Gitobu Imanyara

Last updated

Gitobu Imanyara (born c. 1954 [1] ) is a Kenyan human rights lawyer, journalist, and politician.

Biography

After Imanyara spent more than two years in Maximum Security Prison on charges associated with his work as a human rights lawyer, he founded the Nairobi Law Monthly in 1987. [2] It was not supportive of Daniel Arap Moi's one party policy and Imanyara was arrested for not registering the magazine. [2] He was again arrested in 1990 after writing a special issue entitled "The Historic Debate: Law, Democracy, and Multi-Party Politics in Kenya." [2] At one point he was held in a prison psychiatric ward, though he re-released the issue following his own release. [2] Receiving the International Editor of the Year by the World Press Review while in prison, he was called "the boldest voice for a free press in a country whose intolerant government does not hesitate to shut down publications and where most journalists practice self censorship." [2] Imanyara was arrested for a third time in April 1991 after police confiscated the current issue of his journal. [3] The offending information was about the formation of an opposition political party, and Imanyara was unable to notify his family or lawyer. [3] His papers were ransacked without a warrant. [3] While in custody, Imanyara developed a brain tumor which was treated. [1] Kenyan aid money went down significantly after the arrest, and the U.S. State Department called it "another denial of freedom of expression in Kenya." [1] He was awarded the World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award later that year, but due to authorities not allowing him to leave the country for it, Liberal International President Otto Lambsdorff brought it personally to Nairobi in early 1992. [4] At the Kenyan general elections in December 1997, he won a regional landslide victory and was elected MP for Central Imenti Constituency. [4] He continued to publish his newspaper, which was renamed the Africa Law Review. [4] Imanyara is a member of the International Board of Article XIX, a member of the Advisory Board of the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, and also a member of the Media Institute for the advancement of the freedom of expression. [4] In January 2008, Imanyara accused the Kenyan first lady Lucy Kibaki of assault and threatened to sue Kibaki over the alleged incident. [5] The first lady was swift to deny the allegations, accusing Imanyara of blackmail after failing to secure the deputy Speaker's seat during the elections in Parliament. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel arap Moi</span> President of Kenya from 1978 to 2002

Daniel Toroitich arap Moi was a Kenyan statesman and politician who served as the second president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He is the country's longest-serving president to date. Moi previously served as the third vice president of Kenya from 1967 to 1978 under President Jomo Kenyatta, becoming the president following the latter's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Turkey</span> Overview of human rights in the Republic of Turkey

Human rights in Turkey are protected by a variety of international law treaties, which take precedence over domestic legislation, according to Article 90 of the 1982 Constitution. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was not signed by Turkey until 2000. As of today, however, Turkey is party to 16 out of 18 international human rights treaties of the United Nations. The issue of human rights is of high importance for the negotiations with the European Union (EU). Acute human rights issues include in particular the status of Kurds in Turkey. The Kurdish–Turkish conflict has caused numerous human rights violations over the years. There is an ongoing debate in the country on the right to life, torture, freedom of expression as well as freedoms of religion, assembly and association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto Graf Lambsdorff</span> German politician (1926–2009)

Otto Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von der Wenge Graf Lambsdorff, known as Otto Graf Lambsdorff, was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amos Wako</span> Attorney General of Kenya

Amos Wako is a former Attorney General of Kenya and the first senator for Busia County from 2013 to 2017. Wako won the senatorial seat after defeating former minister of finance Chris Okemo. He won the senator seat on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) being led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raila Odinga</span> Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013

Raila Amolo Odinga is a Kenyan politician who served as the Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Langata Constituency from 1992 to 2013 and has been the Leader of Opposition in Kenya since 2013. He is the leader of Azimio la Umoja–One Kenya Coalition Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Kenya</span>

Human rights in Kenya internationally maintain a variety of mixed opinions; specifically, political freedoms are highlighted as being poor and homosexuality remains a crime. In the Freedom in the World index for 2017, Kenya held a rating of '4' for civil liberties and political freedoms, in which a scale of "1" to "7" is practised.

Kiraitu Murungi is a Commissioner at the Kenya Law Reform Commission and the former governor of Meru County in Kenya. He is a former long-serving member of parliament for South Imenti constituency (1992-2013), former cabinet minister, and former senator for Meru County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corruption in Kenya</span> Institutional corruption in the country

Corruption in the government of Kenya has a history which spans the era of the founding president Jomo Kenyatta, to Daniel arap Moi's KANU, Mwai Kibaki's PNU government and the current Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party government. In Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, Kenya scored 32 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Kenya ranked 123rd among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison, the best score was 90, and the worst score was 12.

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement which was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in August 2007 into the Orange Democratic Movement Party of Kenya and the Wiper Democratic Movement – Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Michuki</span> Kenyan politician and businessman

John Njoroge Michuki was a Kenyan politician and businessman. He was born at Muguru, village, Iyego Location, Kangema Division in Murang’a District. He was educated in Kenya and abroad. Michuki emerged as one of the prominent and long-serving civil servants and politicians as well as a businessman in Kenya. Michuki served Kenya in various capacities, including Permanent Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Chairman of the Kenya Commercial Bank, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister. He was serving his 4th five-year term as a Member of Parliament for Kangema Constituency. Michuki had a reputation as a "ruthless" and efficient manager, and was widely acknowledged as among the best performing ministers in President Kibaki's Government. He was serving as the Minister for Environment and National Resources at the time of his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Ethiopia</span> Overview of observance of human rights in Ethiopia

According to the U.S. Department of State's human rights report for 2004 and similar sources, the Ethiopian government's human rights "remained poor; although there were improvements, serious problems remained". The report listed numerous cases where police and security forces are said to have harassed, illegally detained, tortured, and/or killed individuals, who were members of opposition groups or accused of being insurgents. Thousands of suspects remained in detention without charge, and lengthy pretrial detention continued to be a problem. Prison conditions were poor. The government often ignores citizens' privacy rights and laws regarding search warrants. Freedom House agrees; the site gave Ethiopia a six out of seven, which means that it is not free. Although fewer journalists have been arrested, detained, or punished in 2004 than in previous years, the government nevertheless continues to restrict freedom of the press. The government limits freedom of assembly, particularly for members of opposition groups, and security forces have used excessive force to break up demonstrations. Violence and discrimination against women continue to be problems. Female genital mutilation is widespread, although efforts to curb the practice have had some effect. The economic and sexual exploitation of children continues, as does human trafficking. Forced labor, particularly among children, is a persistent problem. Low-level government interference with labor unions continues. Although the government generally respected the free exercise of religion, local authorities at times interfere with religious practice. In order to improve Ethiopia's image, they hired US agencies to improve Ethiopia's image for $2.5 million. According to a report from Amnesty international 2016/2017 prolonged protests over political, economic, social and cultural grievances were met with excessive and lethal force by police. The report added that the crackdown on the political opposition saw mass arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials and violations of the rights to freedom of expression and association. On 9 October, the government announced a state of emergency, which led to further human rights violations. In September 2018, more than 20 have died in ethnic based attacks. Protestors outside the capital have been calling for the prime minister to issue a state of emergency to prevent further killings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Jordan</span>

Human rights in Jordan are similar to or better than those elsewhere in the Middle East. Human Rights Watch reported in January 2018 that although recently there have been far-reaching reforms of the laws and regulations in the country, abuses against basic rights such as freedom of expression persisted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Karua</span> Kenyan politician

Martha Wangari Karua is a Kenyan politician. She is a former long-standing member of parliament for Gichugu Constituency and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She was Minister for Justice until resigning from that position in April 2009. She has consistently fought for the protection of women's rights and improvements to the democratic process.

The Weiquan movement is a non-centralized group of lawyers, legal experts, and intellectuals in China who seek to protect and defend the civil rights of the citizenry through litigation and legal activism. The movement, which began in the early 2000s, has organized demonstrations, sought reform via the legal system and media, defended victims of human rights abuses, and written appeal letters, despite opposition from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Among the issues adopted by Weiquan lawyers are property and housing rights, protection for AIDS victims, environmental damage, religious freedom, freedom of speech and the press, and defending the rights of other lawyers facing disbarment or imprisonment.

Gibson Kamau Kuria is a Kenyan lawyer and a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Kagwanja</span> Kenyan intellectual

Peter Kagwanja is a Kenyan intellectual, adviser, reform strategist and policy thinker on governance, security and African affairs. From the early 1990s, Kagwanja was associated with Kenya's pro-democracy movement through his research and writings in the media, and was one of the founders of the University Academic Staff Union (UASU). As an emigre in South Africa (2003-2008), he was in the team of experts that provided technical backing to the intense policy processes that led to the creation of the African Union (AU) and its peace and security architecture. When Kenya's opposition ascended to power, Kagwanja became part of the technical team that re-engineered and realigned the country's foreign policy and strategy to the challenges of the 21st century. He became government adviser on the post-2008 reform agenda and strategy; managed its successful campaign for the New Constitution of Kenya and provided strategic thinking towards the transition to the post-Kibaki order. Kagwanja is a public intellectual who has authored many articles and books, including Kenya's Uncertain Democracy: The Electoral Crisis of 2008London: Routledge (2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willy Mutunga</span> 13th Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya

Willy Munyoki Mutunga is a Kenyan lawyer, intellectual, reform activist, and was the Commonwealth Special Envoy to the Maldives. He is also an active member of the Justice Leadership Group. He is the retired Chief Justice of Kenya and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya.

The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya (TJRC) was established in 2008. Kenya’s modern history has been marked not only by liberation struggles but also by ethnic conflicts, semi-despotic regimes, marginalization and political violence, including the coup d'état of 1982, the Shifta War, and the 2007 Post-election violence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim controversy</span>

The Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim controversy began in February 2013 when journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim interviewed Lul Ali Osman, who claimed that she was raped by government security forces while living in an internally displaced peoples camp in Mogadishu, Somalia. The two were arrested, tried, and sentenced to a year in prison for having allegedly fabricated the story. The trial was described by some human rights groups as politically motivated. Osman was later in the month acquitted following an appeal, and Ibrahim's sentence was reduced to six months. It was concurrently announced that an Independent Task Force on Human Rights had been established, which would review his case to see if due process has been followed. Ibrahim was released from detention the following month, on 17 March 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidency of Daniel Moi</span> Era of Daniel Mois governance

The presidency of Daniel arap Moi began on 22 August 1978, when Daniel arap Moi was sworn in as the 2nd President of Kenya, and ended on 30 December 2002. Moi, a KANU party member, took office following the death of the then president Jomo Kenyatta on the same day. He was sworn as interim president for 90 days during which the country was to prepare for a presidential election to be held on 8 November. Moi won reelections in 1988, 1992 and 1997, defeating Mwai Kibaki in the latter two elections. He was succeeded by Mwai Kibaki in 2002. He died at the age of 95 on 4 February 2020

References

  1. 1 2 3 Perlez, Jane (1991-05-05). "Health of Kenya Political Prisoner Seen as Perilous". New York Times . Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Events". Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  3. 1 2 3 "Topics of the Times; High 'Crimes' in Kenya". New York Times . 1991-03-10. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Gitobu Imanyara (1991)". Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  5. 1 2 "Lawyer Imanyara in trouble with Kibaki's wife refutes allegations that he is dead". African Press . 2008-02-05.