The annual report titled People Power Under Attack 2024, by global civil society organisation CIVICUS, stated that four countries, including Kenya, were downgraded due to their oppressive nature.
Other countries such as Eswatini, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso’s rating for curtailing fundamental freedom rights. The report ranks countries into five categories based on the freedoms of associations and the government’s duty to protect human rights. The categories include open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed and closed.
Kenya’s rating was downgraded from obstructed to repressed following the police brutality witnessed during the Gen Z protests that rocked the nation in mid-2024.
“The government’s violent response caused the deaths of at least 60 unarmed protesters and police arrested at least 1,000 people,” the report read in part.
“Abductions of protesters and online supporters of the protests have continued months after the protests, as security forces hunt down those they suspect of involvement, creating a chilling effect on civic freedoms.”
The report accused authorities of disrupting peaceful protests by using brute force, engaging in abductions and prosecuting human rights defenders, protestors, and journalists.
According to the report, countries such as Botswana and Liberia improved their rankings by allowing political expression and defending human rights.
Kenyan law enforcement officers were accused of engaging in extrajudicial killings and abductions by police during the protests.
Stakeholders such as the United States and Human Rights groups have called on the said officers to be held accountable for the killings, something which remains to be seen.
President William Ruto has, however, defended the police service against the accusations of using excessive force, insisting that he has no blood in his hands.
“Criminals have caused immense harm and I must protect everybody, especially innocent people,” Ruto said during a joint media interview in June 2024.
By Brian Kimani
