Statement on the break-in into the home of human rights defender Mr. Khelef Khalifa 27 October 2016
The Kenya Police Service should promptly, thoroughly, and transparently investigate the break-in into the home of the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Muslim for Human Rights (MUHURI), Mr. Khelef Khalifa whose house was broken into at 4 am on 25 October 2016, in Mombasa County. The intruder(s) removed the burglar proof grill, accessed the living
room of the house and made away with three mobile phones belonging to
family members. It is not yet known what else may have been taken away.
At the time of the incident, Mr. Khalifa was not at home, however other
family members were at home.
The most recent case is the killing by police of three girls at the Central Police Station in Mombasa on Sunday 11 September 2011. Police described them as terrorists.
This comes against the background of Mombasa County Governor, Hassan Joho’s remarks, against Father Gabriel Dolan, also a board member of MUHURI, that, Fr. Dolan was not interested in development that was why he, along with other Civil Society Organizations in Mombasa moved to court to challenge the construction of the multimillion housing project in Mombasa.
We therefore call for:
DefendDefenders seeks to strengthen the work of human rights defenders throughout the region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights.
DefendDefenders focuses its work on Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia (together with Somaliland), South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Visit us at www.defenddefenders.org
In
the recent week, Mr. Khalifa has received threats on his phone, on
social media and publicly by senior police officers, and he has
expressed concerns over his life due to his demand for accountability by
the police for their response to the growing threat of terrorism and
radicalization in the Coast, that have included enforced disappearances
and extra judicial killing of Muslim clerics and youths.
The most recent case is the killing by police of three girls at the Central Police Station in Mombasa on Sunday 11 September 2011. Police described them as terrorists.
MUHURI
is among other human rights organizations that have publicly condemned
the killing of the three girls that according to the police attacked a
police station in Mombasa on 9 September 2016. MUHURI has called for
thorough investigations including independent postmortem of the bodies
before burial to ascertain the cause of their death.
The
police described the three girls as terrorists that were killed when
they attacked the police station. But there has been conflicting report
regarding the exact circumstances leading to the killing by the police.
Because of the position MUHURI has taken, their staff members and other
vocal human rights organizations have raised concern over surveillance
of their movements and work.
This comes against the background of Mombasa County Governor, Hassan Joho’s remarks, against Father Gabriel Dolan, also a board member of MUHURI, that, Fr. Dolan was not interested in development that was why he, along with other Civil Society Organizations in Mombasa moved to court to challenge the construction of the multimillion housing project in Mombasa.
Kamau
Ngugi of the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders – Kenya
stated that MUHURI has remained a target of the State since 22 March
2015, when their offices were broken into and the intruders took away
files and electronic equipment and shortly thereafter, on 8 April 2015,
the Inspector General of Police through a Kenya Gazette communicated
notice of the intention to list MUHURI and HAKI Africa among 85
organizations as "terrorist entities" under the Prevention of Terrorism
Act (2012). During this period the organizations accounts were frozen,
medical covers suspended and were investigated by both the Kenya Revenue
Authority (KRA) and the NGO Coordination Board for unspecified
breaches. MUHURI moved to court challenging the legality of the
administrative obstacles, and the Mombasa High Court ruled in their
favor.
We,
the undersigned condemn the ongoing persecution of MUHURI staff and
their directors and consider these actions as an attempt to intimidate
and silence them when they are engaged in legitimate activities.
We therefore call for:
- Thorough investigations into the break-in, secure the family of Mr. Khalifa and prosecution of those found culpable;
- The
State to desist from the continued harassment and intimidation of
MUHURI and realize that the work carried out by the organization is in
complementarity to the States obligations;
- The government take extra measures to protect human rights defenders at risk.
Signed
- Amnesty International
- Defend Defenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
- HAKI Africa Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU)
- Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
- Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI)
- National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders – Kenya (NCHRD-K)For more information, please contact Hassan Shire
Executive Director, East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
executive@defenddefenders.org or +256 772 753 753
(English and Somali) Clementine de Montjoye
Advocacy & Research Officer, East & Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
on advocacy@defenddefenders.org or +256 752 183 305
(English and French)
DefendDefenders seeks to strengthen the work of human rights defenders throughout the region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights.
DefendDefenders focuses its work on Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia (together with Somaliland), South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Visit us at www.defenddefenders.org
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Statement on the break-in into the home of human rights defender Mr. Khelef Khalifa 27 October 2016
The Kenya Police Service should promptly, thoroughly, and transparently investigate the break-in into the home of the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Muslim for Human Rights (MUHURI), Mr. Khelef Khalifa whose house was broken into at 4 am on