KNCHR Report Highlights Alarming Rise in Human Rights Violations Across Kenya
Kenya National Commission on Human rights (KNCHR) Chairperson Claris Ogancah speaking during the launch of the KNCHR report in Nairobi on November 9, 2025
Kenya’s human rights landscape has deteriorated sharply over the past year, with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) reporting a surge in killings, abductions, and widespread rights violations. The findings come as protests and security operations continue to highlight cracks in governance and accountability.
Speaking in Nairobi on Tuesday, KNCHR Chairperson Claris Ogancah said the period under review exposed deep failures in protecting citizens’ rights and civic space, with widespread abuses that shocked the nation. She highlighted violent crackdowns, arbitrary arrests, and enforced disappearances as key concerns requiring urgent attention.
“Kenya’s human rights performance during the period under review witnessed unprecedented and grave human rights violations that shocked the nation,” she said.
Vice Chair Dr. Raymond Nyeris elaborated on the commission’s concerns regarding ongoing security operations in the North Rift, particularly Operation Maliza uhalifu which, while credited with restoring calm through disarmament, has been linked to alleged extrajudicial killings and torture of 12 people in Marakwet East, Pokot Central, and Tiati.
“We have recommended that investigations be done to establish what really happened, but the commission fully supports the ongoing disarmament, but it must be done in line with the law,” Dr. Nyeris said, emphasizing that security programmes must comply with human rights standards.
The KNCHR report shows that between December 2024 and December 2025, the commission received 2,848 complaints, including 1,381 on economic, social and cultural rights, 1,171 on civil and political rights, and 299 on group rights. Much of the deterioration stems from the June 2024 youth-led protests against the Finance Bill, which saw 60 deaths, 1,300 arbitrary arrests, 610 injuries, and 74 enforced disappearances, reflecting heavy-handed security responses to citizens’ calls for accountability and economic justice.
The trend continued into 2025, with 57 deaths, 661 injuries during protests and assemblies, 149 arbitrary arrests, and 15 suspected enforced disappearances, many allegedly linked to security agencies.
The November 27 by-elections also raised serious human rights concerns. Three people were killed, and KNCHR observers were denied access to tallying centres at Shiakago Primary School in Mbeere North and Mumboni North Ward, undermining transparency. Commissioner Prof. Marion Mutugi said:
“The commission monitoring those by-elections were kept out of two tallying centres and therefore we cannot make a decision on whether the elections were free and fair because we were denied entry.”
While some recommendations from last year’s report have been implemented, KNCHR says progress has been slow therefore the commission is calling for full operationalisation of the National Coroner Service Act, adoption of the Minnesota Protocol for independent investigations, and ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.
The commission has called for urgent reforms to strengthen accountability and protect human rights, emphasizing that investigations into all suspicious deaths must be conducted thoroughly and impartially. While a few police officers have faced arrest over protest-related killings, KNCHR stressed that law enforcement must operate within the law and that all cases should be properly investigated to restore public confidence.
