NAIROBI, 8 JUNE 2026: Friends of Nairobi National Park, Just Act, United Green Movement Party, The Green Belt Movement, Amnesty International Kenya, and Greenpeace Africa strongly condemns the arrest of nine peaceful protesters, including former Chief Justice David Maraga, and the violent dispersal of a peaceful procession of environmental defenders, students, and human rights activists advocating for the protection of Nairobi National Park.

Nairobi, Friday, May 21, 2026: As fuel protests grip the country, Odipo Dev and Amnesty International Kenya have released the Kenya Freedom Index. The Kenya Freedom Index is the first public platform that empirically tracks violations of the constitutional right to peaceful assembly. Analysing 1,002 protests from 2020 to 2025, the Kenya Freedom Index paints a stark picture. Driven by economic hardship, political grievances and environmental concerns, demonstrations have more than doubled in the past two years and have increasingly met with unlawful force.

Join us for the official launch of the Kenya Freedom Index, a data-driven platform tracking the state of the right to peaceful assembly in Kenya.

NAIROBI Tuesday, May 19, 2026: The Law Society of Kenya and the Police Reforms Working Group express grave concern over the violence witnessed yesterday in the context of the ongoing stay‑away and economic boycott over rising fuel costs. At least four deaths have been reported. We call on all actors, especially the National Police Service and the Executive to maintain maximum restraint, uphold the Constitution, and protect the right to peaceful assembly, association, and expression as a solution is found to the rising fuel prices. We call on the Independent Policing Oversight Authority to investigate the killings and allegations that police officers are being intimidated to prefer unlawful charges.

Two years after the historic #OccupyParliament protests, Kenya stands at a crossroads in its democratic journey. The demonstrations highlighted the power of youth-led civic action and the urgent demand for accountability, economic justice, and responsive governance. Yet they also exposed deep challenges: excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests, intimidation, and unlawful restrictions on peaceful assemblies.

Following the most compromised election in the history of Tanzania last year, Samia Suluhu’s comments at the business conference this week were hard-faced, honest and habitual. Sadly, she represents a troubling new breed of politicians who threaten violence against their own youth with disturbing ease.

A week before World Press Freedom Day 2026, the Zambian government did something that cut against every word of this year’s theme. Days before RightsCon was scheduled to open in Lusaka on May 5, with thousands of activists, technologists, journalists, and policymakers already en route, the government announced it was postponing the event to ensure “full alignment with Zambia’s national values, policy priorities, and broader public interest considerations.”

History demonstrates that when power answers to no one, it will eventually devour itself from within. Two developments this week offer a stark contrast. The tabling of Uganda’s Protection of Sovereignty Bill (2026) signals a state at war with its most active and productive citizens. The launch of Kenya’s PBO Regulations reflects a state choosing, despite its public unpopularity, to uphold the freedom of association.

For Immediate Release

East Africa is experiencing a profound digital shift. Governments are digitising services, innovators are deploying new tools, and citizens generate unprecedented volumes of data every day. Yet the same systems that promise inclusion and efficiency also raise new risks — shrinking civic space, expanding surveillance, algorithmic bias, and fragmented regulatory frameworks.

Dr. Abdi Mohamed

As documented in Amnesty International’s 2024/25 State of the Human Rights Global Report, billions of people and international human rights law face a multiplicity of assaults. The most pernicious of these is the steady spread of authoritarian laws and practices that deliberately target civil liberties, civic and media freedoms, as well as economic and social rights.