KNCHR to develop regulations and guidelines towards implementation of the
restorative Justice Fund. TJRC made key findings that previous governments from the
colonial period to 2008 Kibaki government were responsible for gross human rights
violations. These included massacres, torture, assassinations, extrajudicial executions,
illegal and irregular allocation of public land. Land was actually identified as the single
most important cause of ethnic tension and conflict in Kenya.
Right to Life
The right to life for many people in Kenya continues to be threatened and violated.
Since 2011, KNCHR in conjunction with Civil Society Organizations has received
complaints on extrajudicial killings and forced disappearance. In 2014 only, The
KNCHR has documented over two hundred (200) cases of egregious human rights
violations that include twenty five (25) extrajudicial killings and eighty one (81)
enforced disappearances. These cases have persisted and a recent case was that of the
killing of Lawyer Willy Kimani, his client and taxi driver in July 2016. Several such
complaints have been documented around the country. KNCHR has embarked on a
public inquiry into insecurity and extrajudicial killings at the Coast Region of Kenya.
Kenya is still applying the death penalty. It is yet to yield to the abolition call by UN
Committee on ICCPR. A public survey is ongoing with the aim of obtaining what the
view from the public are with regards to the death penalty.
Freedom of Information, Expression and Media
Several cases were reported of Journalists who were attacked while in the course of
their work by authorities. There were also reports of death threats to Journalists. There
were efforts to ensure that a law is passed for the implementation of Article 35 of the
Constitution on access to information. It took a long time and advocacy but the Access
to Information Act was finally passed and assented to by the President in September,
2016. The Act is a good step forward towards the enhancement of freedom of
information in Kenya.
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