Civil Society resists Kenya’s candidacy in UN Human Rights Council

According to the lobby groups the UN body should not consider Kenya’s formal bid as highlighted in a letter dated September 27, 2024. 

"With membership on the Council comes a responsibility to uphold high human rights standards," it is stipulated in resolution 60/251 of March 2006 when UN member states resolved to form the council. 

Unlike Kenya’s pledge that it advances and protects human rights, civil society says President William Ruto’s government has committed serious atrocities and crimes against the public with little to no redress.

“The Kenya police and other state institutions have been the main perpetrators of these violations and abuses,” the lobby groups say. 

They further fault Kenyan government for capture and intimidation of other state organs and anti-people policies.

The bodies cite human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings, abductions, and enforced disappearances by police.

“The Kenyan police have a long history of violently suppressing independent institutions and dissenting voices. Our policing system, rooted in the colonial and post-independence regimes, was designed to serve the narrow interests of the ruling elite at the expense of the people and their rights. Today, the police remain the state's primary agents of repression,” they argue. 

Civil society also accuse the Kenyan government of defying court orders and putting in place weaponised regulatory frameworks. They also cite anti-people social and economic governance decisions such as implementation of unpopular Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) a flawed university funding model, a punitive taxation system, unaccounted public debt, and widespread corruption. 

The civil groups include; Center For Memory and Development, Democracy Without Borders Kenya, Grace Agenda, Kariobangi Paralegal Trust, Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Mazingira Institute, Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI), National Coalition For Human Rights Defenders and Usalama Reforms Forum. 

Currently, African countries in the Human Rights ouncil are; Algeria,Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, Morocco, Somalia, South Africa and Sudan. 

Kenya eyes a seat at this table when the terms of Benin, Cameroon, Eritrea, Gambia and Somalia come to an end in December 2024. 

The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the UN system made up of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.

It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year.

Kenya has previously held a membership position in the council.