Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it – Abraham Lincoln, April 6, 1859
The arrest and alleged torture of Kenyan and Ugandan activists in Tanzania in May 2025 paint a grim picture of the deteriorating state of human rights in Africa as the authorities become increasingly repressive towards dissenting voices.
The detention of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan human rights lawyer Agather Atuhaire threatened to spark a diplomatic row between the three East African neighbours and prompted calls for investigations.
In a statement released on May 27, 2025, the US State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs called for an investigation into the allegations of human rights abuses against the activists. “We urge all countries in the region to hold to account those responsible for violating human rights, including torture,” it said.
Amnesty International urged Tanzania to investigate the “arbitrary arrest, torture, incommunicado detention, and forcible deportation” of the two human rights defenders.
“The Tanzanian authorities must ensure and respect the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and end the repression against human rights defenders and non-governmental organisations. They must publicly recognise the critical role played by civil society, human rights defenders, and independent media in protecting human rights and ensuring accountability,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director, East and Southern Africa.
Mwangi and Atuhaire were part of an East African delegation that was in the country to observe a court hearing of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who has been charged with treason for urging his countrymen to boycott the elections slated for October 2025 over rigging concerns. Other delegation members, including former Kenyan Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and opposition leader and former presidential candidate Martha Karua, were locked out of the court and deported.
The attack on the human rights defenders is among the latest events that are raising concerns about the escalating hostility against democratic freedoms and human rights guarantees regionally in East Africa and Africa at large. The steady erosion of civil liberties has raised the alarm among rights advocates, who are warning of the dangerous consequences of unchecked repression.
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Kenya is facing mounting scrutiny after a BBC documentary and a new Amnesty International report revealed damning evidence of the involvement of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) personnel in the killing of protesters during the June 2024 Gen-Z demonstrations as well as a broader crackdown on civil liberties.
The BBC Africa Eye documentary, Blood Parliament, released in April 2025, is a forensic investigation into the deaths of protesters outside Kenya’s Parliament on June 25, 2024, and traces several fatal shootings directly to security personnel, including KDF soldiers. The BBC found that one of the victims, Eric Shieni, a 27-year-old university student who was shot in the back as he tried to flee from the protest scene, was “unarmed and posed no threat when a KDF soldier fired the fatal shot”.
The administration denied the claims, with Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura labelling the documentary as “one-sided”. He said Kenya had written to the BBC to express its outrage and concerns over what he termed as “misrepresentation of facts”. One legislator even called for the revocation of the BBC’s broadcasting licence.
However, in an apparent effort to downplay the documentary’s impact, the administration stopped its public screening and arrested four filmmakers allegedly involved in its production. The four, Nicholas Gichuki, Brian Adagala, Mark-Denver Karubiu, and Chris Wamae, were released following a public outcry, but their equipment was confiscated.
Amnesty International’s The State of the World’s Human Rights report for 2024 corroborated the BBC’s findings, saying it had documented a sustained crackdown on civil liberties in Kenya, which paints a grim picture of the unnecessary and excessive lethal force used against protesters on June 25, 2024 and throughout the months of the protests.
The right to protest is protected
According to the organisation, at least 65 individuals were killed, 89 were forcibly disappeared, and thousands were arbitrarily arrested during the protests. “The right to protest in Kenya is protected under the constitution. It is unacceptable that, rather than facilitating and protecting protesters, police resorted to using deadly force,” said Amnesty’s Irungu Houghton in a petition calling for a public inquiry.
Some 14 Kenyan rights groups, including the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Transparency International-Kenya, in April 2025 warned of “escalating political repression and increasing intolerance” under President William Ruto. Recent projections from the 2025 Freedom House report place Kenya’s overall civil liberties score at 51 out of 100.
“December 2024 marked a chilling escalation in state repression across Kenya. From the cancellation of the Mathare Reggae Festival due to police intimidation, targeted teargas attacks on opposition figures, and the abduction of citizens over AI-generated satirical images of President Ruto, the regime intensified its crackdown on dissent. Peaceful protesters were met with arbitrary arrests and legal harassment,” said the rights groups in a press release titled State of the nation: Kenya’s slide into repression deepens amid mounting crises.
They noted that Kenya has in recent months acquired the reputation of being “a hub for politically motivated abductions of foreigners”, citing the cases of Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai, whose attempted kidnapping in January 2025 failed, and Ugandan opposition leader and former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye, who was snatched from Nairobi in November 2024 and driven to Kampala to face treason charges before a military tribunal. The case was later transferred to a civilian court. Another case was the 36 Ugandans, members of the Forum for Democratic Change, who were arrested in Kisumu in July 2024 as they attended a leadership training at a church in Kisumu. They were transferred to Uganda and charged with terrorism.
On February 4, 2023, South Sudanese refugee and activist Morris Mabior was kidnapped from his home in Nairobi by armed men dressed in Kenyan police uniforms. He was allegedly handed over to the authorities in Juba. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Kidnapped from Nairobi and disappeared
Mabior’s case mirrors the January 2017 disappearance of compatriots, human rights lawyer Dong Samuel Luak and opposition figure Aggrey Idri. The two were abducted in Nairobi and later found detained at South Sudan’s National Security Service headquarters in Juba before being relocated. Luak’s and Idri’s fate remains unclear.
On November 19, 2021, Ethiopian businessman Samson Teklemichael was abducted in Nairobi by men in Kenyan traffic police uniforms. His abandoned Bentley was recovered in Kileleshwa. He remains missing todate.
In October 2024, gunmen seized seven Turkish refugees registered with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Four of them – Mustafa Genç, Hüseyin Yeşilsu, Öztürk Uzun, and Alparslan Taşçı – were swiftly deported at the Turkish government’s request, according to Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei. The other three were later freed. Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists condemned Kenya’s complicity in these actions, warning of grave violations of refugee protection laws.
In a statement, the rights groups said the Kenyan regime’s restriction of fundamental freedoms, including the right to picket, risks destabilising the nation’s future, with the 2027 elections on the horizon. They announced that they have documented a troubling escalation in state repression since the nationwide Gen-Z protests against proposed tax hikes erupted in June 2024.
“The recent injury and intimidation of journalists reporting on the incidents at the National Drama Festivals in Nakuru further expose a growing culture of state repression that must be urgently addressed. Additionally, the teargassing of students from Butere Girls High School by police is a stark reminder of a longstanding and deeply troubling pattern of brutality against children in Kenya,” said the rights groups.
The night before the students of Butere Girls High School were to stage their controversial play, Echoes of War at Nakuru’s Melvin Jones Academy during the National High School Drama Festival, the play’s director, former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, was arrested and denied access to the students. Sources said the authorities perceived the play to be criticising the regime. The students were further denied access to essential resources, including stage props. In protest, they refused to perform the play, instead singing the national anthem and exiting the stage. The police responded to the outrage of the play’s supporters by attacking them with tear gas, causing chaos that injured students and journalists covering the event.
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The KHRC pointed out that the incidents reveal deep-rooted impunity within security agencies, despite the enactment of the Prevention of Torture Act and the National Coroners Service Act in 2017. Their implementation has remained virtually non-existent, leaving victims without access to justice, according to the commission.
Increasing violence against peaceful protesters
Worse still, the organisations said, the emergence of hired gangs and disruption of political events, as well as increasing violence against peaceful protesters, highlight the nation’s drift towards authoritarianism.
“As we move towards the 2027 general election, there is a worrying trend of emerging political intolerance and the use of outlawed gangs… These trends highlight the systemic misuse of force and lack of accountability in law enforcement,” added the rights groups.
The sentiments echoed a warning by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), which pointed out that Kenya’s hard-won freedoms risk being compromised as the 2027 elections approach.
“The deployment of hired goons to instil fear and manipulate political discourse is an outright betrayal of the democratic values we uphold. Such actions must be condemned in the strongest terms,” the NCIC said in a statement, and further cautioned leaders against inflammatory rhetoric.
Journalists also face unprecedented threats, with media houses such as The Standard Group and the Nation Media Group reporting cases of harassment and legal intimidation by state authorities.
“Since the June 2024 protests, the government has directly clamped down on media agencies, and law enforcement officers have physically attacked journalists and even damaged their equipment as they report public stories. In 2025, the government cancelled advertising on media stations that seemed to feature stories that criticise the government, and this indirectly affects freedom of the press and access to information for the general public,” said the rights groups.
“There is a systematic campaign to silence dissent. Whistle-blowers and human rights defenders face threats, surveillance, and abductions. Independent oversight institutions have been weakened or hijacked. The attempted removal of Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu after her revelations of financial irregularities is a disdain for transparency.”
A systematic campaign to silence dissent
This growing pressure has also led to heightened self-censorship, raising concerns about press freedom, according to Media Council of Kenya CEO David Omwoyo. In a statement, Omwoyo cited multiple incidents of harassment, temporary detentions, and assaults on journalists, warning that continued intimidation could have serious implications for democracy and public access to information in Kenya.
The 14 advocacy organisations warned that certain legislative changes, particularly the Assembly and Demonstration Bill and the amendments to the Public Benefits Organisations (PBO) Act could further stifle dissent and weaken democratic participation.
The Assembly and Demonstration Bill, 2024, proposes significant restrictions on public gatherings and protests in Kenya. It seeks to amend the Public Order Act and introduces punitive measures that critics argue could severely limit the right to peaceful assembly.
Among its provisions, the Bill imposes financial liability on protest organisers and participants for any property damage that occurs during demonstrations, requires prior approval from the authorities, and restricts the use of banners, placards, and certain forms of expression deemed inciteful.
Additionally, it grants police officers broad powers to prevent or halt demonstrations, imposes strict identification requirements on protesters, and criminalises participation in unauthorised assemblies with penalties including fines and imprisonment.
The amendments to the PBO Act, which came into force on May 14, 2024, replace the previous NGO regulatory framework and introduce new compliance requirements for civil society organisations. The Act requires all NGOs previously listed under the repealed NGO Act to register afresh within a specified timeframe or risk losing their legal status.
While the Act ostensibly aims to streamline oversight and enhance transparency, critics argue that it could be used to exert undue control over civil society groups, particularly those engaged in advocacy and human rights work.
Democracy under threat in Uganda, Tanzania, Guinea
Uganda, under President Yoweri Museveni’s long rule, continues to experience widespread repression, as reflected in its 34 out of 100 ranking in the Freedom House report.
According to findings from Human Rights Watch, the regime has consistently tried to stifle opposition by resorting to torture and arbitrary arrests. Among those targeted are prominent opposition leaders Kizza Besigye and Bobi Wine, both of whom have endured violent crackdowns, harassment, and repeated arrests for their political activism.
Over 120 peaceful protesters were detained in the last quarter of 2024 alone, according to Amnesty International. “The Ugandan authorities have increasingly resorted to excessive force and arbitrary arrests to silence political opposition and peaceful protesters, creating a climate of fear and intimidation,” it says in a recent report.
Tanzania is no different. Under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the nation has faced increasing concerns over human rights violations. The arrest of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who has been charged with treason, a non-bailable offence punishable by death in Tanzania, has raised alarm among activists and rights groups.
Lissu, a fierce critic of Suluhu’s ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, has been advocating electoral reforms under the slogan ‘No Reforms, No Election’. His arrest followed a rally in Mbinga district, where he called for reforms to ensure free and fair elections.
In 2017, Lissu was shot 16 times outside his residence in Dodoma during a botched assassination attempt, which the Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) party leader publicly attributed to the government of then-President John Magufuli.
Amnesty condemned the arrest, stating: “The Tanzanian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Tundu Lissu, whose arbitrary arrest and detention come amid a growing crackdown on opposition leaders ahead of the October 2025 general elections.”
There have been numerous other reports of unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings targeting opposition members and government critics. In September 2024, the body of Ali Mohamed Kibao, a senior member of Chadema, was recovered. He had been beaten and his body doused with acid.
Burkina Faso, which now finds itself in the grip of military rule as it descends into instability, has recorded 100 cases of extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances. The UN has reported over 1.9 million internally displaced persons as of 2024. According to Amnesty, “the erosion of civil liberties has only exacerbated the humanitarian crisis” in Burkina Faso.
Neighbouring Niger, too, has succumbed to military control, with civil liberties plummeting across major global indices. Transparency International noted a sharp decline in Niger’s governance metrics, stating: “Military rule has undermined efforts to combat corruption and foster accountability.”
Guinea continues to experience a sharp decline in political freedoms following the 2021 coup, with Freedom House rating the country at 30 out of 100. Restrictions on media and opposition parties have intensified, drawing the attention of Amnesty International, which has condemned the repression, stating: “Many political opponents and protesters were arrested before and after last October’s presidential election. All those arbitrarily detained must be released.”
The organisation is also demanding clarity on the detention of former President Alpha Condé, insisting that he either be charged or freed. The African Union (AU), echoing these concerns, has stressed that as Guinea navigates its political future, it must ensure accountability and commit to the restoration of fundamental freedoms.
“The democratic aspirations of the Guinean people must not be overshadowed by authoritarian tendencies,” Amnesty said.
