Report: Kenya's safe-haven status at risk amid rising repression

Activist Bob Njagi and Kenya Human Rights Commission Executive Director Davis Malombe during the launch of "People Power Under Attack" in Nairobi on December 9, 2025. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

A new global report now warns that Kenya’s reputation as a safe haven for human rights defenders is eroding amid a surge in transnational repression and the misuse of state security agencies.

The report titled ‘People Power Under Attack 2025,’ released by CIVICUS, a consortium of human rights organisations, reveals that several countries once seen as refuge states are now collaborating with foreign governments to target dissidents, journalists, and opposition figures.

Kenya was cited for its role in the arrest of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who was seized from a Nairobi apartment by alleged state agents in November last year and handed over to Ugandan authorities. He remains in detention a year later.

“This escalating campaign, characterised by abductions, illegal renditions, judicial harassment and torture, has effectively erased safe havens for activists, journalists and opposition figures, creating a continent-wide climate of fear,” read part of the report.

“This practice demonstrates a blatant disregard for due process and marks a strategic shift toward a more coordinated, regional approach to crushing dissent.”

While the report finds conditions most severe in Central and West Africa, rights groups in East Africa say they are increasingly alarmed by recent cooperation among authorities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

The arrest of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire in May 2025 continues to unsettle rights defenders, who say intimidation and surveillance have become routine tools to silence critics.

Across the continent, repressive regimes relied heavily on attacks and detention of journalists, activists and protesters, the report notes. Excessive force was common.

“In Kenya, over 1,500 people were arrested and 65 people killed between 25 June and 11 July 2025 in protests to mark the anniversary of the 2024 Gen Z-led protests against tax hikes that grew into a movement against systemic corruption, poor governance, and police brutality, and which was met with a violent crackdown,” the report noted.

Governments also used courts to stifle dissent, charging critics with trumped-up offenses, including terrorism. Even more alarming, the report says, are cases of state-backed perpetrators using violence and sexual assault.

At the report’s launch, activist Bob Njagi, who was recently released from detention in Uganda, criticised private sector players, including telecommunications companies, for providing data used to track dissidents.

“In our case, it was clear that there was collaboration between the governments of Kenya and Uganda. They tracked us using mobile phones, and for this we need to call out the telephone companies,” he said.

Kenya received a score of 31 out of 100, placing it in the “obstructed” category on the CIVICUS civic space scale, which measures conditions in 198 countries. 

The best-rated environments are classified as “open” or “narrow,” while “repressed” and “closed” represent the most restrictive conditions.