Kenya: Prisoners Charged and Released

Case 241001.1
Follow-up of the Case KEN 241001
Release

The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new
information concerning the following situation in Kenya.

New Information

According to the information received, the 66 remaining
detainees of the Release Political Prisoners party were released
on 26 October, 2001 from the Kamiti and Lang'ata prisons on
the orders of the High Court on the bail of 30,000 Kenyan
shillings. The women were detained at Lang'ata Prison and were
released without problems at 7.30pm. The males, detained at
the Kamiti prison, encountered difficulties when prison
authorities tried to delay their release and harassed their
supporters who were waiting outside.

The whole 71 people arrested have been charged of "unlawful
assembly", and the next court hearing is set between November
5-7, 2001.

The International Secretariat of the OMCT welcomes this
release and urges the Kenyan authorities to guarantee that the 71
political activists are provided with a fair trial.

Brief reminder of the situation

71 members of the Release Political Prisoners (RPP) pressure
group and their friends – comprising 66 men and 5 women - had
been arrested as they were celebrating the so-called Mau Mau
Day on October 20th 2001, being held to honour freedom
fighters. The celebration was being held at the RPP’s
compound. The police reportedly stormed into the compound
and threw tear-gas grenades at the assembled crowd. They also
reportedly assaulted a number of persons while they were
arresting them.

According to the information received, these persons are being
detained at the Kamiti and the Lang’ata prisons, having been
accused of holding an unlawful assembly. Organisations and
individuals who attempted to visit the detainees were refused
access to them. Bail has been set at Kenyan Shillings 50,000,
which is a sum that most of the detainees, who are mainly
peasants, students or the unemployed, cannot afford. On
October 23rd, 2001, the Defence appealed to Chief Magistrate
Boaz Olao to reduce the high level of the bail, but he has
reportedly decided to delay announcing his ruling until Friday,
October 26th. This will have meant that the afore-mentioned
persons will have been detained arbitrarily for seven days, in
conditions under which OMCT fears that they may be being
subjected to ill-treatment or torture.

Only five of the detainees have been able to gather the sum
required to post bail. They are: Prof. Kivutha Kibwana (the
National Convention Executive Council Co-convenor), Kibe
Mungai (lawyer), Njoroge Wanguti (Chairman of RPP), Orina
Nyamwamu (RPP Secretary General) and Tirop Kitur (RPP
founding member).

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Kenya urging them to:

i. put an immediate end to the persecution and harassment
of the Release Political Prisoners pressure group;
ii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the
fundamental freedoms throughout the country in
accordance with national laws and international human
rights standards.

Addresses

· H. E. Daniel. T. Arap Moi, Office of the President
P.O. Box 30510, 00100 Nairobi GPO
Tél 00254-2-22 74 11, Fax 00254-2-21 01 50

· Office of the Vice President
P.O. Box 30520, 00100 Nairobi GPO
Tél 00254-2-22 84 11, Fax 00254-2-21 44 57

· Amos Wako, Attorney General's Chambers
P.O. Box 40112, 00100 Nairobi GPO
Tél 00254-2-22 74 61, Fax 00254-2-31 51 05

· Judicial Department & High Court of Kenya
P.O. Box 30041, 00100 Nairobi GPO
Tél 00254-2-22 12 21, Fax 00254-2-33 34 49, E-
mail [email protected]

Please also write to the embassies of Kenya in your respective
country.

Geneva, November 5, 2001

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of
this appeal in your reply.

Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : [email protected]
http://www.omct.org