KENYA: Arbitrary expulsion of human rights lawyer Martin Mavenjina
15 July 2025
The OIAD strongly condemns the arbitrary expulsion of Martin Mavenjina, human rights lawyer and legal advisor to the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), on 5 July 2025 at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
Mr Mavenjina is originally from Uganda and is a legal resident of Kenya with a valid work permit. He works to promote transitional justice and defend victims of police brutality.
While returning from an official mission in South Africa, Mr Mavenjina was initially allowed to enter Kenyan territory. However, the authorities reversed this decision without explanation. The lawyer’s passport was confiscated and he was briefly detained before being forced to board a flight to Kampala, Uganda. No court decision or formal administrative measure was notified to him.
On 6 July, the KHRC offices were attacked by individuals identified as close to the government, who came to prevent a press conference by mothers of victims of police brutality from taking place.
Mr Mavenjina’s expulsion takes place amid growing repression against civil society in Kenya, on the eve of demonstrations on 7 July commemorating the 1990 protests against President Daniel Arap Moi’s regime, imposing a single party.
On 7 July 2025, clashes left at least 31 people dead, 107 injured, two forcibly disappeared and more than 500 arrested. As a lawyer committed to the fight against impunity and police brutality, Mr Mavenjina worked with families of victims of state violence. Despite the scale of the violations since tensions emerged in Kenya in 2024, no law enforcement official has been prosecuted, highlighting the climate of impunity against which Mr Mavenjina is actively campaigning.
The Observatory condemns in the strongest terms the arbitrary expulsion of Mr. Martin Mavenjina, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of movement and residence enshrined in international law.
The Observatory calls on the Kenyan authorities to guarantee the immediate and unconditional return of the lawyer to the national territory.
The Observatory reminds the Kenyan State of its obligations under ratified international and regional instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The Observatory urges the Kenyan authorities to cease all forms of harassment, intimidation or violence against lawyers and human rights defenders in the exercise of their duties, in accordance with the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.
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