Workers Targeted as Kenyan Police Harass Human Rights Watch for Exposing Abuses

source

It's the last day of August but in this very month so many things have happened regarding workers getting mistreated all over the world.

This month, a troubling incident unfolded in Kenya that just shows the precarious state of workers' rights and civil liberties in the country. If you've been following the headlines it's happening a lot in different countries too.

Otsieno Namwaya, an associate Africa director at Human Rights Watch, became the target of police harassment and this was because of his efforts in documenting human rights abuses, particularly those affecting workers.

Between August 23rd and 25th of this year, plainclothes officers from Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations conducted surveillance at Namwaya's residence. This followed previous attempts by people that are believed to be from the Operation Support Unit to access him.

Some witnesses reported seeing a group of six men who appeared to be plainclothes officers, parking their vehicles at a nearby police station before approaching Namwaya's neighborhood. They were caughy taking photographs of his house and engaging in phone conversations. All of what they did raised serious concerns about the violation of his privacy and his rights. They were basically stalking the guy at this point.

This surveillance is part of a broader pattern of intimidation of some officials against human rights defenders in Kenya

To let you understand the kind of man Namwaya has been, he has spent over 13 years documenting abuses, including the use of excessive force by security forces during protests. With my own journey in highlighting workers abuse I hope I don't end up getting stalked like he did.

His work has exposed some of the challenges faced by workers and activists advocating for their rights. The recent harassment towards him is a clear attempt to silence those who expose injustices and to deter others from speaking out. All over the world, those in power that know that they're abusing the power are making attempts to silence those that expose their actions to the world.

The Kenyan authorities have yet to provide a legal basis for the surveillance or clarify the allegations put forth against Namwaya.

Human Rights Watch have done a good job of calling on the government to end this harassment and to ensure the protection of civil society actors.

The organization's interim executive director, Federico Borello, emphasized that things like this is clear evidence of the ongoing threats facing rights activists in Kenya. And I would add the world too.

The broader issue is that workers are being mistreated all over Kenya. Workers, especially those in informal sectors, usually get exploited, end up in poor working conditions and lack legal protections. The way the government responded to the predicament of Namwaya shows how reluctant they are in addressing these issues transparently. It also looks like they might try to suppress anyone that brings up the subject of worker mistreatment.

I believe it falls on the international community. They have an important role to play in supporting Kenyan workers and human rights defenders. They need to hold the Kenyan government accountable for the poor way they treat activists and workers. The global community can help ensure that the rights of all people are respected and upheld.

We're in the season of celebrating Labor Day and I think it's more important in this season to bring up issues like this so the world can take notice of it.

Screenshot of human rights watch Africa logo takem from this site