Stop Abducting Kenyans

The Atheists In Kenya Society unequivocally condemns the recent wave of abductions of Kenyan citizens suspected of publishing AI-generated photos of a dead person on social media platforms. These abductions are a gross violation of human rights and amount to arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearance as prohibited under Article 29 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.

Enforced disappearance, as defined by Article 29 of the Constitution, involves the arrest, detention, or abduction of an individual by state agents or persons acting with state authorization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person’s fate or whereabouts.

We cannot live in a country where people disappear for no other reason and are kept incommunicado for a long time. The government must take this thing seriously and it must come to an end. We want a safe and secure country.

Raila Odinga

Such practices are a grave violation of human rights and international law. It is unacceptable that individuals exercising their freedom of expression are being forcibly disappeared.

We urge the government to immediately cease these unlawful practices and release all individuals who have been arbitrarily detained. Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of popular cartoonist Gideon Kibet alias Kibet Bull.nHe is missing for days after his abduction in Kikuyu area, Kiambu County, his family said. The cartoonist is a student at Egerton University in Nakuru, and is well known for sharing silhouette images with characters of President William Ruto’s likeness among others. He has also shared images of depicting other leaders from the executive and judiciary.

Kibet’s case follows a number of abductions of social media users witnessed lately. According to Kibet’s family, his brother Rony Kiplangat has also been missing since Saturday December 21. The family said when Kiplangat disappeared on Saturday, they thought he had gone to church.

“We waited until evening and as we tried calling him, he could not be reached. We thought he had gone for a church service at SDA Kikuyu. We sent his friend to check if he is in the house. He said Kiplangat was not in the house,” their sister Mercy Cherotich said. Cherotich further said after failing to access Kiplangat, Kibet – the cartoonist, offered to travel to from Njoro to Nairobi to follow up. “Kibet had been called for a function with Senator Okiya Omtata. He left home on Tuesday and dropped his items at his friend’s home in Kikuyu,” Cherotich says. She added after the event, Kibet boarded a vehicle back to his friend’s home in Kikuyu.

“He did not get to Kikuyu. As of Tuesday night, Kibet was not reachable on phone,” she said. The family says they are yet to reach Kibet on phone. The family says that Kibet had been avoiding the city for fear he could be held for criticising Ruto and his government. The family says they reported Kiplangat’s disappearance at a police station and were given an OB.

The incident comes amid rising cases of abductions since the June 25 anti government protests. More than 70 people have been reported abducted and are missing. So far, Bernard Kavuli, Peter Muteti and Billy Mwangi have been reported missing and footage of them being taken forcefully was seen across media platforms. The youthful Kenyans went missing after making controversial posts on social media. The abductions have sparked uproar across Kenya, which the police being accused of forcefully taking the social media users. On Wednesday, the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) said it has received reports of abductions perpetrated by police.

According to IPOA, it has received reports of abductions of 5 people from Kajiado, Nairobi and Embu. “In line with provisions of Section 6(a) of the IPOA Act, which obligates the Authority to investigate any complaints related to disciplinary or criminal offences committed by any member of the Service, Rapid Response Teams were dispatched to the areas of incidents with instructions to obtain all information that may be relevant in unveiling the circumstances surrounding the abductions and whether there was police involvement as generally alleged,” IPOA said in a statement.

The Authority added that if any members of the National Police Service (NPS) are found culpable, action will be taken on them. “Where fault is found, the Authority shall make recommendations for prosecution, internal disciplinary action or any other appropriate relief, and shall make public the responses received to these recommendations,” it stated.

IPOA called on police Inspector General Douglas Kanja to take action to stop the growing trend of abductions. IG Kanja denied police involvement in the abductions. “Police officers are always at the forefront in the defense of freedoms and rights of the people. That is actually our training. To defend the rights of the people. Now, abduction does not come here because in doing so, you are not defending the rights of those people,” he said.