Rights defenders urge Ruto's action against abductions.
Counties
By
Steve Mkawale
| Jan 09, 2025
Human rights activists have called on President William Ruto to take decisive action against rising incidents of abductions across the country.
David Koros, the president of the Institute for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, regretted that the government was reluctant and lack political goodwill to end the abductions.
"It’s pretty disappointing for the grave violations of human rights abuses being with the mess in the country. I’m calling upon the president to take action and prosecute those involved in abductions and disappearances." He said in a statement.
"The government is a suspect because those missing youths were the critics of the state.… We are accusing leaders of politicizing the pain of parents whose children are still missing." He said.
He regretted that the government had not learned a lesson from the 2007/2008 Post Election Violence, where several ICC witnesses were abducted and killed.
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"The country has not learned a lesson from 2007/2008, when several witnesses were abducted and killed, and up to now, the parents are still demanding the whereabouts," Koros said.
He said the organization was writing a protest letter to the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands.
"We will write a protest letter to the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the ICC and demand President Ruto to respect the constitution and produce the missing persons in a court of law." He said.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said Thursday that there had been 82 abductions carried out "clandestinely, with unidentified armed persons" since June, with 29 still missing.
It listed seven people who had been abducted since December 17.