Amnesty International’s Annual Report 2024/25
The 2025 edition of Amnesty International annual report, The State of the Worlds Human Rights, assesses national, regional and global developments across a wide range of human rights themes.
It identifes world trends related to violations in armed conflicts, repression of dissent, discrimination, economic and climate injustice, and the misuse of technology to infringe on human rights. It also highlights how powerful states have deliberately undermined the international rules based system, hindering the resolution of problems that affect the lives of millions. Many of these trends represent setbacks that risk being aggravated in 2025 and beyond.
The report documents human rights concerns during 2024 in 150 countries, connecting global and regional issues and looking to the future. It includes calls for action by governments and others to improve people’s lives. It is essential reading for government leaders, policymakers, advocates, activists and anyone interested in human rights.
No matter who stands in our way, we must – and we will – continue to resist the reckless regimes of power and profit that seek to strip people of their human rights.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General
Kenya 2024
Sixty people were killed and hundreds injured when police used excessive and unnecessary force against people protesting a proposed finance bill. Draft legislation threatened to impose further restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. More than 600 protesters were arbitrarily arrested and detained, and dozens were forcibly disappeared. Extrajudicial executions continued to be reported. The government forcibly evicted thousands of people from the Mathare and Mukuru Kwa Njenga settlements, amid heavy rainfall and flooding. At least 97 women were killed between August and October, most as a result of gender-based violence, according to official statistics. Implementation problems with the new Social Health Fund affected some people’s access to healthcare. The government’s digital identification project threatened to undermine the right to privacy.
Background
Thousands of demonstrators protested against the Finance Bill 2024, corruption and poor governance. They argued that the bill would impose unaffordable tax rises, including on bread and other basic commodities, without providing sufficient social protection measures, and would exacerbate the debt crisis. Young people, known as the Gen-Zs, led protests using social media to call for political and social justice. On 25 June, President William Ruto said the protests had been “infiltrated by people funded to cause havoc and… civil strife”. He backed a cabinet-level decision to deploy the army to “assist” in policing the protests, although constitutional provisions allow this only in cases of emergency and disaster, or to restore peace in areas affected by unrest or instability, following parliamentary approval. On 26 June, the day after parliament passed the Finance Bill, he declined to assent to it.
On 8 October the National Assembly voted overwhelmingly to impeach the then deputy president, Rigathi Gachagua, for alleged gross misconduct, tribalism and corruption. On 18 October the Senate impeached him on five of 11 charges, including inciting ethnic divisions.