Amnesty concern at detention of rights activists

The human rights organisation Amnesty International on Thursday expressed concern over the continued detention of some 70 Kenyan rights activists.

Seventy members and supporters of the Kenyan lobby group Release Political Prisoners (RPP) were being held in custody, charged with holding an illegal gathering, which is punishable by up to one year in prison, according to an Amnesty statement.

"Amnesty International is concerned for their safety, and believes they may be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for their non-violent political beliefs," it added.

The RPP supporters were arrested on Saturday, 20 October, during a peaceful celebration at the RPP's offices in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to mark Kenyatta Day - a national holiday in honour of Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta.

The police used "excessive force" to break up the gathering, reportedly throwing tear gas canisters into the crowd and beating several people, according to Amnesty.

"They were holding a public meeting without notifying a regulatory officer as provided for in the public order act," AFP news agency on Tuesday quoted police spokesman Dola Indidis as saying.

However, lawyer for the detainees, Kathurima Minoti, told AFP on Tuesday that the charge of "unlawful assembly" could not be applied to a meeting held in a private place, as was the case with the RPP gathering. "The meeting was not open to the public at large... the police had to break in," the agency quoted Minoti as saying.

Only one of those arrested, Professor Kivutha Kibwana, guest speaker at the function, had been able to meet bail conditions, according to Amnesty. Most of the rest of the arrested men and women were unemployed, students or youths, and would not be able to raise their bail, set at 50,000 Kenya Shillings (about US $650), it said.

All 71 refused to enter a plea when brought before the High Court on Monday. The case was to have resumed on Tuesday but has been postponed to 4 December because officials at the High Court claimed case files had been mistakenly sent to the wrong court, Amnesty reported.

Willy Mutunga, executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission - of which RPP is a component - has contended that the police raid was linked to the forthcoming by-election in Kilome, eastern Kenya.

"A lot of the people arrested were campaigning in Kilome... KANU [the ruling Kenya African National Union party] does not want to lose another by-election," he said.

The previous MP for Kilome, Tony Ndilinge, was murdered in Nairobi in August.