The United States named Kenya a Major Non-NATO Ally this week (the 1st in sub-Saharan Africa) and while at least 3 senior US diplomats have praised Kenya for its police deployment to Haiti today, none commented on the major unrest in 🇰🇪 or implicated police in today's violence.

This threatening language is counter to the respect for democracy and freedom of expression Ruto promised when he was recently in DC. Many activist expressed concern given history & were not taken seriously. A grave mistake not to listen to human rights activists.

President William Ruto’s admin keeps failing test after test.

They should know that most of the footage of the protests are coming from the protesters themselves.

The International Press Association of East Africa condemns in the strongest terms possible the targeting of #journalists covering the ongoing #RejectFinanceBill2024 protests.

#Kenya

With protesters being killed & wounded the ongoing silence from the US is deafening.

🚨 The abductions of at least 12 people in #Kenya , which have occurred over the last five days and intensified last night, are a gross violation of human rights and amount to arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearance.

Read the full statement ⬇️
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

A day after Kenya’s Interior CS said the government will respect & uphold every person’s right to demonstrate, we’re seeing Kenyan police in Nairobi firing guns and using teargas on anti-finance bill protestors.

A researcher with an American organization, FHI 360, is in jail in the Central African Republic, charged with creating a pan-African terrorism network. He previously wrote a paper on pastoralism. His family is appealing for help.

rfi.fr/fr/afrique/202…

🤦🏼‍♀️
The heavy-handed response by the Kenyan state to these protests only makes them grow.

The pattern of policing protests is deteriorating fast. Contradictory approach to #RejectFinanceBillEntiely protests where the William Samoei Ruto, PhD & Ministry of Interior | Kenya state that they respect right to assembly, while National Police Service-Kenya abducts, detains & uses excess force on peaceful protestors.

Thousands of protesters have converged along Koinange Street in Nairobi to protest the contentious finance bill. Protesters here have been sharing water, masks, biscuits and even flowers bought from the nearby City Market.

🚨 STATEMENT: We condemn the recent wave of abductions targeting citizens involved in the #RejectFinanceBillEntiely protests. 12 abductions have taken place over the last 5 days, with an alarming surge last night. #ProtectTheProtest #FreeThemAll amnestykenya.org/statement-on-a…

Student-faculty research at William & Mary. This is how you do it. Dr. Kelebogile Zvobgo (she/her) continues to lead by example, publishing peer-reviewed research with students, Bilen Zerie & Alexandra Byrne, who are full collaborators! Charles Center at W&M, Sarah A. Cramsey, International Justice Lab, Ryan A. Musto

At long last, the EU today sanctioned 6 Sudanese individuals for 'undermining the stability and political transition of Sudan,' including 2 people we at Human Rights Watch named for their roles in atrocities in El Geneina: RSF West Darfur commander Jomaa Barakallah and amir Massar Assil.

STATEMENT: Shutting down or internet throttling, shadow-banning hashtags, or banning live reporting are gross violations of human rights. Kenyans have the right to organize, demonstrate, and engage in policymaking. #ProtectTheProtest #TotalShutdownKenya amnestykenya.org/statement-on-p…

Diaspora Kenyans protest the #2024FinanceBill outside the Kenyan Embassy in Washington DC yesterday.