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The
Observatory has been informed
by
the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) about the deportation of
human rights lawyer and transitional justice expert Mr Martin
Mavenjina,
a senior legal advisor at KHRC, and the ongoing pattern of repression
targeting civil society and human rights defenders in Kenya.
On
5 July 2025, Mr Mavenjina was deported to Uganda immediately after
landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi,
following an official mission in South Africa. Mr Mavenjina holds
valid legal status to work and reside in Kenya and has been a leading
figure in promoting transitional justice, accountability for past
atrocities, and civic engagement—particularly through initiatives
such as the #MachoziYaJana dialogues, a series of community-driven
fora to honor victims of police brutality and demand systemic reform,
as well as civil society coalitions for electoral reform.
According
to the KHRC,
Mr Mavenjina was initially allowed entry and had his passport
stamped. However, within minutes, immigration officers reversed their
decision without explanation, confiscated his passport, and held him
in a detention facility. After roughly 30 minutes,
officials—accompanied by five unidentified plainclothes men
believed to be from the National Intelligence Service (NIS)—escorted
him to a Kenya Airways desk and issued him a one-way ticket to
Kampala. His passport was marked with an exit stamp, and his phone
was temporarily confiscated. No formal deportation order or legal
justification was presented at any point.
KHRC
has condemned this unlawful expulsion, stating that it violates both
national and international laws. The Kenya Citizenship and
Immigration Act, 2011 stipulates due process guarantees for the
removal of residence permit of any foreigner who legally resides in
Kenya. This process was not availed to Mr Mavenjina. Article 12(4) of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on
freedom of movement and right to return was also violated, as
deporting someone with valid work and residency documents falls
squarely within "arbitrary deprivation", such as Articles 5
and 12 of the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) which protect
individuals from arbitrary expulsion and premature removal without a
fair legal process.
As
such, Martin Mavenjina’s deportation appears to be part of a
coordinated attack on civil society—particularly those supporting
families of victims of extrajudicial killings and police
brutality—just ahead of the 7 July protests commemorating the
historic
country-wide 1990 7th July pro-democracy protests that lay the
foundation for the eventual
end
of the 24-year
Moi dictatorship. The protests were meant to instill a culture of
democracy, good governance and adherence to the rule of law. The
protests have since been held on every 7th
July and dabbed “saba saba”, a Swahili term loosely translated as
“seven seven”.
The
Observatory
recalls
that
this incident follows a broader wave of repression. Human rights
defenders, journalists, and protest organisers have been subjected to
arbitrary arrests, threats, enforced disappearances, and unlawful
detentions. According to Missing
Voices—a
coalition led by KHRC and other civil society organisations—2024
recorded the highest number of enforced disappearances since the
coalition began documenting
such
cases in 2019. In 2024, a total of 159 cases of extrajudicial
killings and enforced disappearances were reported, 104 of which were
police-related killings and 55 enforced disappearances—marking a
450% increase in disappearances compared to 2023. The Independent
Medico-Legal Unit
(IMLU) also documented 67 extra judicial killings in 2023 and over
600
cases of police torture, including 63 deaths and 89 enforced
disappearances
in 2024. Most of these abuses occurred during the Gen Z protests - a
youth led, decentralised movement against corruption, police
brutality and the 2024 Finance Bill - between June and August 2024,
with 58 killings tied directly to protest policing, predominantly in
Nairobi, Kiambu, Migori, and other counties.
The
victims were overwhelmingly young men between the ages of 18 and 34.
Despite the scale of abuse, no police officers have been convicted,
and only two cases have proceeded to court, highlighting the ongoing
culture of impunity. Meanwhile, the Independent Policing Oversight
Authority (IPOA) has reported
60
cases related to the protests, but most have been stalled or
dismissed, often citing "lack of evidence" or "need
for further investigation." Although the UN
Working group on enforced disappearances
called on Kenya to provide details on the measures taken to search
for individuals who disappeared during or after the protests, the
authorities failed to demonstrate that any such efforts were made.
As
part of the coordinated attack on KHRC, on 6 July, 2025, at around
14:00 hours while preparing to host a press conference by Kenyan
Mothers calling for an end to arbitrary arrests, enforced
disappearances and extrajudicial killings, ahead of the 7 July
protests, KHRC offices were invaded by state-sponsored goons.
Mothers, journalists and KHRC staff that had gathered for the press
conference were attacked and phones, laptops and other valuables
stolen from them. The attackers informed them they were sent to
ensure the press conference did not take place.
On
7 July, 2025, the country witnessed yet another day of police
brutality, by the end of the next day the Kenya National Commission
for Human Rights had recorded
at
least 31 deaths, 107 injured, 2 enforced disappearances and 532
arrests - the numbers are expected to be much higher given night
attacks reported in many of the satellite
towns
close to the capital city Nairobi.
The
Observatory considers that this context underscores a dire climate of
shrinking civic space and systemic violence against protesters and
human rights defenders. Deportations have been widely used in Kenya
and other
East African Community
member states to prevent defenders from carrying out their legitimate
work. Among several cases, in 2024, Ugandan opposition leader Kiiza
Besigye
was
abducted in Kenya and forcibly returned to Uganda and arraigned
before a military court while in 2025, Kenyan human rights defender
Boniface
Mwangi
was forcibly disappeared in Tanzania and returned to Kenya. The
Observatory reiterates that deportations, enforced disappearances,
extrajudicial killings, torture and the intimidation of civic actors
constitute serious violations of international human rights norms and
call for urgent accountability mechanisms, including the application
of command responsibility and protection of witnesses.
Furthermore,
the Observatory emphasises that Mr Mavenjina’s deportation is not
an isolated incident but reflects a systemic crackdown on independent
voices amid Kenya’s most significant wave of youth-led mobilisation
in recent history. Recent protests have evolved into a broader call
for transformative governance, accountability, and human
dignity—demands that the government appears increasingly unable or
unwilling to address.
The
Observatory strongly condemns the deportation of Mr Martin Mavenjina
and the absence of due process in this case, he continued
intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders and civil
society organisations in Kenya, as well as the escalating violence
and repression against peaceful protesters, including the use of
lethal force, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detentions.
The
Observatory urges the Kenyan authorities to immediately allow the
safe and unconditional return of Mr Mavenjina to Kenya and
ensure the physical and psychological integrity of all KHRC members
and all human rights defenders and peaceful protesters in the
country.
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