Kenya Watchlist 2025
PRESS RELEASE
Kenya on Rights Watchlist as Government Kills Protesters on Anniversary of Brutal Repression
- Dozens killed, hundreds injured as state and its alleged goons attack protesters
- Torture and death of blogger amid dizzying crackdown on digital dissent
- Human rights defenders targeted with harassment and intimidation
Johannesburg, 30 July 2025 – Kenya is added to CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist following a disturbing escalation in state-led repression of civic freedoms. A year after the #RejectFinanceBill protests erupted nationwide, the Kenyan government continues to deploy brutal tactics to silence dissent, including lethal force, arbitrary arrests, and digital surveillance.
The CIVICUS Monitor currently rates Kenya as “repressed”, the second worst rating a country can receive, indicating severe restrictions to the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. Alongside Kenya, the latest Watchlist also includes El Salvador, Indonesia, Serbia, Turkey and the United States.
“The government's response to peaceful protest has crossed a perilous threshold,” said Ine Van Severen, CIVICUS’ Civic Space Research Lead. “The systematic nature of the repression shows a deliberate strategy to criminalise civic engagement and silence dissent.”
A Year of Brutality: Protesters Face Lethal Force
In June 2025, thousands of Kenyans returned to the streets to mark one year since the #RejectFinanceBill protests began, demanding long-overdue economic and governance reforms. Instead of engaging with citizens’ concerns, the government responded with brutal force, as documented in the recent CIVICUS report, Police bullets, digital chains: State-sanctioned brutality in Kenya’s peaceful youth-led uprising.
At least 65 protesters were killed, hundreds injured, and over 1,500 arrested. There were reports of rape and gang rape, allegedly perpetrated by state-sponsored goons deployed to infiltrate protests, attack demonstrators, and loot businesses. These goons operate alongside masked, plainclothes security officers in unmarked vehicles, a practice explicitly barred by court order but still widely used.
The use of terrorism charges against peaceful protesters raises serious concerns about the weaponisation of the legal system to criminalise dissent. Allegations that much of the violence was instigated by state-backed actors further underscore the systematic nature of repression.
“The Kenyan government has turned its back on the rights of the people,” said Van Severen. “The government has resorted to responding with violence, intimidation, and censorship to legitimate public grievances.”
Digital Dissent Under Siege
As physical protests become increasingly dangerous, many Kenyans have turned to digital platforms to voice their concerns. But online spaces are no longer safe.
In June 2025, activist Albert Omondi Ojwang died after being tortured in police custody over a social media post alleging implication of a senior government official in corruption. Meanwhile, software developer Rose Njeri was arrested and prosecuted under the 2018 Misuse of Computer and Cybercrimes Act for creating an online tool that allowed citizens to object to the finance bill.
The government is now pushing legislation that threatens to entrench mass surveillance. A proposed Communications Bill would grant sweeping tracking powers without adequate safeguards. Parliament has also proposed increased funding for the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to procure the Optimus 3.0 system, which could allow authorities to monitor social media activity, pinpoint user locations, and track devices.
A January 2025 directive requiring social media companies to establish physical offices in Kenya was issued amid rising online criticism of President William Ruto. Civil society fears this move could be a veiled attempt to undermine digital rights under the guise of national security.
“Kenya’s digital crackdown is part of a disturbing global trend where governments are using surveillance and cybercrime laws to stifle free expression,” said Van Severen. “CIVICUS urges lawmakers to reject legislation that undermines privacy and digital rights.”
Targeting Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society
Human rights defenders and civil society organisations are increasingly under attack. On 6 July 2025, Martin Mavenjina, a Ugandan national and senior adviser at the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), was deported upon arrival at Nairobi’s JKIA airport. This is, despite him holding valid work and residency permits for over a decade. Mavenjina has been outspoken on issues of extrajudicial killings, police brutality, and corruption.
KHRC Executive Director Davis Malombe faced similar harassment in May 2025, reflecting mounting pressure on KHRC for its vocal criticism of state repression.
On the same day as Mavenjina’s deportation, goons violently disrupted a KHRC press conference calling for an end to extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests. This incident further exemplifies the outsourcing of repression to militia groups, allowing the state to extend its campaign of terror through covert but coordinated violence.
The Watchlist highlights countries with notable declines in civic freedoms based on data compiled by the CIVICUS Monitor in collaboration with research partners worldwide. In December 2024, the CIVICUS Monitor downgraded Kenya’s civic space to “repressed”, the second worst rating a country can receive.
NOTES TO THE EDITOR:
On Kenya civic space rating of Repressed:
In countries with this rating the civic space is significantly constrained. Active individuals and civil society members who criticise power holders risk surveillance, harassment, intimidation, imprisonment, injury and death. Although some civil society organisations exist, their advocacy work is regularly impeded, and they face threats of de-registration and closure by the authorities (see full description of ratings). See Frequently Asked Questions about the Watchlist here.
There are a total of 51 countries in the world with this rating (see all).
About the CIVICUS Monitor:
The new watchlist is released by the CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform that tracks the latest developments to civic freedoms, including the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, across 198 countries and territories.
The ratings are categorised as either ‘closed,’ ‘repressed,’ ‘obstructed,’ ‘narrowed’ or ‘open,’ based on a methodology that combines several data sources related to civic freedoms.
Over twenty organisations collaborate to provide an evidence base for action to improve civic space on all continents.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: media@civicus.org