President William Ruto and Antonio Guterres
The Kenya Kwanza government has complained against the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) statement on Friday last week that blamed the police over using excessive force to deal with protestors.
In a letter on Sunday, the President William Ruto administration through the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the UN accused OHCHR of using third party information to castigate the the Kenyan government over police brutality.
“The use of such information without due diligence raises concerns about the quality and reliability of the data in question. This method of information gathering bypasses the primary duty of OHCHR to establish the facts before making such critical statements,” read the letter in part.
The permanent mission slammed the OHCHR’s statement saying stating that the protest was wrongly portrayed and misinformed.
“While the Permanent Mission shares the OHCHR’s concern for human rights, it is obliged to contest the characterization of recent events in Kenya as ‘peaceful protests’. Such a designation belies the widely and credibly documented ground reality.
“Moreover, the Permanent Mission wishes to contest the portrayal of these violent acts as being widespread. The unfortunate incidents of violence were, in reality, confined to a few areas, not representative of the entire country,” the letter noted.
The permanent mission further stated that the Kenyan government recognizes its responsibility to preserve and uphold the rights to peaceful assembly and protest, and that it is resolute in its commitment to peace, democracy, and human rights.
The Kenyan government at the same time called on the OHCHR to take note of Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga and retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s actions in the protests.
Also Read: UN Issues Statement After Chaos During Azimio Protests
