Kenya

As Kenya prepares to hold elections on August 8, 2017, Kenyan authorities consistently fail to adequately investigate a range of abuses across the country and undermine basic rights to free expression and association. Human rights activists and journalists working on a range of issues face numerous obstacles and harassment. Efforts to tackle Kenya’s escalating security crisis, including attacks by the armed Islamist group Al-Shabab, have been marred by serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions. Government officials threaten to close Dadaab refugee camp, but currently, Kenya’s repatriation program does not meet international standards for voluntary refugee return. There has been no tangible progress on accountability for crimes committed during the 2007- 2008 post-elections violence.