Statement by the Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions on the Killing of Two Human Rights Activists in Kenya

The Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (CFNHRI) has expressed its deep sense of shock and sorrow at the murder on March 5, 2009 of two human rights activists in Nairobi, Kenya allegedly by unknown assailants. The killing of Oscar Kamau Kingara and John Paul Oulo, both of the Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic is a sad reminder of the difficult conditions in which human rights defenders operate in Kenya. Just last month, Francis Nyaruri, a Kenyan journalist, was decapitated and his beaten body was found in a forest in the west of the country. Last year, the Chair of the Kenya National Commission on Human Right was also subjected to threats related to his work in drawing attention to the human rights situation in Kenya.

The murders of Mr Kingara and Mr. Oulo is an assault on all who are working for the protection of human rights, peace and reconciliation in Kenya. These murders undermine the work of human rights defenders in Kenya and cast a shadow over the democratic progress made in Kenya in recent years. It is particularly worrisome at this time when Kenya is recovering from the post election violence OF 2008. We therefore deplore the killings and call upon Kenyan authorities to institute a thorough and impartial investigation TO bring those responsible to justice. We also call on the authorities to reaffirm the legitimacy of human rights work by different interests groups in Kenya including nongovernmental organisations so that they can carry out their activities in a peaceful and free environment.

Under the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, states, including Kenya, have a duty to respect and take all the necessary measures to ensure the protection of human rights defenders and their work. This not only includes practical protection measures but also comprehensive measures to prevent abuses and to address the root causes of such abuses.

We call for an end to the climate of impunity that is allowing such acts of aggression and murders to continue to be committed against human rights activists and journalists.