Kenya: Arbitrary detention of human rights defenders and violent attack on women human rights defenders amid severe repression of civil society
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the violent attacks and arbitrary detentions of human rights defenders in Kenya in recent weeks. This includes the arbitrary arrest and detention in Mombas of three Kenyan human rights defenders, Mark Amiani, Mulingwa Nzau, and Francis Mutunge Mwangi at the end of June as well as the violent attack on women human rights defenders and grieving mothers at a peaceful press conference held at the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) in Nairobi at the beginning of July. These attacks occurred in the aftermath of the 25 June nationwide protests against police brutality and government policies.
Mark Amiani is a human rights defender dedicated to safeguarding civil and political rights. He has played a leading role in documenting police abuse, advocating for social justice through the Social Justice Centres Working Group and Kongamano la Mageuzi Movement. His work focuses on community-level accountability and empowering marginalised voices.
Mulingwa Nzau is a human rights defender and member of the Social Justice Centres Working Group, Bunge la Wananchi, and Kongamano la Mapinduzi. He is committed to exposing extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and other grave rights violations by security forces. He plays a central role in building civic engagement and strengthening community resilience.
Francis Mutunge Mwangi is a human rights defender who works with the Ruaraka Social Justice Centre, where he documents cases of police misconduct and supports accountability initiatives at the community level. His human rights work focuses on monitoring security sector abuses and mobilising civilians to seek justice and institutional reform.
On 27 June 2025, human rights defenders Mark Amiani, Mulingwa Nzau and Francis Mutunge Mwangi were arrested while on their way to work in Mombas. They were intercepted by police officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and detained without being informed of any formal charges. On 30 June, the human rights defenders were arraigned in court, where the prosecution charged them with incitement of violence, damage to property and theft, and sought to detain them for an additional 21 days to “facilitate investigations”, despite failing to present any credible evidence linking them to the violence and looting that took place alongside the protests. Mark Amiani, Mulungwa Nzau, and Francis Mutunge Mwangi were released on bail on 2 July. A ruling scheduled for 23 July will determine whether the DCI is permitted to detain them for a further 21 days to conclude their investigation.
The arbitrary arrest and detention of the human rights defenders occurred in the context of the nationwide protests against police brutality and government policies on 25 June 2025, in which 16 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
The targeting of the three human rights defenders reflects the increasing repression of civil society across Kenya. In a deeply concerning development, on 6 July 2025 - one day before Saba Saba, Kenya’s historic day of resistance - a group of mothers, widows, women human rights defenders, and young women held a press conference at the offices of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) in Lavington, Nairobi. They demanded justice for those killed, disappeared, or injured during the protests on 25 June. At around 13.30, unknown armed individuals invaded the KHRC compound, violently disrupting the peaceful press conference. The attackers physically assaulted the women human rights defenders, stole journalists’ equipment, issued threats, and accused the women of “organising protests.”
Front Line Defenders condemns the detention and judicial harassment of human rights defenders Mark Amiani, Mulingwa Nzau and Francis Mutunge Mwangi, as it believes this actions to be a retaliation for their peaceful and legitimate human rights work. Front Line Defenders calls on the Kenyan authorities to drop the charges and to release the defenders unconditionally. Likewise, Front Line Defenders condemns the violent invasion of KHRC and the physical attack on the woman human rights defenders and all participants at the press conference, as it constitutes a violation of their rights to defend human rights and to freedom of expression and assembly.
Finally, Front Line Defenders expresses its deep concern at the severe repression of civil society in Kenya. The arbitrary arrest of the three human rights defenders and the physical attacks that occurred during the press conference, coupled with the ongoing detention of peaceful activists, underscores a systematic pattern of intimidation, abduction, and judicial harassment targeting civil society actors across the country, all which seems to be aimed at dismantling civil society and silencing human rights defenders in Kenya.
