[{"command":"settings","settings":{"pluralDelimiter":"\u0003","suppressDeprecationErrors":true,"ajaxPageState":{"libraries":"views\/views.ajax,views\/views.module","theme":"hrw_design","theme_token":null},"ajaxTrustedUrl":[],"views":{"ajax_path":"\/views\/ajax","ajaxViews":{"views_dom_id:blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__307966__en":{"view_name":"blog_live_feed","view_display_id":"blog_body_block","view_args":"307966","view_path":"\/blog\/content\/307966","view_base_path":null,"view_dom_id":"blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__307966__en","pager_element":0}}},"user":{"uid":0,"permissionsHash":"0ae5601d8790ff50fca3cf23b9ac9170285f2f75823ebdc8d9cc054bc03a679b"}},"merge":true},{"command":"add_css","data":"\u003Clink rel=\u0022stylesheet\u0022 media=\u0022all\u0022 href=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_rT06N1hzNwWZvlauEGw5ZNFVKBrR23ibx56HC8Lyx4M.css\u0022 \/\u003E\n"},{"command":"add_js","selector":"body","data":[{"src":"\/sites\/default\/files\/js\/js_svkrpusmrjSaaV8heRnsa8-TbrEsMLumxMQD8vstdR8.js"}]},{"command":"insert","method":"replaceWith","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__307966__en","data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__307966__en\u0022\u003E\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n \u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022blog-block__content__description rich-text pt-6 mb:pt-10 mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cblockquote class=\u0022twitter-tweet\u0022 data-lang=\u0022en\u0022\u003E\u0026#13;\n\t\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022 lang=\u0022en\u0022 xml:lang=\u0022en\u0022 xml:lang=\u0022en\u0022\u003EThere are only two bodies in Kenya capable of filing petitions in court against \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/IEBCKenya\u0022\u003E@IEBCKenya\u003C\/a\u003E, AfriCoG and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/KHRC?src=hash\u0022\u003E#KHRC\u003C\/a\u003E. Both have been deregistered\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\t\u2014 Lord Mutai (@ItsMutai) \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/ItsMutai\/status\/897374581077487616\u0022\u003EAugust 15, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EOn August 14, the Kenya Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Coordination Board, Kenya\u2019s national regulatory authority for nongovernmental groups, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nation.co.ke\/news\/kenya-Human-Rights-Commission-deregistered-\/1056-4057174-10291od\/index.html\u0022\u003Eannounced it had cancelled\u003C\/a\u003E the registration of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) \u2013 one of the oldest human rights groups in Kenya \u00a0\u2013 citing alleged tax evasion and other reasons.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EA day later the NGO Coordination Board wrote to the director of criminal Investigations with a request to shut down the offices of the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.the-star.co.ke\/news\/2017\/08\/15\/fazul-asks-dci-to-shut-down-africog-arrest-directors-over-illegal_c1616940\u0022\u003Earrest its directors\u003C\/a\u003E. AfriCOG is an NGO that specializes in governance issues and has been very critical of Kenyan authorities over corruption.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EOn August 16, police and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nation.co.ke\/news\/Police-KRA-raid-AfriCOG\/1056-4059274-hqrmm8z\/index.html\u0022\u003Eattempted to raid\u003C\/a\u003E AfriCOG offices but were denied access by the organization\u2019s lawyers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EBoth groups have been critical of the conduct of last week\u0027s disputed national election and raised alarms about reported instances of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mobile.nation.co.ke\/news\/politics\/Death-chaos-police-protesters-clash\/3126390-4055228-rpiq67\/index.html\u0022\u003Epolice brutality\u003C\/a\u003E in parts of the country in response to \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nation.co.ke\/news\/Tension-Nairobi-Kisumu-protests-elections\/1056-4054622-119pjrgz\/index.html\u0022\u003Eprotests\u003C\/a\u003E against the declaration of the elections results.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EOn August 15, a high court judge in Nairobi \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.the-star.co.ke\/news\/2017\/08\/17\/ngo-board-blocked-from-shutting-down-africog_c1618021\u0022\u003Etemporarily stopped\u003C\/a\u003E the NGO Coordination Board from shutting down AfriCOG. While the acting interior cabinet secretary, Dr. Fred Matiang\u2019i, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/citizentv.co.ke\/news\/matiangi-halts-de-registration-of-two-vocal-ngos-173008\/\u0022\u003Eput on hold\u003C\/a\u003E the deregistration of the two groups, he directed further investigations into the compliance issues raised by the Coordination Board.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EThese developments recall the Kenyan government\u2019s broader attacks on civil society groups in recent years. In April 2015, authorities \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2015\/04\/12\/kenya-ensure-due-process-terrorism-list\u0022\u003Eincluded\u003C\/a\u003E two human rights organizations, Haki Africa and MUHURI, on a list of organizations allegedly supporting terrorism, then \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2015\/06\/10\/kenya-end-harassment-rights-groups\u0022\u003Ederegistered\u003C\/a\u003E and froze their bank accounts. A judge later cleared the groups of any links with terrorism after police failed to provide evidence.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003ERather than investing time and resources in harassing civil society organizations, Kenyan authorities should focus on addressing the human rights concerns the groups have \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.khrc.or.ke\/2015-03-04-10-37-01\/blog\/603-police-brutality-in-kenya.html\u0022\u003Ebeen raising\u003C\/a\u003E. The government should respect the freedoms accorded to civil society in the Kenyan constitution and international human rights law.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u003Cscript async=\u0022\u0022 src=\u0022\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\u0022 charset=\u0022utf-8\u0022\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n","settings":null}]