women were abandoned by their husbands after forest dwellers received Sh400,000 each as payout to move out of the forest. “Men left their wives and married younger women from the neighbouring Marakwet community, and squandered the money meant for buying alternative land,” the interim report reads in part.

Article done by Stephen Rutto, Star Newspaper. Read the entire article here: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/09/11/big-read-sengwer-women-weve-lost-our-dignity-rights-violated-in_c1807215

Intolerance towards LGBTI individuals and organisations is exacerbated by laws which make same sex activity illegal. This creates an unsafe environment for LGBTI individuals to live openly in regard to their sexual identity and orientation, and hinders their access to health, safety and other public services. Despite Kenya being one of the more progressive countries in East Africa regarding LGBQ awareness and rights, the nation still prohibits LGBQ persons. From 2010 to 2014, Kenya prosecuted 595 people for their sexuality, and LGBTI organization, based in Nairobi, have been working to reverse strict laws prohibiting gay relationships.

^[1] More so, Intersex Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming (ITGNC) HRDs together with their constituents face a number of challenges and issues in their work. Their work is never safe even where they have to set up an office due to fear of victimization by either the landlord or the community around. Security is not guaranteed when they are training their members especially now that they have to do it in their offices. The sensation about it all turns to be a security threat to them. They have to be mindful of socialization issues and places.

With this in mind, Defenders Coalition felt the need to conduct an extensive security needs mapping on ITGNC HRDs while sensitizing them as well on the Safety and Protection guide in order to enable them have a wider reach into the community.

It is for these and other reasons that the Coalition convened one-day dialogues with ITGNC HRDs in Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Nairobi to better understand the security concerns they face in the course of their human rights work and strategies in place to mitigate against those concerns for the purposes of developing a security guide and training manual for the ITGNC community.

OBJECTIVE

To carry out a needs assessment security mapping amongst ITGNC HRDs from Nairobi, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western and Coast regions in order to better understand the security concerns they face in the course of their human rights work and strategies in place to mitigate against those concerns.

OUTCOMES

Identification of safety and protection measures amongst ITGNC HRDs working on SOGIE issues.

Developed sustainable safety and protection measures informed by ITGNC HRDS security needs to ensure the safe conduct of their human rights work.

The History of Kenyan democracy and HRDS

In a democracy, the authority of the government derives solely from the consent of the governed and is realised by holding free and fair elections. But from 1969, Kenya was a de facto one-party state and in June 1982, the National Assembly of Kenya passed Article 2A of the Constitution of Kenya, officially declaring Kenya a de jure one-party state. This saw the consolidation of power within the ruling party, and opposition leaders and citizens at large were unable to speak freely, assemble, or move around the country to offer alternative voices, speak their criticisms of the government openly and bring alternative policies and candidates to voters. State-sponsored repression that included arbitrary arrests, detention without trial, prolonged trials arising from trumped-up charges, torture and other human rights violations were meted out on citizens, the academic community, journalists and politicians who expressed dissenting opinions or were perceived to be doing so by state agents.

Between 1982 and 1992, political leaders and human rights defenders (HRDs) in Kenya came together, amid serious repression, to champion multi-partyism, demanding democratic elections that would meet the threshold of being competitive, periodic, inclusive and definitive, and would thus give power back to citizens who would enjoy broad freedom to criticise the government, publish their criticisms and present alternative views. These efforts were met with resistance and those at the forefront experienced arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance, threats and harassment.

The efforts of the reformers, as they were popularly known, won the support of foreign missions, primarily from western states, and bilateral and multilateral donors, which demanded that the Kenyan government should embrace democracy with all its tenets of good governance, accountability and transparency as well as respect for human rights as a condition for aid. Faced with protests, boycotts and international pressure, the government caved in, albeit reluctantly, to the demands for political pluralism, which was restored in 1992 with the repeal of Article 2A.

It should be recalled that the repeal of Article 2A to allow for multiparty politics was not complemented by other legal and institutional reforms to enable a thriving democracy. This was compounded by state efforts to scuttle the conduct of free and fair elections by persistent state-orchestrated inter-ethnic hatred that translated into political and ethnic clashes that took place in 1992 and in every election period since the introduction of multiparty democracy in Kenya.

Violations during elections and civil society responses

The climax of simmering ethnic tensions was the eruption of violence following the 2007 general elections that plunged Kenya into political, economic and humanitarian crisis. The conflict saw serious human rights violations committed in a context where over 600,000 Kenyans were internally displaced and close to 2,000 people were killed. The stalemate between rival presidential candidates Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki was resolved in February 2008 following the negotiation and signing of the National Peace Accord and the subsequent enactment of the National Peace Accord and Reconciliation Act. Among the agenda items this laid out was the need for a new constitution, which was drafted and promulgated after a referendum in 2010.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) and HRDs in Kenya once again played a critical role in the documentation of human rights violations, championing justice for the victims and accountability for perpetrators. The documentation of human rights violations by HRDs was particularly critical in laying the foundation for the investigation of the 2007 election violations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and subsequent prosecution of six individuals believed to have been most responsible. The role of CSOs and HRDs in documenting violations has ever since put them in the crosshairs of the political elite, who have targeted individual HRDs with threats, harassment and intimidation, and have aimed negative rhetoric at CSOs with the aim of denting their credibility in society. There is also an attack on the media and journalists, despite the constitutional protection of media freedom and media independence.

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