On June 18, 2025, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Gina Romero, presented a critical report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, examining the impact of the 2023–2025 “super election” cycle on civic freedoms.
In her report, the Special Rapporteur underscored that protests have historically catalyzed reforms, including those for social and political equality, accountability and democracy. She found that the “super election” cycle witnessed “widespread and increased restrictions and repression of civic freedoms and political participation, often as part of a broader strategy to restrict civic space and stifle democratic debate.” In her report, Romero mentioned that she received communications about 134 individuals in Africa. She singled out Kenya as the most concerning case in Africa, where she received reports of protesters, human rights defenders (HRDs), activists, lawyers, and medical professionals who were reportedly subjected to enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention during demonstrations in June, July, and August 2024.
During her presentation of her report in the Human Rights Council, she told governments that: “undermining freedom of expression in the name of fighting disinformation is short-sighted and counterproductive. Freedom of expression is vital to healthy democratic discourse.”
In response to these findings, Peace Brigades International (PBI) stated: “We share the Special Rapporteur’s concern about the reported enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests of protestors in Kenya in 2024. The coalition ‘Missing Voices’ reported that most documented extrajudicial killings last year were linked to protests, with 38 in June alone. We are concerned about continued attacks on human rights defenders and critical voices in the following months. As Kenya marks one year since the 2024 protests, there has been little to no accountability for the human rights violations committed. Nationwide protests are ongoing, with reports of individuals being hired to infiltrate and disrupt demonstrations. In this context, we stress that the right to peaceful assembly and association is universal and must not only be respected but actively protected by the State.”
On the same day, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions presented a separate report on victims of unlawful killings. In his report, he detailed his September 2024 technical visit to Nairobi. During the visit, he collaborated with the OHCHR, Kenya’s Attorney General, and civil society to strengthen investigations into potentially unlawful deaths under the Minnesota Protocol (2016). Despite these efforts, he expressed regret over Kenya’s refusal to accept his requested official visit in May/June 2025—despite a standing invitation since 2015. This reluctance raises serious questions about the government’s commitment to accountability, particularly as impunity for police killings and disappearances persists. The last visit of a Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to Kenya was in 2009.
UN experts have raised concerns that the pattern of repression extends beyond protests.
In January 2025, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), was alarmed by reports that enforced disappearances continue even as demonstrations have scaled down. Their communication to the Kenyan government through a General Allegation, noted that the information received revealed a systematic pattern of targeting of human rights defenders, journalists, medical and legal professionals, bloggers, and community leaders—especially those perceived as organizers or funders of protests. Victims were often abducted by plainclothes officers in unmarked vehicles, held in undisclosed locations, and later released with threats to remain silent. The Working Group reminded the Kenyan state that “All acts of enforced disappearance shall be offences under criminal law punishable by appropriate penalties which shall take into account their extreme seriousness.” The Working Group has also proposed dates for official visits severally over the past years, but have not been able to come to an agreement with the Kenyan government.
The reports send a clear message: Kenya remains under intense UN scrutiny for its shrinking civic space and human rights violations in the country. Kenya’s refusal to accept official visits of the UN independent experts on enforced disappearances or extrajudicial executions is concerning especially because Kenya is a member of the Human Rights Council until 2027.