Kenya Raises Azimio Protests Concern at UN
The Permanent Mission of Kenya to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva has responded to a statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) regarding anti-government demonstrations.
Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), issued a statement on Friday, July 14, in which he urged local authorities to refrain from using lethal force to quell anti-government demonstrations and demanded prompt investigations into the reported deaths and injuries across the country.
Sunday, the Kenyan mission to the United Nations issued a rebuttal to OHCHR’s statement, arguing that the protest was misrepresented and misinformed.
“While the Permanent Mission shares the OHCHR’s concern for human rights, it is compelled to contest the OHCHR’s characterization of recent events in Kenya as ‘peaceful demonstrations. According to the statement shared by Foreign Affairs aide Korir Sing’oei, such a designation is at odds with the actuality on the ground, which is widely and credibly documented.
“Furthermore, the Permanent Mission wishes to dispute the characterization of these violent acts as pervasive. In actuality, the unfortunate incidents of violence were confined to a small number of regions and were not emblematic of the entire nation.”
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Moreover, the Permanent Mission clarified that the demonstrations were “appropriately managed by our law enforcement agencies” to ensure the safety of the vast majority of Kenyans and limit the extent of the disruption.
They also questioned the OHCHR’s reliance on ‘third-party’ information sources, arguing that it undermines the legitimacy of the data used to condemn Kenya.
“The use of such data without due diligence raises questions about the quality and dependability of the data in question.” This method of accumulating information circumvents OHCHR’s primary obligation to establish the facts before issuing such critical statements,” read the statement.
The Permanent Mission asserted further that the Kenyan government recognizes its obligations to protect and uphold the rights to civil assembly and protest, and that its commitment to peace, democracy, and human rights is unwavering.
The government’s actions reflect its constitutional and political commitment to upholding these rights, which are essential to delivering on its mandate to advance the security and prosperity of all Kenyans, according to the statement.
Therefore, the Permanent Mission insisted that there should be a distinction between the right to peaceful assembly and the detrimental riots that occurred in Kenya during the previous week.
However, they concurred with spokesperson Laurence’s call for prompt investigations into the regrettable aftermath of the demonstrations, emphasizing that it should not be “interpreted as an endorsement or tolerance of the violent and destructive behaviors that were exhibited.”
Kenya Raises Azimio Protests Concern at UN
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