Global petition launched to free missing Kenyan activists abducted in Uganda

Amnesty International, the Law Society of Kenya, and Vocal Africa have launched a global petition urging Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to immediately and unconditionally release Kenyan human rights defenders Bob Njagi and Nick Oyoo.

The two were abducted in Kampala 20 days ago, and their whereabouts remain unknown.

A habeas corpus application filed in Uganda has since stalled, with the state now expected to explain on Wednesday why, almost three weeks later, the two have not been produced in court as ordered by Justice Simon Peter Kinobe.

“We haven’t gotten any positive response from Uganda. They deny holding them, yet eyewitnesses saw them being taken by men in military uniform,” said Free Kenya Movement Activist Florence Kanyua.

Her colleague, Activist Felix Wambua, added, “The government is supposed to write a report on the whereabouts of these two. So we do not know what it is that they have not written in the last seven days, as given by the court. So we call upon Kenyans and Africans to speak on this because we don’t expect much from the court.”

Frustrated by silence from Kampala and what they term Nairobi’s abdication of duty, human rights activists have petitioned Kenya’s Attorney General to intervene in the case.

Amnesty International Kenya, the LSK, and Vocal Africa are now rallying global support through an online campaign, urging citizens worldwide to write to President Museveni and demand the immediate disclosure of the activists’ whereabouts.

“We are petitioning the Attorney General to seek legal advice on how to proceed with the case. It is now 20 days since they were abducted, and we want citizens in Kenya and Africa to work together to end abductions,” FKM activist Wambua noted.

Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director, Irungu Houghton on his part said, “We are calling on the Kenyan government to extend their responsibility to citizens to guarantee their right to legal representation and communication with their families. The fact that they have been held incommunicado is essentially an enforced disappearance.”

Amnesty further calls for an independent investigation and accountability for those behind the abductions.

“We are also calling for investigations into the circumstances of their abduction, and those responsible must be held accountable. We are also calling for the upholding of all rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly,” Houghton stated.

Despite growing diplomatic and public pressure, the Ugandan state claims its efforts to trace the duo have borne no fruit.

But credible reports suggest the two are being held incommunicado at the Mbuya Military Facility in Kampala.

Tomorrow’s court session will determine whether Uganda faces contempt proceedings or if justice for Bob Njagi and Nick Oyoo will be further delayed.